Forgot Password
Pentax Camera Forums Home
 

Reply
Show Printable Version Search this Thread
12-08-2014, 06:09 PM   #1
Senior Member




Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Perth - Australia
Photos: Albums
Posts: 226
Pulled the trigger.... k20-k3

After many happy years I am looking to retire my K20.

It has been faultless, although with certain lenses it is now struggling to focus at the wide angle (16-45 / tamron 28/75), it has travelled with me everywhere generally as hand luggage and has copped sea spray when ever it comes out on the boat with us. It has always had the grip attached. It really has been a very trusty camera and creates some amazing shots especially with the tammy 70-200 f2.8 - My favourite lens.. - All up the camera has about 25k shots - certainly not heavy usage compared to some.. i'm unsure whether to sell or keep as a second body..

I have now pulled the trigger on the K3 with grip and flucard pro 8gb - I was going to buy from B&H but CR kennedy have come up with the goods at a slight premium, but not significant, by the time I buy the camera from B&H (with free grip) pay the postage pay the mastercard and bank fees and then pay up for a 3 year squaretrade warranty to get international cover, i'm not too far ahead using B&H. So I have the standard 1 year aussie warranty, local support and an additional 2 year warranty via my credit card cover! I love dealing with B&H, I have nothing but praise for them, but the AUD falling is making imports harder to justify...

Anyway.. looking forward to getting the K3 and climbing the learning curve, and also testing out the new focus speed....

Has anyone got any feedback or tips about the transition from the k20 - k3?

Now to look for LR4-5 upgrade.....

Steve

12-08-2014, 06:14 PM   #2
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
jatrax's Avatar

Join Date: May 2010
Location: Washington Cascades
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 12,991
Congrats, you will love the k-3.

Re transition, I would suggest in Lightroom you start over and not resuse any presets you may have set to run on import. I never had a k-20 but moved from k-5 to k-3 and really had to rework all my presets, the sensor is different and needs treated differently. If you shoot in RAW take a look at the camera calibration tab. it is likely set to 'Adobe standard' which worked fine on the k-5 but on the k-3 there is a significant difference using the 'embedded' profile.
12-08-2014, 06:20 PM   #3
Administrator
Site Webmaster
Adam's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Arizona
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 51,584
QuoteOriginally posted by 5teve Quote
After many happy years I am looking to retire my K20.

It has been faultless, although with certain lenses it is now struggling to focus at the wide angle (16-45 / tamron 28/75), it has travelled with me everywhere generally as hand luggage and has copped sea spray when ever it comes out on the boat with us. It has always had the grip attached. It really has been a very trusty camera and creates some amazing shots especially with the tammy 70-200 f2.8 - My favourite lens.. - All up the camera has about 25k shots - certainly not heavy usage compared to some.. i'm unsure whether to sell or keep as a second body..

I have now pulled the trigger on the K3 with grip and flucard pro 8gb - I was going to buy from B&H but CR kennedy have come up with the goods at a slight premium, but not significant, by the time I buy the camera from B&H (with free grip) pay the postage pay the mastercard and bank fees and then pay up for a 3 year squaretrade warranty to get international cover, i'm not too far ahead using B&H. So I have the standard 1 year aussie warranty, local support and an additional 2 year warranty via my credit card cover! I love dealing with B&H, I have nothing but praise for them, but the AUD falling is making imports harder to justify...

Anyway.. looking forward to getting the K3 and climbing the learning curve, and also testing out the new focus speed....

Has anyone got any feedback or tips about the transition from the k20 - k3?

Now to look for LR4-5 upgrade.....

Steve
Congrats, that's a pretty big upgrade and you'll definitely notice the difference. I think the biggest thing you'll have to get used to is the new control layout. It'll feel a bit weird at first, but trust me, in the long run you'll see that it's far better.

Enjoy the camera

Adam
PentaxForums.com Webmaster (Site Usage Guide | Site Help | My Photography)



PentaxForums.com server and development costs are user-supported. You can help cover these costs by donating or purchasing one of our Pentax eBooks. Or, buy your photo gear from our affiliates, Adorama, B&H Photo, KEH, or Topaz Labs, and get FREE Marketplace access - click here to see how! Trusted Pentax retailers:
12-08-2014, 06:27 PM   #4
Veteran Member
Docrwm's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Somewhere in the Southern US
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 12,285
Enjoy your new camera. Nothing better than that new camera smell!

12-08-2014, 06:35 PM   #5
Senior Member




Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Perth - Australia
Photos: Albums
Posts: 226
Original Poster
QuoteOriginally posted by jatrax Quote
Congrats, you will love the k-3.

Re transition, I would suggest in Lightroom you start over and not resuse any presets you may have set to run on import. I never had a k-20 but moved from k-5 to k-3 and really had to rework all my presets, the sensor is different and needs treated differently. If you shoot in RAW take a look at the camera calibration tab. it is likely set to 'Adobe standard' which worked fine on the k-5 but on the k-3 there is a significant difference using the 'embedded' profile.
Thanks Jatrax - I'm thinking with the K3, i'll start a new catalogue as the existing one is getting a bit heavy and slow (LR4) however i'll see how LR5 handles it.. I always shoot raw, never JPG. I also have an olympus XZ-2 as my underwater camera (in housing of course) when diving so use LR for the raw files from that also. (newb at UW photography, but loving the images this produces)

QuoteOriginally posted by Adam Quote
Congrats, that's a pretty big upgrade and you'll definitely notice the difference. I think the biggest thing you'll have to get used to is the new control layout. It'll feel a bit weird at first, but trust me, in the long run you'll see that it's far better.

Enjoy the camera
Layouts don't bother me too much.. I adapt pretty quickly.. the number of settings may throw me tho I have been pondering an upgrade for some time.. but the k20 just kept on giving... as I mentioned I do not know what to do with it.. keep it, which i'll be sad if I don't use it.. or sell it, which will make me sad too! I think I am mostly looking forward to the AF improvements.. K20 is not great for indoor, but I have still worked it hard in that scenario.. and Outdoor I have never had a problem with speed.. so it will be interesting to see just how much quicker the k3 is! below picture was taken on the K20 on a rocking boat at 200mm while moving, and he came out of the water pretty quickly! Not very sharp, but the camera was quick enough to get it... so I should get more keepers with the K3

12-08-2014, 07:26 PM   #6
Senior Member
Hogdriver's Avatar

Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: USA...Freedom Isn't Free
Posts: 103
You will enjoy the step up to the K3. Spend the time to get acquainted with all of its special features and upgrades. I too have a K20 (and K5iis) and have kept them both. I find myself still using them quite often, either being fitted with different lenses or shooting multiple shots with the different bodies. Still drawn to the great round feel of the K20 and the space for the remote in the grip...something I desire Pentax incorporates in the next (FF) camera body. Enjoy your new photo adventures.
12-09-2014, 06:10 AM   #7
Pentaxian
bdery's Avatar

Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Quebec city, Canada
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 9,352
I also stepped up from the K20D to the K-3. As much as I loved my K20D, I don't miss it. The K-3 is faster at everything, smaller, lighter, has AF in live view, can do movies, has more controls and what's better, more user memories (with more stuff recorded too).

At first I missed that more controls had levers than buttons on the K20D (metering being one) but now I appreciate that I can save those settings in USER modes, and that there are more options available on the K-3.

Enjoy your new camera!


Last edited by bdery; 12-15-2014 at 06:11 AM.
12-13-2014, 11:27 PM   #8
Banned




Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Canberra, Australia
Posts: 423
G'day 5teve, congrats on the purchase. I upgraded from a K-20 (and K10) to the K-3. My very first impression, turning it on and taking a shot, was that the K-3 was a lot more refined / polished than the K-20-era cameras. That initial thought has turned out to be true in all respects.

I too liked the K-20, but I've moved into wedding shooting in the last year or two (to give myself a new challenge) and I found myself quite nervous with the K20 (even more so the k10) when shooting a wedding. I was never totally comfortable that it was doing what I wanted (be it focus, metering, TTL flash)...and it's not good to be shooting a wedding with even small doubts about your kit.

I was hoping the K-3 would alleviate some of that stress, and it has done so more than I hoped. Everything just works better, more reliably, and more predictably, which has freed me up to think about more important things. I can 'lean' on the K-3 like I never could have dreamed of with the K20.

Funnily enough, I'm just preparing for a wedding shoot next weekend, and shuddered when I thought of using the K20. It's very much a standby camera only now (and I really hope I never have to call on it).

Enjoy your new toy, it's certainly a slick little bit of kit. In terms of 'tips', I just concentrated on locating the critical / fundamental controls to begin with, which were a bit different but didn't take too long to become comfortable with. Now I've had 12 months to explore the new bells and whistles, I don't really need or use most of them! They're nice to have, but don't be too daunted by all the new 'options', just worry about the important things to start with.

Last edited by Poit; 12-13-2014 at 11:46 PM.
12-14-2014, 09:47 AM   #9
Closed Account
enoxatnep's Avatar

Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: The edge of nowhere, Alberta, Canada
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 467
I cheated and owned a K-5 between my K20D and the K-3. This made the learning curve much smaller with the K-3 because the K-5 shares the same menu system layout and many of the same features. The only steep learning curve will be wrapping my head around the different AF patterns (zone select and select-area expansion)!
12-15-2014, 01:18 AM   #10
Senior Member




Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Perth - Australia
Photos: Albums
Posts: 226
Original Poster
Well its arrived... and i'm not allowed to play as its now a chrissy present. Turned it on an fired a few shots (no card) just to get a very brief fix.. and yes it seems complex (no worries) and quiet (awesome) and well built (good job) but its still in the box! arrghhh..

anyway.. for those of you interested, ordered direct from cr kennedy, with grip for a very good price (not quite BH photo price, but pretty close to the landed and international warranted pricing of BH Photo) it has firmware 1.11 on it and has a serial starting 6045XXX which I cant say I have seen mentioned on here?

I'll give you an update after i'm allowed to 'play'

Thanks for the tips also.. i'm sure i'll get accustomed to the differences!

Steve

---------- Post added 12-15-2014 at 08:22 AM ----------

QuoteOriginally posted by jatrax Quote
Congrats, you will love the k-3.

Re transition, I would suggest in Lightroom you start over and not resuse any presets you may have set to run on import. I never had a k-20 but moved from k-5 to k-3 and really had to rework all my presets, the sensor is different and needs treated differently. If you shoot in RAW take a look at the camera calibration tab. it is likely set to 'Adobe standard' which worked fine on the k-5 but on the k-3 there is a significant difference using the 'embedded' profile.
I'm only on LR4 (but will upgrade) when you are talking camera calibration tab and using the embedded profile are you referring to files save in DNG or PEF as I generally save PEF files...

Thanks

Steve
12-16-2014, 01:29 AM - 1 Like   #11
Banned




Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Canberra, Australia
Posts: 423
Please do tell us your own experiences when it's unboxed and used in anger. For some reason, perhaps it's a self-affirmation thing, I enjoy reading other people's new experience. Particularly those upgrading from a K20 like I did.
12-16-2014, 05:02 AM   #12
Loyal Site Supporter
Loyal Site Supporter




Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Virginia, USA
Photos: Albums
Posts: 259
Upgraded in September from the K10 & K20 that I have been using for years to the K3. The learning curve wasn't as much as I would have thought, took a few minutes to get used to a couple of the new button locations. (Mainly the AF and the image review buttons) But being able to shoot in lighting conditions that I never would have dreamed of before was fantastic. I can honestly say that I haven't shot a single photo with the K10/K20 since I got the K3.

Steve
12-16-2014, 07:13 AM   #13
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
Spodeworld's Avatar

Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: New Joisey
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 1,370
You can keep the K20, put an M42 adapter on it, assuming you have some of those lenses, and have fun with it using old primes.
01-08-2015, 10:45 PM   #14
Senior Member




Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Perth - Australia
Photos: Albums
Posts: 226
Original Poster
OK I can safely say WOW

Although I have not had too much time to play yet (run my own business and Christmas was hectic with family visiting!) I have still had a chance to get some snap shots..

Impressions? You will have heard them all before

Build quality - Feels the same as the k20 - well built and designed. Solid. I have the grip (which I had on all the time oon the k20)
Speed - Wow - just wow - Very quick focus, continuous high is incredible - lenses feel like new lenses - 16-45, tamron 28-75 and Tamron 70-200
Low light focusing - just this alone justifies the purchase - I cover (voluntarily) a few indoor poorly lit social events and the k20 always struggled - the k3 doesnt
High Iso - I've never really shot hi Iso as the k20 was pretty messy - the k3 makes ISO800 seem 'normal' and the noise cleans up in PP incredibly well.
Live view - much better than the K20 but I tend not to use it - handy when you give it to P&S users to take a photo tho!
Flash metering - Much much much better - P-TTL works! - bounce works - distance appears to be greater (mainly due to correct metering) - Using metz 54af2
Battery life - hard to say using 2 batteries, but its seems good enough for my use, probably not as light on power as the K20 tho
Overall image - seems a bit nicer out of the camera - I shoot raw - and on import LR5 shows what I think are fairly pleasing images without much work.
Menus - There is a lot more to get my head around over the k20! - will be handling this over the coming weeks
General button layout - Love the ISO and exp comp buttons - hate the metering mode button (prefer the dial like the k20) as I review the shot go to change the metering method and then nearly delete the picture! I guess its just different to the K20. Still getting used to the info menu layout, but its very similar in principle to Olympus's super control panel (or theirs is like Pentax's) which I have on my XZ2
Shutter - Is it working?

Anyway some snapshots..

Pentax 16-45





Pentax 16-45 cropped



Tamron 28-75 cropped




Tamron 70-200 cropped


Reply

Bookmarks
  • Submit Thread to Facebook Facebook
  • Submit Thread to Twitter Twitter
  • Submit Thread to Digg Digg
Tags - Make this thread easier to find by adding keywords to it!
bh, calibration, camera, dslr, focus, grip, k-3, k-5, k20, k3, pef, pentax k-3, photo, presets, profile, shots, tab, warranty
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Finally pulled the trigger.......for le Full Frame. hongzhibin1987 Pentax DSLR Discussion 10 09-30-2014 12:48 PM
I pulled the trigger yesterday dakight Pentax K-30 & K-50 13 09-19-2014 09:02 AM
Just pulled the trigger on a K5II ismaelg Pentax K-5 & K-5 II 5 03-14-2014 01:02 PM
Pulled The Trigger Leo315 Welcomes and Introductions 5 05-12-2013 05:02 AM
Finally pulled the trigger! SingingSabre Pentax K-5 & K-5 II 30 04-10-2013 05:52 PM



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 08:10 AM. | See also: NikonForums.com, CanonForums.com part of our network of photo forums!
  • Red (Default)
  • Green
  • Gray
  • Dark
  • Dark Yellow
  • Dark Blue
  • Old Red
  • Old Green
  • Old Gray
  • Dial-Up Style
Hello! It's great to see you back on the forum! Have you considered joining the community?
register
Creating a FREE ACCOUNT takes under a minute, removes ads, and lets you post! [Dismiss]
Top