[Kunzite]

Seriously?

People really believe this garbage?

It's not garbage, but it's not what Ricoh Imaging said either. The viewfinder would be usable, just less comfortable.
You would have to squeeze your nose to the back LCD, like with the K-1 or perhaps slightly worse (depending on the added thickness). One could have preferred the other choice - a less comfortable viewfinder experience, but with an articulated screen; however, the reason given is valid.

[Serkevan]

It's not garbage, but it's not what Ricoh Imaging said either. The viewfinder would be usable, just less comfortable.
You would have to squeeze your nose to the back LCD, like with the K-1 or perhaps slightly worse (depending on the added thickness). One could have preferred the other choice - a less comfortable viewfinder experience, but with an articulated screen; however, the reason given is valid.

You have to squeeze your nose even with the almost 1cm added by the O-ME53 (which makes the K-1 have *significantly* more clearance than the K-3iii). There's no difference at all.

[Rondec]

The Holy Mission is to never question any Ricoh/Pentax design decisions.

Life is significantly happier if you figure out what works best for you and purchase accordingly. Clearly the K-3 III isn't an answer for your needs. Choosing not to complain about its "problems" is not idolizing Pentax's decisions, but rather a choice not to live life focused on negatives that are not changeable.

All black would be fun for the hardcore types.
Astro and Mono versions would be a hard sell.
Why would you want to change the shutter button feel? It is pretty close to perfection imo.
You have choices in the paint colour already, Black / Silver - Gun Metal will be a run out edition in a few years.
The MF with brighter prism? now that could stand alone and be a seller, especially if you have a collection of the back catalogue (which a lot of us do), the back catalog also work better in most cases with a crop sensor, the K-1 series highlights their deficiencies all too readily.

PS I can already hear the screams of anguish as the FF brigade start frothing at the bit - 'but the back catalog is designed to be used with a FF sensor, sacrilege and heathenism to suggest anything else!".

I think if these sorts of things are successful we could see something similar offered for the K-1 III, which will certainly have many of the features offered already with the K-3 III. I think there are definitely folks who would be willing to shell out their cash for a monochrome K-1 III.

[Kunzite]

You have to squeeze your nose even with the almost 1cm added by the O-ME53 (which makes the K-1 have *significantly* more clearance than the K-3iii). There's no difference at all.

The difference is very much real. How significant it is, that's subjective.

But the issue here is people harping on a choice made more than a year ago. Come on, folks! We and Pentax are bound to disagree from time to time.
Actually it's very difficult to fully agree with all the design decisions of a camera, especially since we'd be doing that after the fact - and a thorough investigation to see "all that's wrong with it"

[Eric Auer]

Life is significantly happier if you figure out what works best for you and purchase accordingly. Clearly the K-3 III isn't an answer for your needs. Choosing not to complain about its "problems" is not idolizing Pentax's decisions, but rather a choice not to live life focused on negatives that are not changeable.

Sure.

I can always sell all my Pentax lenses right?

No big deal.

[reh321]

Sure.

I can always sell all my Pentax lenses right?

No big deal.

If a flippy screen were truly important to you, you could have purchased a KP, spent less money, and had the camera earlier, but apparently you are one of those who expected a top LED, a larger queue, more battery life, etc. Even now you could purchase a K-70 or a used KP, or even a K-1.

[Rondec]

Sure.

I can always sell all my Pentax lenses right?

No big deal.

Of course, you can do that -- or figure out if you can get an adapter to your lenses on a MILC camera. Getting a KP or one of the K-1 cameras that are out could be a short term solution as well. Longer term, I would expect the K-1 II sequel to have a flippy screen, although it will probably be more expensive.

I just don't know that there is much benefit to focusing on a particular lacking feature of the K-3 III. Don't buy it and if it turns you off to the brand enough, then look at selling your gear and moving on to greener pastures.

Every camera is a compromise. If you can't live with a particular set of compromises then you need to look at a different one that works for you.

[Serkevan]

But the issue here is people harping on a choice made more than a year ago. Come on, folks! We and Pentax are bound to disagree from time to time.

Oh, I agree that the reasoning of "we put a fixed screen because it was easier the larger LCD while keeping the body as compact as possible" is fine. I just don't think there's a need to give other justifications when they are either fairly inconsequential to actual use, or simply subjective.

(For the record, I'm still miffed by the removal of the metering lever under the Mode dial, but since that's the only layout complaint I have about the K-1, I'm not too bothered )

[Kunzite]

Oh, I agree that the reasoning of "we put a fixed screen because it was easier the larger LCD while keeping the body as compact as possible" is fine. I just don't think there's a need to give other justifications when they are either fairly inconsequential to actual use, or simply subjective.

Pentax is sometimes weird like that.

[biz-engineer]

Sure.I can always sell all my Pentax lenses right?No big deal.

Yes you can sell all your Pentax lenses and with the money you can buy another system that better match what you want (it's the option that costs money).
Or you can work around or cope or accept the limitation of your current equipment (it's the free option).

Usually, frustration can come from two causes:
1) photographer's needs have changed over time, current kit doesn't fit new needs, photographer can only blame himself but he usually doesn't do it, best case he recognize his needs have changed over time, worst case he blames camera for the change
2) the new products of camera brand don't fit the wishes of current customer, that can happen with any camera brand because new cameras aren't designed on demand for one person, cameras are designed for an group of customers / applications
I have no control over what Pentax, Canon, Nikon, Sony.. are going to do next, if I don't like it I have to decide what to do.

How to lower financial commitment to a camera brand?
1) rent before commit to buy, to be 100% sure that you'll be 100% satisfied with what you'll buy (see lensrentals.com)
2) limit the number of lenses to the absolute minimum lowers the cost of "switching" between brands, usually we can do 80% of the photographic work with 20% of the lenses, as we buy additional lenses the value/usefulness diminishes
if you bought too many Pentax lenses, you have been unaware that doing so came with a responsibility, but now you know, you won't redo the same mistake again

[Eric Auer]

Yes you can sell all your Pentax lenses and with the money you can buy another system that better match what you want (it's the option that costs money).
Or you can work around or cope or accept the limitation of your current equipment (it's the free option).

Usually, frustration can come from two causes:
1) photographer's needs have changed over time, current kit doesn't fit new needs, photographer can only blame himself but he usually doesn't do it, best case he recognize his needs have changed over time, worst case he blames camera for the change

2) the new products of camera brand don't fit the wishes of current customer, that can happen with any camera brand because new cameras aren't designed on demand for one person, cameras are designed for an group of customers / applications
I have no control over what Pentax, Canon, Nikon, Sony.. are going to do next, if I don't like it I have to decide what to do.


How to lower financial commitment to a camera brand?
1) rent before commit to buy
2) limit the number of lenses to the absolute minimum lowers the cost of "switching" between brands

I won't sell my Pentax gear, I'll just stick it in a drawer for the time being and shoot with other gear.

[biz-engineer]

Oh, I agree that the reasoning of "we put a fixed screen because it was easier the larger LCD while keeping the body as compact as possible" is fine. I just don't think there's a need to give other justifications when they are either fairly inconsequential to actual use, or simply subjective.

The fixed LCD on the K3 III has nothing to do with usability. Ricoh made it fixed LCD because some customers buy and own more than one camera, you'd buy a KP or a K1 for the flip screen and a K3III for the speed, so you'd buy two cameras instead of one. Canon are doing the same, the 7D was often sold to customers already using a 5D. All camera brands do the same, they design cameras so that they are complementary and not cannibalize sales. The number of photographers on the planet is fixed and in the ILC business it is difficult to acquire customers from other brands due to proprietary lens mounts, so one way to make more money is to sell more to the same customers. Ideal customer buys a Ricoh Theta (360), and Ricoh GR (small, in the pocket), and a Pentax 645z (nostalgia of medium format), and a Pentax K1II (for using old FF glass) and the Pentax K3III (for the speed), and also a Pentax KP (when speed isn't needed), and also buy apsc and full frame and medium format lenses. Buying all that makes Ricoh (or Canon, or Nikon, or Sony, or..) marketing smile, it's called happy marketing

---------- Post added 07-01-22 at 18:50 ----------

I won't sell my Pentax gear, I'll just stick it in a drawer for the time being and shoot with other gear.

You can do that if that makes sense to you, and gain peace of mind.

[BarneyL]

Ultimately, people vote with their wallets. If K-3 III sells below expectations (as some insider info suggests) then Ricoh will have to reconsider some of the choices they made. That's all there is to it.

[Kunzite]

If K-3 III sells below expectations (as some insider info suggests)

Best selling Pentax DSLR on kakaku.com:
https://kakaku.com/camera/digital-slr-camera/ranking_0049/

[biz-engineer]

Ultimately, people vote with their wallets. If K-3 III sells below expectations (as some insider info suggests) then Ricoh will have to reconsider some of the choices they made. That's all there is to it.

They'll have to figure out is if sales lower than expected (if that is the case) come from the rear screen, from the price, or from Covid.