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11-07-2013, 10:24 AM - 1 Like   #61
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It is so wonderful to hear so many positive initial impressions about the K-3!

11-07-2013, 10:25 AM   #62
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QuoteOriginally posted by Ahab Quote
I usually wait 6 months before getting a new model but I am extremely happy to have purchased this camera.
That's me exactly...
11-07-2013, 11:44 AM   #63
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QuoteOriginally posted by Ahab Quote
I usually wait 6 months before getting a new model but I am extremely happy to have purchased this camera.
QuoteOriginally posted by normhead Quote
That's me exactly...
Same here

Usually very cautious with new stuff.

D.
11-07-2013, 01:11 PM - 2 Likes   #64
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I'm no early adopter either, but the K-3 was just too enticing. No regrets here, it's a magnificent camera.

11-07-2013, 06:04 PM   #65
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There's a silver lining to everything. I'm going through a divorce... so there was nobody here to tell me I couldn't purchase the K3 :-) It came this afternoon, along with the new 360 flash. Yay for new toys!

I'm a very happy camper now. Compared to my K5, the K3's AF.S autofocus is fast and locks with zero (or with very little) hunting, even in dim room with full-moon equivalent lighting. Yes, I'm using the focus assist light... I still need to turn that off and try again without it... but wow, this beats the pants off the fuss-and-fiddle focus of my old K5.

Oh and I love the smaller focus points too - especially since I occasionally like to shoot naturey crap (palm fronds, flowers) with very wide apertures. The smaller points help me narrow in on exactly the part of the leaf or petal I want to remain in focus.

Now let's see how this does on the street, using AF.C to track and capture street candids of people in motion. Going to have to read the manual and try out the options for selecting focus areas, methinks.




Add: And in other good news, they redesigned that crappy battery door on the AF360 flash! Hallelujah!

Last edited by bats; 11-07-2013 at 06:22 PM.
11-08-2013, 03:22 PM   #66
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Happened to meet a Pentax rep in Jessops today who was delivering some K-3's. I got to hold one but unfortunately he didn't have one set up with a lens/ battery. Seems very nice to hold though, very ergonomic and it's surprisingly compact. Thought it would be much bigger.

The Pentax rep said he spends three days a week in the Jessops and the remainder at various trade shows etc. Seems quite a big investment from Pentax. I guess Canikon also do the same though.
11-08-2013, 05:06 PM   #67
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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):


11-08-2013, 06:32 PM   #68
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I tried out all my lenses this morning. Here's my first impression of using the camera.

1. AF is significantly faster than my old K-7 and faster than my wife's K-30. All the lenses feel a lot faster. No issues with front/back focus so far. All the images are very sharp to my eyes.
2. The image preview can now be set to zoom to 100% crop (i.e. magnification factor of x8.3) by the turning of the dial. Especially handy. My K-7 and K-30 can only do x8. Love this feature.
3. I feel the K-3's battery grip somewhat more comfortable than my K-7's. Maybe its just psychology.
4. Camera feel about the same weight as my K-7. Didnt notice much difference.
5. The AF button and green button on the battery grip is on opposite position as compared with my K-7. Not a problem. Just need to re-adjust my habit.
6. I love the camera's menu system. Press the AF button and rotate the dial to select focus method such as spot, SEL, auto, etc. Very very cool.
7. Ditto with the metering button. Press the button and rotate the dial to select spot metering and centre weighted. Very cool. The K-7's way is cumbersome to say the least.
8. Like the LV button that is placed further away from the 4 way dial. The LV button on my K-7 kept accidentally pressed by me when I am using the dial.
9. The AF button at the back of the camera is now at the best position so far. less movement on the finger to reach to the AF button. I
10. AEL button is now pushed further to the right. Don't like this. But I don't know where else Pentax can put this. So I will accept this the way it is.
11. RAW/FX button can be programmed to SR on/off. Great feature. Previously I have to go to the menu to set SR on/off. This is so handy now.
12. The AV/TV/TAV dial can be set so that u don't have to press down the pin to rotate the dial. Very handy. I never like the centre locking pin on my K-7.
13. Flash on the K-3 seems to be a lot more accurate than my K-7. Maybe slightly better than the K-30 but I did not do too much test so far.
14. Camera feels much more snappy. Very enjoyable. This is with all the lenses correction enabled.
15. There is a slight lag for the histogram to come on when the picture is taken. Not sure why. Not a big deal.
16. Live view is greatly improved. I think speed wise almost like the K-01. Less hunting than the K-01 for sure.

I have not used a K-5, K-5 II but for what I have experienced, I would encourage anyone with a K-20, K-7, K-30, K-01 to consider the K-3 as an upgrade. I skip the K-5 and K-5 II for the K-3 and I am very happy thus far.
11-08-2013, 10:32 PM   #69
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QuoteOriginally posted by raider Quote
The AF button at the back of the camera is now at the best position so far. less movement on the finger to reach to the AF button.
First, thanks for sharing your impressions.

The AF button seems to be in a good spot, but I wonder whether the thumb needs to travel a lot more between the AF button and the four-way controller buttons. I like that there isn't that much distance between these controls on the K-5 (II) because I'm constantly moving the AF area selection around between focussing.

How are you coping with the fact that almost all buttons have different positions on the grip compared to the camera? I really don't understand why they did that to this extent.
11-08-2013, 11:11 PM - 1 Like   #70
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QuoteOriginally posted by Class A Quote
First, thanks for sharing your impressions.

The AF button seems to be in a good spot, but I wonder whether the thumb needs to travel a lot more between the AF button and the four-way controller buttons. I like that there isn't that much distance between these controls on the K-5 (II) because I'm constantly moving the AF area selection around between focussing.

How are you coping with the fact that almost all buttons have different positions on the grip compared to the camera? I really don't understand why they did that to this extent.
Hi Class A. I would think that if you are constantly moving the AF area selection and at the same time want to press the actual AF button, then the current arrangement does make the finger travel more.

I also move my AF area constantly. What I did was is to set the AF button to "Cancel AF" and leave the shutter button as the default (i.e. pressing the shutter button will AF)...in this way I find I can get around the new AF button arrangement. Initially I wasn't very comfortable with this new arrangement but after using for an hour or two, I find that I quite like this new arrangement.

And yes, many of the buttons have been re-arranged. They are still quite well placed though....definitely not something I cannot get used to.

Edit: I am not too good at explanation....maybe I should add that when I assign the AF button to cancel AF, say I am using a manual lens, I press the AF button at the same time I turn the focusing ring of the lens...and when the object is in focus, then I press the shutter button to take the picture. By pressing the shutter button and the AF button (set to cancel AF), K-3 does not try to AF and I think this is quite handy.

Last edited by raider; 11-08-2013 at 11:19 PM.
11-08-2013, 11:29 PM   #71
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QuoteOriginally posted by raider Quote
I tried out all my lenses this morning. Here's my first impression of using the camera.
9. The AF button at the back of the camera is now at the best position so far. less movement on the finger to reach to the AF button.
Coming from the K5, I actually don't like it's position as much. To me, it feels a bit awkward because my hand almost rotates foward just to reach the new button's location. Perhaps I'll get used to it but so far, I don't like this. I would re-map it to the green button if I could.
11-08-2013, 11:33 PM   #72
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It does take a bit of getting used to...but when I press the AF button to cancel AF, it is easier for the finger to move the rear dial to change aperture.

The older K-5/K-7 arrangement will make the finger travel further to change aperture.....so I would say there are pros and cons.

Maybe the best position of the AF button would be like what you suggested, i,e. move the AF button to where the green button is now....but then moving the green button elsewhere would be an even worse proposition in my opinion.
11-09-2013, 12:36 AM   #73
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QuoteOriginally posted by scole Quote
Coming from the K5, I actually don't like it's position as much. To me, it feels a bit awkward because my hand almost rotates foward just to reach the new button's location.
Simulating this, I found that I slightly rotate the camera when pressing the AF button (where it would be on a K-3).

In other words, when I press the AF button on the K-5, the camera stays still. When I press at the place where the AF button is on the K-3, the camera slightly moves. I don't think I'll like that new placement.

I wish Ricoh put more Ricoh genes into the camera and allowed remapping of button functions. I very rarely need the green button, but I need the AF button all the time.

I guess I could swap to a "Cancel AF" regime, but I'd prefer to think "positively" and activate AF when I want it (not suppress it when I don't want it).
11-09-2013, 02:00 AM   #74
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QuoteOriginally posted by raider Quote
And yes, many of the buttons have been re-arranged. They are still quite well placed though....definitely not something I cannot get used to.
Yeah, I'm not too worried about a change (although I currently cannot imagine the AF button placement to work for me optimally) because one can adapt to a new layout over time.

What worries me is that the button layout on the grip is not consistent with the button layout on the camera. Everything I do with my camera, I do through "muscle memory" but I don't think my "muscle memory" is good enough to shift contexts, i.e., use one set of movements for landscape and another set of movements for portrait orientation (with the grip).

The "old" D-BG4 pretty much replicates the layout on the camera and there is a very good reason for doing so. I cannot get my head around the fact that the D-BG5 button layout is so different to that of the camera.
11-09-2013, 02:29 AM   #75
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