[CeciProAm]

I have gone back & forth all day with two professional photographers screaming at me about what camera to buy;
One works for a very upscale NYC ad agency & he swears by the Nikon 610/said he uses it more than his D4 &
the 610 price is amazing right now at that place in Maine...........
And then another professional friend who does fashion & celebrity portraits in LA had me talked into the Fuji Xt1
but I kept coming back to how much I wanted the k3 and with all the discounts right now........I am about to push
the button on the deals at Adorama (of course using the Pentax Forum link!)
And I guess I want a bunch of you to reinforce my decision...with concrete facts that I can throw in my friend's
faces when they try to tell me I am an idiot~
So, mostly I shoot musicians portraits & life action bands with the random friend/family portrait thrown in the mix
So tell me....if money wasn't an object & your choice was
Fuji Xt1
Nikon D610
or Pentax k3
which one would you buy & WHY?
Also, any suggestions on lenses would be appreciated.
I have a some old standard lenses from my k1000 & my busted k5 but I want the best for my k3~!~!~~

[HYS]

D610 - first, K-3 - second, Fuji - never.
Nikon - FF plus good system. Pentax - very well done plus fine lenses. Fuji - I don't know it.

[luftfluss]

If price is no object, hmmm.... tough for me to decide between Pentax and Fuji. Fuji's been doing some really good stuff over the last coupe of years. Their lenses look really good and have excellent measurables. I know someone who shoots Fuji professionally and it works exceedingly well for him. I really like IBIS, though, and appreciate the fact that all my lenses benefit, unlike Fuji & Nikon.

For whatever reason, I've never felt any warmth for Nikon.

For me, most gear is easily "good enough," so it boils down to what I like, and I like Pentax.

And, I guess its a quirk of my personality, if I had " two professional photographers screaming at me about what camera to buy," I wouldn't heed either's recommendation, just because I'm like that.

[akanarya]

if you consider d610, you may also look at d750, tilting screen can be a plus when you are at crowded place.
Besides it is said that its overall af performance, including low light, is better than d610.

[schnitzer79]

out of the k-3 and the fuji, id take the k-3 because firstly I hate flip out screens, and secondly the fuji costs more without being significantly better. the only advantage over the others is weight and size.
now between the d610 and the k-3, its a tough call. the nikon is a full frame (even though both are 24mp) and handles higher ISO much better and has better battery life. the k-3 however shoots faster, 8fps vs 6fps of the nikon, which could prove to be useful during those live band shots. It also has internal image stabilization. Not too sure about low light autofocus accuracy on the D610, so dont know which is better.

the k-3 is almost half the price if im not mistaken, not sure how cheap you found the nikon, but the k-3 new is around $800 (i think). Also think about the amazing quality and compactness of the Pentax ltds That is a huge plus!!

Personally, id go for the k-3 because I like to stand out from the crowd. you turn your head these days and all you see are nikons and canons. and when people ask me what camera I have and I say "Pentax", they look at me with a troubled face because they are not familiar with the brand. I do live in Cyprus by the way which is a small island so this is expected. But the pictures do the talking. its not about what gear you have, its how you use it.
and its all about the photographers skills. For me, its 80% photographer, 20% camera. Just do what feels good in your heart.

[CeciProAm]

HYS - are you my New York friend in disguise? lol, He is convinced the 610 is the way to go but it bothers me to pay so much
more for that camera when I know part of my money is going to pay for some of those insipid Ashton Kutcher commercials~

Luffluss~ we are definitely simpatico & I guess we have the same quirk because the more they both pushed me, the less I wanted
either of those cameras & really dug in my heels for the K3.
& even tho Abe's has an incredible price on the 610, the pricing is that much better on the k3 right now, so I can afford the grip &
the new 360 flash & a few extras!

Thank you both for your input.
This decision has not been easy. I have a chance to do some work for two major music magazines and I thought I had to go full
frame but I was talking to one of the editors and he said very few of their photographers use full frame unless it is a cover portrait.

I think I want to get the k3 and know it inside and out and prepare happily for the Pentax Full Frame debut!

[rawr]

My 2c worth.

I've used both the D610 and the K-3. Both are nice, good quality cameras. You won't really go wrong with either, to be honest. Never touched the Xt1.

I'd be comfortable shooting either the D610 or the K-3 for musicians and bands. Perhaps more the K-3, because the focus is more confident in low-light than the D610 (the K-3 will focus down to -3 EV lighting, which is next to pitch black, whilst the D610 will only focus down to -1 EV, which is pretty average). White balance performance of both is great, viewfinders are equally good, live view works well for both, having a larger sensor means the D610 has the edge in low-light image quality, (but if you keep the ISO of either the D610 or the K-3 below ISO 3200 you would be hard pressed to tell their images apart). Shooting speed (frames per second) on the K-3 is also about 30% faster than the D610, and the K-3 has a bigger buffer than the D610. D610 has better video specs than K-3, but I've never used video on either, so can't really comment.

For outdoors use, and maybe bands in rough venues , K-3 is the clear way to go. It's miles tougher, more weatherproof etc than the D610. The D610 feels like a plastic toy compared to the K-3 sometimes.

Nikon has some nice lenses, so does Pentax, so you have lots of great options either way. The lenses to choose will depend on the shooting purpose, but if money was not an issue... for Pentax go with the FA 31, DA 55, FA 77, DFA 100 Macro, DA*16-50, DA*50-135 or DA*60-250, DA*300

---

Last edited by rawr; 11-21-2014 at 12:56 AM.

[robjmitchell]

They are all good, Great glass is about the same price for the two aps-c although pentax limiteds have that awesome build quality. Nikon FF is more expensive and heavy although there are a few bargins like the 85/1.8.
The big advantage with pentax is the in body lens stabilisation that the other two lack, and the excellent low light focus of the K-3.
On a budget, get the 50/1.8, if you can afford it get the 77ltd!

The K3 has the best feature set when you consider build and IBIS so just get it unless 1/ you prefer an EVF over an optical view finder or really need fast wide lenses, or 2/ you really need High ISO performance of a FF camera to stop motion or want the really awesome nikon 14-24 (but don't need filters or the ability to shoot into the sun)

[Sandy Hancock]

I have shot a lot of live music with the K-3 and it is a great performer. APS-C has an advantage (smaller size, more reach) over full frame for predominantly telephoto shooting. I usually put a wider lens on my K-5 IIs and a fisheye on my K-01 and carry all three at big festivals.

The D610 has a slower burst rate and slower maximum shutter speed, lower maximum ISO (by three stops) and less dynamic range (I think). So it wouldn't be my first choice for gigs; the D750 looks a better option to me.

I can't comment on the Fuji.

[CeciProAm]

That DA 55 is calling my name but my bank is saying NO, not now~!

Great information rawr & rob, thank you both~

[kooks]

The only advantage of the Nikon D610 is the FF sensor.. besides that the K3 stand up in almost everything.. So it basically depends how BAD you will like to have FF sensor at this time, do you really need it? or with APS-C is enough? .. if you shoot in low light a lot perhaps the FF will help ou manage this, and is not that you wont be able to do it with the K3, ofcourse you will, and pretty good.. but FF gives you better ISO performance.. What i will recomend is to get the K3, buy the Sigma 18-35 f1.8 .. and perhaps the Sigma 50mm f1.4 art, and you are ready to go for portraits and musicians.

[Ventzy]

I have gone back & forth all day with two professional photographers screaming at me about what camera to buy;
One works for a very upscale NYC ad agency & he swears by the Nikon 610/said he uses it more than his D4 &
the 610 price is amazing right now at that place in Maine...........
And then another professional friend who does fashion & celebrity portraits in LA had me talked into the Fuji Xt1
but I kept coming back to how much I wanted the k3 and with all the discounts right now........I am about to push
the button on the deals at Adorama (of course using the Pentax Forum link!)
And I guess I want a bunch of you to reinforce my decision...with concrete facts that I can throw in my friend's
faces when they try to tell me I am an idiot~
So, mostly I shoot musicians portraits & life action bands with the random friend/family portrait thrown in the mix
So tell me....if money wasn't an object & your choice was
Fuji Xt1
Nikon D610
or Pentax k3
which one would you buy & WHY?
Also, any suggestions on lenses would be appreciated.
I have a some old standard lenses from my k1000 & my busted k5 but I want the best for my k3~!~!~~

Camera alone is not very important. Lens are! My choice is Pentax. Because have ultimate choice of primes, with no equivalent (my opinion).

To have right choice, better is to search in internet and look about pictures in condition which are near to your plans... Perfect MTF and technical parameters don't mean perfect picture, believe me

Here are my reviews for:

Pentax K-3
SMC DA* 55mm f/1.4 SDM
SMC PENTAX FA 31mm f/1.8 AL
HD PENTAX DA 15mm F4 ED AL Limited
Pentax DA* 300mm f/4 ED [IF] SDM

and more...
Sorry, all of them are in Bulgarian, but pictures are possible to read in English...

[freerider]

Camera alone is not very important. Lens are! My choice is Pentax. Because have ultimate choice of primes, with no equivalent (my opinion).

+1

I had a d600 for several months, and while it produces amazing images, Nikon's prime selection just doesn't appeal to me.

[LensBeginner]

I'd second the K3 because of my existing and nice lens collection.

[rawr]

I also forgot to mention the quiet shutter of the K-3. It's a nice, useful feature.
The D610 shutter noise is always noticeable, even when using the 'Quiet' modes.

At a rock concert you may not care about shutter noise, but at a piano recital you might.