I'm coming from a K-5 (not a II or IIs), and before that I had a K20D and a K10D and a slew of Canons (including a 1Ds). Got my K-3 today and have already noticed some interesting things. So far it's a great camera, and just what I need for my work (industrial HDR panoramas) and play (family stuff and landscapes).
Rather than bury this stuff in the "shipped" post, here is what I started writing there, but in a new thread:
Good news! The Mestos K-5 arca plate fits perfectly on the K-3. Not sure about other made-for-K-5 plates or attachments, and I didn't get a grip.
The processor is MUCH faster than the K-5. Turning on all the distortion, CA, and vignetting correction does not affect the time to shoot and review, even in burst mode. No more "hourglass" for lens corrections (on a DA 35 Macro Ltd), however there is still a "processing" progress bar for in-camera HDR captures.
Next, the SD card write speed is much faster. I can auto-bracket 5 shots in raw, and still no hourglass. (Of course, I'm using a Lexar Pro UHS-1 card) It even shows all the image previews on the back LCD as it shoots!
Annoyingly (for me at least), there is still now way to have "mirror up" and "exposure bracketing" at the same time (my old Canon bodies did this, and it was great for HDRs). Further, if you choose "Self-timer + Exposure Bracketing" it still puts a 2 second wait in between each bracket if you last used a 2 sec. timer (this is all with "One Push Bracketing" set in Custom functions).
Not sure if this was discussed or detected, but "Movie SR"
is in fact mechanical SR. I can hear the magnets moving the sensor... but I don't know if I'll hear it in the video since the little built-in mic hole is further forward now (above the lensmount, not on the top). EDIT: You can enter live view and record video with no lens on the camera, so I watched the sensor during both operations. In live view (w/ SR on) the sensor moves around in reaction to motion, but when in video mode (recording or not) the sensor does not move at all - the humming is the sensor being held in place. Apparently this means the "Movie SR" is digital only.
Press the "AF Mode" while in Live View or Movie Recording, and big symbols for all the contrast-detect focus modes come up on the back, and naturally, turning the rear dial scrolls between them. Nice! Press it while looking through the viewfinder in (ahem) Stills Mode, and at the bottom of the viewfinder are two displays that show the AF mode (AF.C, AF.A, AF.S) which can be changed with the front dial, and the focus points (Auto, Spot, etc.) with the rear dial. Of course, this is all on the rear LCD as well...
One thing I was most looking forward to - dual SD slots so I can back up while shooting on the job! I've put two identical Lexar Pro 16GB cards in both slots, formatted them both in-camera, and then proceeded to shoot some of my typical raw file HDRs. 5 shots, +-2 ev apart... 8-10 seconds with the camera only semi-responsive...huh? So there's the hourglass! Reminded me of my Sigma DP2 Merrill! It seems (but I'm not sure) that the camera writes all 5 files to one SD card, then when that's done, writes them to the other! Seemed verrrry slow compared to just writing to one SD sot, in fact more than double the time!
I'm also not sure if this is a K-3 thing, or if the K-5II series also had it. You can set the RAW/FX button to be a toggle for the Shake Reduction! Finally, a physical switch again! I've missed that since my K20D, mainly because I take my camera on and off the tripod or panohead all the time.
The DA*50-135 is just as pokey with the K-3 as it is with the K-5. The main difference is that the last little "double check" of focus is much faster on the K-3. Also, there is no repeated blinking of the AF point display (red box) that annoys me with the K-5. Screwdrive seems the same speed to turn the lens (FA and DA Ltds), but overall the AF is much more confident and can lock on with a lot less light! Also, the SR and Screwdrive motors are impossible to hear over the mechanical turning of the lenses... not sure if this is an improvement or not.
Last edited by panoguy; 11-02-2013 at 06:22 AM.