[CDW]

The feel, ergonomics and the sound of the shutter....the same sense of quality you get when you shut the door of a luxury automobile and it sounds like a bank vault.

[tabl10s]

When I started the thread this morning, I had only played with the camera for about 8 minutes. I'm getting used to the AF button and weight and even tried my hand at using Focus Peaking. I'll know what's what when I shoot some Table Tennis on Wednesday between my matches.

I'm also going to show/parade it to one of the players who is also a wedding photog...and a Canon user.

[Schraubstock]

of a luxury automobile and it sounds like a bank vault.

When you open it to take the money out or closing it after the deed is done ? Two different sounds I was told.

[RonHendriks1966]

The K-3 Silver looks just like my K-5 Silver.

[normhead]

I'm one of those guys who puts a card in the camera and starts shooting, so for me it was the speed of everything.

[bdery]

When looking at it, it was the small size when compared to the K20D.

When holding it, it was how natural it felt, like an extension of my hand.

When taking a picture, it was the sound of the shutter.

When trying to change settings, it was the sheer number of buttons.

Now that I'm used to it, it's how well designed it is.

[dosdan]

By "first thing" I'm referring to the first significant shooting session. (Not just test shots around the house.) I noticed the image quality improvement over my K-5.
See: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/172-pentax-k-3/247135-initial-k-3-af-testing.html

I've used the K-3 a number of times since then. I'm currently processing the first athletics meet I shot on 19th January with it, and again I'm commenting to myself "the pictures look better" compared to my K-5 athletic shots. I was not expecting the improvement to be obvious.

The shots I've processed so far from the meet were done with the DA* 60-250/F4 @ f/7.1 and the Sigma 70-200/F2.8 II HSM @ f/8, not the Sigma 70-200/F2.8 II HSM @ f/2.8, which I used in my initial AF.C test shots. So it's not just the visual effect of a shallow DOF or a particular lens. (I used f/2.8 later in the meet, but I've not got to those shots yet.)

At these smaller apertures, used to get groups of strung-out junior athletes in focus, diffraction will probably be limiting the sharpness of the 3.9µm sensels.

Dan.

---

Last edited by dosdan; 01-20-2014 at 02:32 PM.

[derekkite]

I went through the menus to shut off the lights and noises. Then I noticed how quickly the camera disappeared and became an extension of my eyes and hands. I still get that impression. Everything just works, no waiting on the hardware, the exposure and focus are consistent. Very nice.

[Ishpuini]

I know and used both the K-7 and K-5 intensively, and the button layout was known long before I first handled my K-3 (which was only last week-end), so neither body design/build nor button ergonomics struck me when I had it in my hands.

What did strike me was the menus and status screens while I was setting up/exploring the K-3 and at the same time reading through the manual (yes, I read manuals ). I feel the redesign these were subject to is the greatest change on this level since the first Pentax DSLR. I was very pleasantly surprised by this.

Wim

[KDAFA]

I'm a K-7 and K-5II user.

What I first noticed about the K-3:

a. It is a very handsome camera, just a touch larger than the 7 and 5II.

b. The camera is very solid indeed, and built with very good quality materials.

c. The grip is very good, better even than the one in the 7 and 5II, which was already excellent.

d. The camera is really fast and responsive in use.

e. The AWB is shockingly accurate.

[stens]

First thing I noticed was the grip. For me, it's perfect. Second (I don't care if I've just crossed the boundary of the question, I'm on a roll), I noticed the larger screen with the gap less glass. Third, that shutter, wow.

[SpecialK]

It's not in my bag

[geomez]

My one complaint on the K-3 is the AF mode button's location (not the AF button on the rear, but the one on the side). I wish it were the bulbous head of the switch lever itself rather than a separate button. It's super easy to find while looking through the viewfinder and I find myself pushing it (obviously to no avail). And then I have to forcibly contour my finger to reach the 'hidden' and really diminutive AF Mode button above it.

I read most of the comments in this post and while I agree with most of the compliments of the new design compared to the K-7/5/5II, I completely agree with Heie's critique. It's bazzar that they would make such a protrusive round bump on the AF switch and not make it the location of the AF mode button. My only guess is Pentax didn't want their AF area redesign to look too much like the design of the Nikon D7100.



Another thing I noticed is that the viewfinder window has rounded sides. The rounded sides make the window look smaller than the window on the K-5 IIs. I know the pentamirror magnification is higher on the K-3 than the K-5, but the rounded sides of the viewfinder window make me feel like the whole area is smaller.

I LOVE that the top LCD shows when the camera is set to RAW and when it is set to JPEG. The K-5 IIs only showed when it was recording in RAW. I have in the past forgotten that my camera was in JPEG when I thought it was in RAW, and the new designation on the K-3 will give me a clue so I don't spend a day shooting the wrong format.

The power switch is better on the K-3 than any Pentax dslr I've used.

The LV button is a little too high and out of the way for me.

Lastly I prefer the metering switch on the K-5 IIs over the button on the K-3.

[ronin67]

The design and definitely the well thought out ergonomics. This body design is my favorite out of all the DSLRs I have owned (DSLRs owned to date: Nikon D70, D50, D300S, D600, D800E/Canon 50D & 2 Canon 7Ds/Konica-Minolta Maxxum 7D/Sony A350/Pentax *ist DS & K-7/ & Olympus E-1 & E300). The K-3 is a great feeling little TANK of joy!

Ed

[Kerrowdown]

What Was The First Thing You Noticed About The K-3

Does I don't have one count?