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12-11-2013, 10:43 AM   #16
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QuoteOriginally posted by Giklab Quote
If all you want to do is transfer files, any WIFI card will work, like rawr said. Although I find it a bit hard to believe you don't own a single microUSB cable...
USB3 has a different connector - it's powered. Looks like two microUSBs stuck together, with a small crimp on one of them making it smaller. But I *think* a microUSB cable would work as long as the camera doesn't need the powered connection or can use USB2 mode. Never tried it, though - my only USB3 device (a drive case) came with a cable (which snapped the internal connector off the circuit board after about 6 months while I was backing up photos, so I had to run recovery software on the hard drive… grrrrrrr)

It might be that the reason they didn't include a cable is that for at least some USB3 devices, to use them on a computer that doesn't support USB3, you have to plug them into 2 USB ports - a single one won't provide enough power.

Wifi is way too slow for transfer of raw. It's great for zapping a small JPG (shooting raw+jpg) to your tablet or laptop (or phone) to review a larger version of the image than the camera screen (especially with Shuttersnitch), though.

I really don't understand why Pentax cameras don't support tethered (with a cable) shooting straight out of the box, for both windows and mac. Even the lowest end nikon and canon SLRs do. I never really used it with my nikon, but there have been times lately that I'd have liked to have that option.

BTW - if you're on a laptop that has an ExpressCard slot (most Macbook Pros have them), get an SD card reader for it - it's a 3.2 Gbit/s connection, vs 280Mbit/s for USB2. And they're like $30 on amazon.

12-11-2013, 10:47 AM   #17
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Well, this changes things a bit, I know what a USB3 plug looks like (I have an external drive with it) but I was under the impression the camera had an ordinary microUSB socket.
Although, now that I think about it, common sense FTW...
12-11-2013, 10:48 AM   #18
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QuoteOriginally posted by Ztrejfer Quote
Seems I either have to invest in another special cable (expensive I guess)
Amazon.com: AmazonBasics 3.0 A Male to Micro B USB Cable (3 Feet/0.9 Meters): Computers & Accessories
$5.50 to $7 depending on how long you want it to be (3/6/9 feet)
12-11-2013, 10:51 AM   #19
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QuoteOriginally posted by Giklab Quote
Well, this changes things a bit, I know what a USB3 plug looks like (I have an external drive with it) but I was under the impression the camera had an ordinary microUSB socket.
Although, now that I think about it, common sense FTW...
Nope:


However!:
QuoteQuote:
Micro-USB 3.0 (Micro-B) plug and receptacle. A Micro-USB 3.0 plug is for small, portable devices, such as smartphones, digital cameras, GPS devices and more. The Micro-USB 3.0 receptacle is backward compatible with the Micro-USB 2.0 plug.
-- Source: USB.org

12-11-2013, 10:51 AM   #20
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QuoteOriginally posted by Ztrejfer Quote
- I cannot transfer data (there was no cable in the box. Yes, I can buy one - but no cable for a camera in this price class? Come on!)
These cables cost 1$ and are so common nowadays that it's hard to believe you don't have a few lying around. I think it's commendable that Pentax decided to reduce their carbon footprint by not shipping yet another duplicate.

QuoteOriginally posted by Ztrejfer Quote
- The format of it's RAW files cannot be opened in Aperture.
the problem is with Apple, not Pentax. And I guess that as a Apple user you might not be used to the universally used microUSB cable. No offense to you but that company is not known for supporting worldwide standards.
12-11-2013, 11:05 AM   #21
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QuoteOriginally posted by bdery Quote
These cables cost 1$ and are so common nowadays that it's hard to believe you don't have a few lying around. I think it's commendable that Pentax decided to reduce their carbon footprint by not shipping yet another duplicate.



the problem is with Apple, not Pentax. And I guess that as a Apple user you might not be used to the universally used microUSB cable. No offense to you but that company is not known for supporting worldwide standards.
1) Not the same cable - see above.
2) Nothing fully supports K3's raw files yet. Apple has nothing to do with it. Brush the chip off your shoulder.
12-11-2013, 11:51 AM   #22
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QuoteOriginally posted by Ztrejfer Quote
I have a brand new K-3 - and no possibility at the moment to transfer photos to Aperture on my Mac.

So - I googled and found a Flucard for Pentax K-3 here:

Ricoh's Flucard

- and for sale here:

Flucard for sale - on March 2014 !

Seems I either have to invest in another special cable (expensive I guess), or wait UNTIL MARCH 2014 ! ! !

I was so fond of this new Pentax K-3 - but I've had nothing but trouble with it:

- I cannot transfer data (there was no cable in the box. Yes, I can buy one - but no cable for a camera in this price class? Come on!)
- The format of it's RAW files cannot be opened in Aperture.
- Point three: I cannot find anything else to whine about - but the above is also enough!

>sigh<
I just spoke with someone at Pentax directly and the word I had as of yesterday was sometime in January. They'd thought it was this month, but now it may be another 30 days.

12-11-2013, 12:03 PM   #23
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QuoteOriginally posted by narual Quote
2) Nothing fully supports K3's raw files yet. Apple has nothing to do with it. Brush the chip off your shoulder.
The Silkypix-based Ricoh Digital Camera Utility that came in the box does, and so does the 3rd party Mac software Iridient Developer (PEF and DNG). If a one-person software company can support K-3 PEFs in 10 days, the only reason more companies do not is because of their software update schedules.

Apple chooses when to update their OS, which is where the dcraw code to read new camera raw file formats sits, so Apple still has a lot to do with it. (Although the quote you referenced has some bollocks about Apple not supporting USB 3.0 or microUSB.)
12-11-2013, 12:10 PM   #24
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QuoteOriginally posted by narual Quote
1) Not the same cable - see above.
2) Nothing fully supports K3's raw files yet. Apple has nothing to do with it. Brush the chip off your shoulder.
The USB-3 cable needed by the K-3 is indeed a standard USB cable that you can buy from anywhere.

If you want to benefit from the increased speed of USB-3 then you of course need a USB 3 cable, but a standard one, not something specific to Pentax.

Any old micro USB-2 cable will also work perfectly with the K-3 except that of course you don;t get the benefit of the higher speed of USB-3. I have used without any problem the one that I use to charge my Samsung phone. I can write at 10MB/s to the card in the camera and read at 20MB/s with it.

Regarding RAW files AFAIK any software that can read DNG can work with the K-3 RAW files, provided of course that you record them in DNG rather than PEF.

The only things that might not work right are some settings not being properly interpreted. In particular the colour balance does get misinterpreted quite a bit. However none of these settings actually affect the actual image in the DNG - they just affect the starting point settings in your raw processor. You can just ignore these initial settings and use your own.
12-11-2013, 12:25 PM   #25
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QuoteOriginally posted by lister6520 Quote
The USB-3 cable needed by the K-3 is indeed a standard USB cable that you can buy from anywhere.

If you want to benefit from the increased speed of USB-3 then you of course need a USB 3 cable, but a standard one, not something specific to Pentax.

Any old micro USB-2 cable will also work perfectly with the K-3 except that of course you don;t get the benefit of the higher speed of USB-3. I have used without any problem the one that I use to charge my Samsung phone. I can write at 10MB/s to the card in the camera and read at 20MB/s with it.

Regarding RAW files AFAIK any software that can read DNG can work with the K-3 RAW files, provided of course that you record them in DNG rather than PEF.

The only things that might not work right are some settings not being properly interpreted. In particular the colour balance does get misinterpreted quite a bit. However none of these settings actually affect the actual image in the DNG - they just affect the starting point settings in your raw processor. You can just ignore these initial settings and use your own.
Sorta... it is ONE of the standards.

I have several USB 3.0 drive enclosures and there are two kinds of USB 3.0 cables.

1. Looks like a USB connection on both ends, but is blue plastic inside vs. white.
2. Looks like a USB connection on one end with blue plastic inside vs. white and the OTHER end has the metal jagged shape connector like the K-3 supports.

Don't just walk into a store asking for a "standard" USB 3.0 cable. Make sure it's the kind you need. (#2 in my list)
12-11-2013, 12:38 PM - 1 Like   #26
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It's not so much different standards as different sizes. What you want to ask for is a micro usb-3 cable, of which AFAIK there is only one type. The type you refer to in (1) is not as micro USB-3 cable but just a 'plain' USB-3 cable.

The former is used mostly on small portable devices such as phones, MP3 players and the like while the latter is used more for printers, monitors, hubs and such. It's just a matter of preferring a more robust and less fiddly connector where it doesn't need to be small and using the micro only where size matters.

(I do realise now that I did inadvertently leave the 'micros' out in my post above.)
12-11-2013, 01:12 PM   #27
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Any USB cable has 2 ends. For USB 3, there are 4 different plugs:
USB3 Standard A Plug - looks like standard USB cord. Usually has some blue plastic inside it. Extra wires inside, wholly backwards compatible. This will almost always be on at least one end of a cable
USB3 Standard A Receptacle - the female version of the above plug. Used for extension cables and for universal cables (i.e., a USB cable that comes with a bunch of different ends for different devices)
USB3 Standard B Plug - Squareish. Usually used for printers and desktop external drives. Differs from USB2 in that it has a second little bit on it to carry the extra wires. The receptacle is backwards compatible, but the plug is not.
Micro-USB 3.0 Micro-B Plug - As noted above, wider than USB2's micro-usb plug, with a bit of a crimp in it. The receptacle is backwards compatible, the plug is not.

USB 3 micro cables are easy to find online, of course, but they're not carried in as many stores as USB 2 micro cables that are a common standard for cellphone chargers and so on. If you use a USB 2 micro in a USB3 micro receptacle, it will work, but it's going to be as slow as USB2 was. But so will a uSB3 cable if you're connecting it to a device that only supports USB2.

Of course the utility that came in the box supports it. Great that the Iridient thing does -- I've never heard of it. Sounds interesting. Will have to check it out even though I don't use a K3.

But yes, Apple and Adobe both have more complicated systems with quality controls in place, and neither one of them releases updates just for a single new camera. It would have been nice if they had the code in place for the K3 and Nikon DF (not sure if the 5300 or 610 needed updates) and whatever else was coming out following their last update in September (November for Apple), but Ricoh may not have released the information to them until the camera was officially launched.

Did either Lightroom or Aperture support dual white balances before? I know I can generate dual color profiles or something with my Colorchecker software, but I've never actually tried doing so and have no idea if they're supported in either program.
12-11-2013, 01:29 PM   #28
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QuoteOriginally posted by narual Quote
Any USB cable has 2 ends.
Unless it's a Y-Cable

12-11-2013, 01:33 PM - 1 Like   #29
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QuoteOriginally posted by panoguy Quote
Look on the right side of your MacBook Pro 15" Retina... that SD-sized slot is a card reader. Pull the SD card out of the K-3 and put it in there (gold contacts down and toward the computer) and it will show up like a drive on your desktop
panoguy: I think you misunderstand why people want this...for the first time in Pentax-land, you can control aperture/shutter/focus point wirelessly. Well, ok, w/o any workarounds like this:
CamRanger | Wireless DSLR Remote Control | iPad Mac Android PC
which basically converts your USB port into a wireless USB port.

Canikon's wifi enabled DSLR bodies have been able to do this for a while w/o any extra hardware...just an app on your smartphone. E.g. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.chainfire.dslrcontroller&hl=en

Prior to this, we could use the eye-fi cards to just transfer smallest size JPEG files. The Transcend one actually is better now because you can transfer files while the camera is still using the card (the eye-fi can't). Neither let you control aperture/shutter/etc...
12-11-2013, 01:46 PM   #30
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QuoteOriginally posted by kenyee Quote
panoguy: I think you misunderstand why people want this...
I think maybe you didn't read the OP's post?

{because I don't have a flu card}
QuoteQuote:
I cannot transfer data
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