[redcat]

After using the k3 for a few years now and shoot mainly portrait, my method up untill now was using OVF, compose the frame & choose a focus point on the nearest eye.
This method was effective on static portrait and worked for quite a while but now that i got kids and they move a lot I feel frustrated with this method, missed so many shots and got many out of focus ones.
I'm ready to jump ship to a mirrorless (because of their eye-AF) but I gave my K3 a second chance today (probably the last chance if failed) in a pseudo-mirrorless style : Liveview and... i was pleasantly surprised !
The K3 liveview AF and face detection is pretty good even in low light (iso 3200) and detect face+eye decently ! So i'll dust-off my own holy trinity (HD DA15, FA31, FA77) and give them a try with my "new" found method in a long session tomorrow, hope that I dont have to say goodbye to these great lens (they are small and have magic in them...when focus correctly)

[richard0170]

I would not trade in your K3 and other gear for mirrorless even if you find our new method inadequate. I have a Fuji XE2s as well as Pentax gear. It is fast, light and I love it - but the big downside to mirrorless, for me at least, is the fact it keeps turning itself off. I find it very annoying to raise the camera to my eyes only to a black void! f course my Pentax does the same thing but I can at least still see the subject, and not be thrown out of sorts.
You can pick up a decent XE2s or XT10 pretty cheaply nowadays - couple that with their 50mm f2 lens and you will have a decent portrait set up hopefully without breaking the bank. I you do not suffer from the same aggravation I do (this is a personal thing after all) you can easily fully upgrade later.
There are other things about your K3 you should consider over the mirrorless options:-
1. the K3 has outstanding ergonomics and functionality
2 A massive range of legacy glass available without resorting to adaptors
3 Great build quality of the K3.
4 Some people just do not like EVFs due to eyesight issues- I personally do not mind either way but you at least need to try before you buy

[microlight]

I have also taken to using both the face detect and tracking modes in LV on the K-3II (most recently at a childrens' party in low light), and am also pretty impressed! As someone who's only very rarely used LV, I'll certainly be using it more now.

If you are still thinking of buying a mirrorless after getting used to your K3 LV stay with Pentax and buy the K-01. You still have a Pentax and you can use all the lenses you love. See the review that unluckily underrated this camera Pentax K-01 Review: Digital Photography Review. I think it is a great camera for shooting with primes (and you mentioned some of them). It is one of the three camera's I love: the others are the Samsung GX10 (K10D's sibling) and the lovely Samsung NX100.

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Last edited by Unregistered User; 01-18-2020 at 01:34 PM. Reason: corrected a grammar mistake

[redcat]

So i did a long session (~200 photos) and the number of blurry pics are around 30, these includes user errors, slow shutter speed, slow AF, kids move too sudden...
In conclusion it's around 10-15% AF's fault. It's totally acceptable for me, this new way of shooting is a relief, I just compose and trust the camera to detect the face and focus correctly, the downside is fast shooting is not possible, i have to wait for the mirror to go up after each shot for the liveview to be available for the next shot. But for now, that's good enough

PS: almost all shots are shot wide open (f1.8) so if close down at ~f4 the results will be better for sure. I'm just obsessed with bokeh in my pics

[climbmountainway]

Yes, since you already have the expensive fantastic Bushido glass trio, just wait for the New Flagship coming out this year. Most likely it will address the focus issues. If not, we can expect Pentax (and likely Oly) to die from marketitus disease. Proven Quality achieved over T I M E, and great glass is why I have stuck with Pentax. The New 2020 APS-C Flagship must have accurate and fast AF, with working tracking and follow focus, and at least code carrying 10 or 12 bit 4K video, or I will go to the soon to be released Fujifilm X-T4 line, and only retain a core of my now abundant Pentax gear. This will mean Pentax-Richo will lose a forty year published professional advocate of their gear. I'll be a prophet here. If they lose me for these reasons, they will wax cold on any related features market share future.

I use the early M and A K Mount lenses currently by adapters and rail focusing mechanisms on my video bodies to do pull focus video work. But this too is getting old. Very old. Although the glass here is hand picked and excellent in every way, when moving from film to sensor capture they did not keep their promise to retain the original autofocus aperture Fstop indicating K mount coupling mechanism, as dropped making Ks and Ms usable for their inclusive modern metering. Chinon managed to come out with a motorized mechanical K Mount body in the film days which could choose the aperture and/or the shutter speed without the later on/in lens A aperture feature (or later electrical contacts). Pentax could now add a feature to selectively do this, if they wished to: and rescue their marketplace future as well (even if not meeting my expected AF and 4K video coding recording criteria).

So, keeping the K mount alive, with its long flange lens mounting distance is at a crossroads. Will Richo-Pentax "Imaging" live up to its name?

[redcat]

Exactly, the lens are what keeping me untill this day, they are compact, the color and bokeh are amazing ! I wonder why other milc brands don't release small lens (a huge lens on a milc is a big turnoff)

[Aaron28]

PS: almost all shots are shot wide open (f1.8) so if close down at ~f4 the results will be better for sure. I'm just obsessed with bokeh in my pics

this is @BruceBanner preferred manner of high paced AF acquisition and tells me constantly to use such method...i'm too old and hafta have my peeper at the peeper hole..
he is totally obsessed with wide open shooting/bokeh as well.....

[stevebrot]

i have to wait for the mirror to go up after each shot for the liveview to be available for the next shot.

??? The mirror stays up on the K-3 in LV. You can confirm by simply putting your eye to the optical viewfinder when doing a LV exposure. The viewfinder stays dark. The wait is for stuff other than the mirror.


Steve

[redcat]

??? The mirror stays up on the K-3 in LV. You can confirm by simply putting your eye to the optical viewfinder when doing a LV exposure. The viewfinder stays dark. The wait is for stuff other than the mirror.
Steve

I see the LV blackouts after the shutter closes and a sound as if the mirror is lifted up before i can see the LV again, my theory is that K3's default mode is OVF so the mirror is down after each shoot and then detects that it's in LV mode so the mirror is up again, I can be totally wrong though

---------- Post added 01-21-20 at 05:42 AM ----------

I would not trade in your K3 and other gear for mirrorless even if you find our new method inadequate. I have a Fuji XE2s as well as Pentax gear. It is fast, light and I love it - but the big downside to mirrorless, for me at least, is the fact it keeps turning itself off. I find it very annoying to raise the camera to my eyes only to a black void! f course my Pentax does the same thing but I can at least still see the subject, and not be thrown out of sorts.
You can pick up a decent XE2s or XT10 pretty cheaply nowadays - couple that with their 50mm f2 lens and you will have a decent portrait set up hopefully without breaking the bank. I you do not suffer from the same aggravation I do (this is a personal thing after all) you can easily fully upgrade later.
There are other things about your K3 you should consider over the mirrorless options:-
1. the K3 has outstanding ergonomics and functionality
2 A massive range of legacy glass available without resorting to adaptors
3 Great build quality of the K3.
4 Some people just do not like EVFs due to eyesight issues- I personally do not mind either way but you at least need to try before you buy

Totally agree about the K3 build, ergonomics and functionality... it's a "almost perfect" camera, my only issue is with AF speed, but i think I can live with it for now, I have a very strong feeling that Pentax will release a mirrorless if they want to stay in the business (just like when they release the Fullframe, late at the game as always ^^ )

[BruceBanner]

this is @BruceBanner preferred manner of high paced AF acquisition and tells me constantly to use such method...i'm too old and hafta have my peeper at the peeper hole..
he is totally obsessed with wide open shooting/bokeh as well.....

I actually have a Focus Screen replacement for my K-1 en route, Canon S Type, hopefully it does what it says and assists with wide open shooting through the 'peeper'. heh

[Jonathan Mac]

I've done the same but the K-3 is no match for my X-T20 in this regard. The X-T20 recognises faces and eyes better and has better AF so gets me far more keepers. I've been testing out my new HD FA 35/2 for that purpose for the last few days, thinking it'd be able to compete with X-T20+35/1.4 but it's no match against the mirrorless.

[BruceBanner]

I've done the same but the K-3 is no match for my X-T20 in this regard. The X-T20 recognises faces and eyes better and has better AF so gets me far more keepers. I've been testing out my new HD FA 35/2 for that purpose for the last few days, thinking it'd be able to compete with X-T20+35/1.4 but it's no match against the mirrorless.

Done the same? You mean replace the focusing screen?

I have no doubt the X-T20 is better for AF than Pentax, I can imagine many modern cameras to being better at AF than Pentax. My interest and reason for replacing the focusing screen in my K-1 is to actually try and use more Manual Focus glass with the eye piece rather than the Live View screen.

[beachgardener]

use more Manual Focus glass with the eye piece rather than the Live View screen.

That is a game changer, you'll get your real images, (and you seem to have loads of good scenes), rather than the camera manufacturer doing all the work for you.
Nice one. Auto focus is good too but manual is magic

[stevebrot]

I see the LV blackouts after the shutter closes and a sound as if the mirror is lifted up before i can see the LV again, my theory is that K3's default mode is OVF so the mirror is down after each shoot and then detects that it's in LV mode so the mirror is up again, I can be totally wrong though

If it is down, the view out the lens is unobstructed and you should at least see a flash similar to burst shooting using the optical viewfinder. The sound you hear is the shutter cycling for the exposure (close --> open --> close --> open)*. FWIW, having the mirror stay up for exposure in live was a new feature on the K-3 and was notable at the time. Previous models cycled the mirror.


Steve

* No electronic first curtain on the K-3.