[MMVIII]

Interesting new pictures of the magnesium shell of the new camera.
Though, this means that the silver version is really silver* coated metal, which makes it far more attractive (I'm in the "plastic should be black" boat).
Therefore the antennae would probably use the protrusion in the grip. Very unlikely to have GNSS antenna included with this.
This will be a great super sturdy camera, no doubt. However, it also shows that it really is build around a characteristic and specific target use adressing speed and agility. Much less travel and universality. I'm more in the latter camp (KP II, just include GNSS there and take my money) but am looking very forward to seeing what this APSC-DSLR will bring to the Pentax user space.

*of course I don't mean it is aurum, pure silver or a silver alloy, just a type of silver coloured coating on magnesium alloy

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Last edited by MMVIII; 11-27-2020 at 09:30 AM.

[phoebus]

I certainly had hopes for GPS, but as mentioned above, there seems no place for it. Just possibly, a GPS antennae is under one of the top panel components such as shutter release, but that is at best wishful thinking...

At least we can be sure that it is a tough beast!

[BigMackCam]

It is a shame about the GPS... but just look at that alloy body, and especially the prism housing! Drop that baby on its head and it likely won't be needing a trip to the service centre. It's designed to take some abuse. Me likey

[totsmuyco]

It looks like it's going one beautiful mean machine.

[MTNcycler]

Shame about the GPS, but at least there are options to add on the functionality. I am really impressed how they considered every detail to maximize the user experience, from how it fits in the hand to how it looks sitting on a table. That shell is really impressive. This could be the most robust DSLR going. Can’t wait to find out more when it’s released. It won’t be for everyone, but it might be perfect for some.

[ecostigny]

Tough and good-looking! Now to see how it functions...

[sbh]

Well GPS has not appeared anywhere in the specifications or wireless registrations so far, so I thought that was a given now.

I think the numerous power and connectivity similarities to the GR III are more than coincidental and it will probably work in the same way. With the GR III, you can connect to a smartphone to share GPS data for geotagging via low-power Bluetooth. In this mode, a satellite icon appears on the screen.

This would be frustrating if you had to reconnect every time you power off, but there is a setting where you can select whether the Bluetooth connection is maintained when you power off. Presumably, the camera is not fully powered off when this is set, but in some kind of sleep mode where the connection to the phone is maintained. For the GR III, this is a bit of a dilemma, because the battery life is so limited. But the K-3 III's battery is much bigger, so while it will have some effect, I don't expect it will be so bothersome.

For using Astrotracer no phone connection is going to work, so the accessory will be required. But I don't see this as a big issue, because once you are doing astrophotography, you are lugging around a tripod anyway, so the external unit is tiny by comparison. Also, by separating the body from the GPS unit, there is the possibility of Ricoh making a new, improved GPS module. It might be time for that anyway. My opinion is that astrophotography is more niche than flash photography, so it doesn't need to be built in, especially if it compromises the strength of the body.

I certainly had hopes for GPS, but as mentioned above, there seems no place for it. Just possibly, a GPS antennae is under one of the top panel components such as shutter release, but that is at best wishful thinking...

At least we can be sure that it is a tough beast!

I understood the article that the components were moved to a different place in the camera but not removed completely. As they are rather small, they could easily be housed in one of those dials, or not?

Regarding bluetooth I wouldn't worry about re-connecting. My Phone automatically bluetooth-connects to my car stereo every time I turn on the stereo. It takes a few seconds but works reliably.

Either way, I would welcome improved connectivity nonetheless.

[VSTAR]

Anyone hear any rumors about a NEW Pentax Medium Format camera

Yes there is a rumour every year on PF.

[ojutan]

It is a shame about the GPS... but just look at that alloy body, and especially the prism housing! Drop that baby on its head and it likely won't be needing a trip to the service centre. It's designed to take some abuse. Me likey

without GPS and without builtin flash there isn't a justification for the target price. Then the gap to the K1 is far too small, the K1 comes with GPS by default AND full frame, wo who is going to buy a K3 body when the K1 is just 25-30% more expensive?

When it's about new noise reduced / high iso sensors the K-P already has the new Sony sensor and the body is at < 900 E on the market. Without GPS. The O-GPS is abotu 200 Euro.
And about the magenesium body... I have seen just too many wrecked K50, K70, ist-dl2 and K3 where the sensor got blocked after the body hit the ground, e.g. if the camera belt glitches out of the holes. Or the mirror breaks.
What also drops my opinoin about Pentax is the mess with the solenoid in K50. In USA this would justify a class action lawsuit, on other places on the world Pentax leaves it's loyal customers alone, have to say that the old style solenoids were unbreakable.
The replacement parts sell by the thousands.

Just statement of somebody who shoots with SLR and DSLR for nearly 40 years: "upper 200.000 yen" far too expensive. 200K yen is about 1300 Euro. Upper 200K means 299K that's 2000, that is close to the K1 body which sells for 2200 Euro.
A body without GPS but all features of the K1 (then called K3 Mark III ) plus the O-GPS reaches a similar price of the K1... whose only disadvantageis that the body is bigger and heavier.

Possibly I get one of the exhibition models of K3 which are on sale here and there, for about 700 Euro. The K3 has the GPS and all I want :-)

[surfar]

wo who is going to buy a K3

WOO who!

[BigMackCam]

without GPS and without builtin flash there isn't a justification for the target price.

With respect, that's an opinion rather than a statement of fact. You (and, indeed, the rest of us here) don't know what how much Ricoh spent in R&D, what the unit cost of manufacture is, how many they expect to sell over the product's projected life, and the average price it needs to sell at in order to be sufficiently profitable for the company.

If you're saying that without GPS and built-in flash in the K-3III, you wouldn't be able to justify paying that much for it in relation to your own wants and needs, that's fine... but you can't say whether the price is justified for the company, nor indeed for the rest of us who shoot Pentax APS-C.

Then the gap to the K1 is far too small, the K1 comes with GPS by default AND full frame, wo who is going to buy a K3 body when the K1 is just 25-30% more expensive?

This has already been discussed at great length HERE. The K-1 isn't "better" because it's full frame. It's different. The benefits of one format over another vary by individual user and use case. With Pentax, the only camera I'm personally interested in buying is a high-end APS-C model, because that's what best suits me. It has nothing to do with being cheaper than full frame...

[surfar]

who is going to buy a K3 body when the K1 is just 25-30% more expensive?

Firstly the people who already own a K-1, then the people who want the speed and new features(just guessing) in the K3x3.

Then theres the people who dont like screens that move,then theres the people whose K30/50/70 have ApBlocked,

Could be a few Olympus shooters jumping off their sinking ship and those silly people who have Canon/Nikon Dslrs that dont have IBIS.

Also the people who want to have an Ibis Dslr that shoots 4K of which the K3x3 will be the only one.

[ThorSanchez]

Just statement of somebody who shoots with SLR and DSLR for nearly 40 years: "upper 200.000 yen" far too expensive. 200K yen is about 1300 Euro. Upper 200K means 299K that's 2000, that is close to the K1 body which sells for 2200 Euro.
A body without GPS but all features of the K1 (then called K3 Mark III ) plus the O-GPS reaches a similar price of the K1... whose only disadvantageis that the body is bigger and heavier.

... and with a much slower frame rate, generations-older autofocus, fewer pixels on distant subjects, probably dramatically slower buffer clearing, the limitation of just 15-20 MP for many of my DA limited lenses, and probably less functional connectivity. And the lenses are larger, heavier and often tremendously more expensive for FF equivalents. But besides all those things there's no reason to not buy a K-1. Oh, and some kind of 4K video.

Yes, I wish it had GPS. But I'll live without it for the benefit of taking good quality, in-focus pictures of running soccer players 70 meters away at night.

[Kunzite]

... and with a much slower frame rate, generations-older autofocus, fewer pixels on distant subjects, probably dramatically slower buffer clearing, the limitation of just 15-20 MP for many of my DA limited lenses, and probably less functional connectivity. And the lenses are larger, heavier and often tremendously more expensive for FF equivalents. But besides all those things there's no reason to not buy a K-1. Oh, and some kind of 4K video.

It's so obvious I wonder how people can not see it. Yes, the K-3 III offers performance and the K-1 doesn't. That itself can make it more valuable than a K-1 (I'm not saying pricier, just that it might do the job while the K-1 couldn't).

[Lord Lucan]

Then theres the people who dont like screens that move

.... Don't forget the people like me who hate GPS

But I fear this irony could be too subtle, so I'll shut up.