I'd like to compliment
brewmaster15's thread about his initial impressions of a K-3.
I finally made the jump to a K-3 from a K-30 thanks to Adorama's recent sale that included a battery grip, DA 50mm lens, and a FluCard. My FluCard is being shipped separately and I haven't tried the DA 50mm yet. It's raining outside and I've only experimented indoors with a FA 31mm and 43mm lenses. The battery grip is filled with six AA Eneloops rated at 1900 mA each. Here are my initial impressions.
- The camera feels slightly heavier and bulkier than a K-30. I'm a small Russian dude with small hands. My hands cannot fully wrap around the grip as comfortably on K-3. It's not bad but the K-30 was more comfortable. Something new to get used to?
- The battery grip makes the camera very heavy and it feels huge! I feel like I am holding a powerful and professional photographic tool. Something else to get used to?
- The tactile feedback from the buttons is much better on the K-3. The shutter button has a very nice and light feel. On the K-30 I must press harder and counteract the action with my left hand. On the K-3 I think I am jerking the camera a bit. I must adjust my technique.
- The main LCD screen on the K-3 has more contrast and looks sharper/brighter. There is top LCD screen on the K-30. I need to get used to the K-3 having one and learn how to use the information on it vs. using the main LCD. Both screens together seem to duplicate the displayed information. I like how the main LCD screen rotates when I rotate the body. Nice!
- The K-3 has a lot more buttons and interactions available to the user. I don't feel like I need to dig through menus as much now. There is a learning curve here but I don't think it's very steep coming from a K-30.
- AF speed seems faster and AF lock seems easier to achieve. This will be proven (or disproven) over time.
- IQ is very, very good! At higher ISO settings my K-30 seems to have more relative chroma noise but the K-3 seems to have more luminance noise. Since the chroma noise seems lower on the K-3 the luminance noise stands out more to me. The luminance noise is probably lower on the K-3 than the K-30. This is another area of the camera that will be proven or disproven over time.
- The owners manual for the K-3 seems a bit thin compared to the K-30. Maybe the different formatting is throwing me off. I think if I came into the K-3 as a new Pentaxian I feel I would be very confused. Thankfully I learned a lot about the baseline and common features on my K-30. The transition for me is easy going for now.
My experience with Adorama
has been top notch! I initially purchased a bundle for the body, lens, and grip but no FluCard. Two days later Adorama posted a sale for almost the same price that included the same pieces plus a FluCard this time. I felt bad and anxious about missing the sale. Helen Oster at Adorama equalized my bundle with the sale and all is well. My FluCard is on its way to me. I'm so glad I went with Adorama instead of buying from eBay. There probably isn't an eBay seller that can match this level of service.
Adorama packed everything very well and everything arrived in great shape!
My K-3 came with firmware v1.11. That tells me this recently built hardware coming fresh from the factory. It's not old inventory. I have taken 37 shots and my last file is named IMGP0037. The shutter count webpage on Pentax Forums tells me my shutter count is 38.
I understand that there are rumours of a new full frame or APS flagship K-mount body coming. My initial plan was to wait for that fabled body. With the K-3 in my hands now I will pass on the next flagship product. The K-3 has a lot of technical advances over the K-30 that enable me to learn new techniques. Maybe I'll get the flagship after this one coming up.