[Stargeezer]

Yup!!!!!! I am so happy with the K-3.
I have had less then a week but It took me 2 shots to realize this is a keeper. Both were in focus, something my K-5 could not do.

Its amazes me that I stuck with the K-5 for 2 years. The only thing that kept me in was the da*300 that I have owned for 5 years. I love that lens.

The Keeper rate for the k-5 was probably 20%. No, heck no maybe 5% and I am talking focus keeper rate not quality image keeper rate.
My K-x and even the k-10d had a much more competent autofocus single. If the k-x locked focus I knew I was good to go.


My frustration with the K-5 was overwhelming. Front focus, back focus, double image. Manual focus did not help because my eyes were not good enough.
Of course If i relied on the in focus beep the images would still not be in focus.
It took all the fun out of photography.
I sent it to Pentax with my lenses for repair and it came back the same. Maybe improvement over how bad out of focus images were but still out of focus. Ugh.

Depressing, but I still went for long walks every week with camera in hand. Its my therapy, my cigs, my alcohol.
And maybe I would end up with an image I liked. Maybe! I mean image quality was real good if I could get a focused image.

There Are 5 things I really Like about the K-3, Auto focus, autofocus, autofocus, autofocus, and image quality.
With an added bonus of a significantly brighter viewfinder (I could even use Manual focus if I wanted to) and Lcd screen.

And so here I am. Living Happily ever after with my Pentax and I don't have to start drinking, smoking or therapy?
Joe

[jatrax]

Glad you are enjoying the k-3!! It really is a solid camera and a joy to use.

Sad to see you had so much frustration with the k-5. Mine actually worked quite well although most of my lenses needed AF fine tuning. But the k-3 is head and shoulders better. Not a single lens needed an adjustment to work.

[Dbollman78]

Yup!!!!!! I am so happy with the K-3.
I have had less then a week but It took me 2 shots to realize this is a keeper. Both were in focus, something my K-5 could not do.

Its amazes me that I stuck with the K-5 for 2 years. The only thing that kept me in was the da*300 that I have owned for 5 years. I love that lens.

The Keeper rate for the k-5 was probably 20%. No, heck no maybe 5% and I am talking focus keeper rate not quality image keeper rate.
My K-x and even the k-10d had a much more competent autofocus single. If the k-x locked focus I knew I was good to go.


My frustration with the K-5 was overwhelming. Front focus, back focus, double image. Manual focus did not help because my eyes were not good enough.
Of course If i relied on the in focus beep the images would still not be in focus.
It took all the fun out of photography.
I sent it to Pentax with my lenses for repair and it came back the same. Maybe improvement over how bad out of focus images were but still out of focus. Ugh.

Depressing, but I still went for long walks every week with camera in hand. Its my therapy, my cigs, my alcohol.
And maybe I would end up with an image I liked. Maybe! I mean image quality was real good if I could get a focused image.

There Are 5 things I really Like about the K-3, Auto focus, autofocus, autofocus, autofocus, and image quality.
With an added bonus of a significantly brighter viewfinder (I could even use Manual focus if I wanted to) and Lcd screen.

And so here I am. Living Happily ever after with my Pentax and I don't have to start drinking, smoking or therapy?
Joe

Great post! To shoot the K-3 is to love the K-3. Happy shooting.

[gaweidert]

My K3 arrived today. I too experienced some focus issues with my K5 and K5-IIs. Relying focus confirmation got me in trouble too. Almost all of my lenses are manual focus and these cameras do not snap into focus as well as my old film cameras did. Especially since they have those marvelous micro prism focus aids in the viewfinder. I did spend a lot of time in the yard playing with the cameras this year and greatly improved my keeper rates.

The first few shot I took with my K3 have been very nice. I have only used my Sigma 17 - 70 lens but it locks on quick and hits the mark when focusing.

[Odinz]

I had the same experience as jatrax, many of my lenses needed at least some adjustment on K20 / K5, some even needed a lot, but so far every one of them has be close to dead on with the K3. My Tokina AT-X Pro 80-200/2.8 would miss focus so often I hardly ever used it anymore, with the K3 it has been like getting a brand new lens.

[aleonx3]

snip...
Its amazes me that I stuck with the K-5 for 2 years. The only thing that kept me in was the da*300 that I have owned for 5 years. I love that lens.

The Keeper rate for the k-5 was probably 20%. No, heck no maybe 5% and I am talking focus keeper rate not quality image keeper rate.
My K-x and even the k-10d had a much more competent autofocus single. If the k-x locked focus I knew I was good to go.


My frustration with the K-5 was overwhelming. Front focus, back focus, double image. Manual focus did not help because my eyes were not good enough.
Of course If i relied on the in focus beep the images would still not be in focus.
It took all the fun out of photography.
I sent it to Pentax with my lenses for repair and it came back the same. Maybe improvement over how bad out of focus images were but still out of focus. Ugh.

snip...
Joe

Sorry to hear that you are having so much trouble with your k-5 on nailing the focus; surprised that you didn't abandon the ship but instead, hang in there for so long (others would have bashed Pentax and gone). Focus accuracy is very demanding on long focal length combined with wider aperture (DoF); I had similar experience of frustration on nailing focus before with my k-5 and I did frequent focus accuracy check (using just simple methods-3 AA batteries lining up). I did however sent the k-5 along with all my Pentax lenses (DA* and limited etc.) to Pentax Canada repair centre before my 2-year warranty expires. They did a great job in calibrating not only my camera but all my AF lenses. I don't need any AF find adjustment any more when any one of the lenses is mounted. My k-5IIs was quite accurate from day-1.

You are quite right, if the camera/lens is not up to par on focus accuracy, it take the fun out of photography completely.
Good to hear that you are good with the k-3, and enjoy taking photos again!!

---------- Post added 12-04-2014 at 03:59 PM ----------

My K3 arrived today. I too experienced some focus issues with my K5 and K5-IIs. Relying focus confirmation got me in trouble too. Almost all of my lenses are manual focus and these cameras do not snap into focus as well as my old film cameras did. Especially since they have those marvelous micro prism focus aids in the viewfinder. I did spend a lot of time in the yard playing with the cameras this year and greatly improved my keeper rates.

The first few shot I took with my K3 have been very nice. I have only used my Sigma 17 - 70 lens but it locks on quick and hits the mark when focusing.

Just curious, are you not using PDAF focus confirmation even when you use MF lens?

[ChristianRock]

Well, you tell us if it kept you from switching over to Nikon...

[hjoseph7]

I'm thinking it was your particular K5 that had issues. According to reviews by professional reviewers and owners, the K5 was/is a top notch camera. As a matter of fact it received the title "Best cropped camera of the year" by some magazines a few years back and it was the #1 cropped camera for a while, before the K-5II and K3. You don't get that with a 5-20% keeper rate sorry.

[TER-OR]

Wow, I miss focus sometimes with the K5 but it's always in a predictable situation. When I tested focus all the lenses but one were spot-on, too.
The beep isn't focus confirmation, is it? I turned the beep off long ago - it would be nice if the beep were confirmation.

I was planning to upgrade next year to the K3 but having to put a new roof on the house put the kibosh on that plan.

[SashasMom]

I had similar frustrations with the K-5, but other than that I loved the camera. I shoot lots of dogs and like to use open apertures, so it was very frustrating. I just got a k-3 2 weeks ago and had a commissioned shoot on Sunday. I shot using 2.5 aperture in low light and the focus was spot on. So far I am very happy, but still want to really test it out, hopefully this weekend.

[Stargeezer]

Thank you all for the good thoughts.
A few points on the k-5.

Yes beep = in focus, even my pz-1 has this.
I did have more problems then most and other people had it repaired and it was fixed. I was not so lucky.
I am in florida, usually good light. The k-5 should be predictable under these circumstances.

Focus testing was impossible because focus was so inconsistent. I was not able to fine tune.
Except for a tamron 17- 50 It had major back focus and front focus issues but it was predictable and consistent.
short end front focus. Long end back focus, So why was this predictable and not the other lenses I tested. I don't know!

The da*300 is the lens I use mostly and also gave me the most grief, along with the 18-135.
My f 100 f2.8 and fa 50 1.4 probably had a 50% keeper rate. Even my manual Lenses did ok with the focus beep.

My theory was it was voltage. So I changed battery and charger and still nothing.

I am not totally giving up though. After I run the K-3 through all the motions for a while I will send the k-5 back in for repair.
I have nothing to loose but shipping cost. I still have a year of warranty left.

So now I am going to enjoy the K-3 and all its little idiosyncrasies!!
Joe

[nicoprod]

Could it be possible that the K-5 AF system goes to hell after awhile. After 2 years I couldn't shoot wide open anymore. My AF had become inacurrate. On my 2 K-5... The K-3 definitely saved my pentaxianity.

Bought two K-5's in 2011. Worked them hard, lots of low light, wide open exposures. Upgraded to a pair of K5IIs bodies late last year, as each of the K5's had at least 100K exposures and the K5IIs had better low light AF, useful in theater. Never calibrated any lens, wouldn't know which lens I was putting a body in the dark. Kept one of the K5s as a 3rd body, still use.

I miss focus on dancers because I'm early or late but not because of the camera. Even at 12,800. They do okay with jets and dogs too.

Wow, I miss focus sometimes with the K5 but it's always in a predictable situation. When I tested focus all the lenses but one were spot-on, too.
The beep isn't focus confirmation, is it? I turned the beep off long ago - it would be nice if the beep were confirmation.

I was planning to upgrade next year to the K3 but having to put a new roof on the house put the kibosh on that plan.

The beep is focus confirmation.

[Obin Robinson]

We have a Nikon DSLR at work for official photos. I hated that camera so much that I spent my own money on the K-3 and that's what I use for all official photos. When I took a portrait for a two star admiral I made sure I used the Pentax. So that gives you an idea of my feelings.


obin