My K-3 / 18-135WR kit finally showed up yesterday (Fedex wouldn't leave it on the front porch without a signature). First impressions are fantastic! I'm going to love this camera for a long, long time. I had a K-5 for a couple of years, eventually sold it along with the 18-135WR to move to medium format film (P67). I've been shooting film with the P67 and SuperA for about a year now, along with a K-01 for digital. At some point awhile back, I bought the Fujifilm XE-1 with both zoom lenses and shot that for awhile too. Missed the weather sealing and handling of the K-5, so started waiting patiently for the next body to arrive. Here are my observations with 24hrs of messing around with the new wares:
+ Built like a tank. Everything feels very solid. Good feedback from buttons, wheels and switches.
+ Very responsive. Compared to my K-5 it feels 150% more responsive, to include focusing.
+ C.AF is something I've not used much before. It seems to work great on the K-3, I think I will be utilizing this a bunch.
+ Viewfinder and rear LCD are great. Feels right at home with my previous K-5, only better.
+ Menu system is great. Pretty much the same as the others with some new additions, love it.
+ Level and diopter adjustment works just fine. No issues with mine at all.
- I like the grip on my K-5 better. Totally biased personal preference.
- I liked the K-5 implementation of the AF modes better. I will adjust to it fine, it's not that big of a deal.
- AE-L button is difficult to reach while shooting. I'll probably assign the green button for this task.
- Most of my shots taken so far are underexposed between 1/3 and a full stop. Hopefully a firmware update will fix this.
All in all, very pleased so far. I'll probably keep the 18-135WR for general shooting, and add the 15mm limited, 20-40mm limited, and DA* 60-250 to round out my kit.
I'll throw in a shot of my puppy, Kenji, taken with the 18-135WR in the yard today. Processed in LR4.4 for exposure (+50), contrast (+10), shadows (+100), whites (+31), clarity (+30), vibrance (+25):