Originally posted by Madaboutpix Perfectly happy with my now 14,000+ shutter count K-3 picked up in 2014. Try to balance body purchases against lens and key accessory acquisitions, keeping my processing software up-to-date, etc., so there is limited wriggle room even within my humble photo budget.But, yes, if Ricoh came up with a more-than-incremental-upgrade APS-C flagship, I would certainly be tempted to buy it. Would expect it to incorporate recent technologies like pixel shift (pretty much standard by now) and, even more importantly, focus stacking (as debuted in the KP). Better high-ISO without losing grip on low-ISO image quality, an upgraded AF module, and white balance improvements should be a given. And, please, no compromises on ergonomics. A flagship model must be simply the best throw-anything-at-me photographic tool it can possibly be in its line, and not a hipster object.Just hope that they won't make it so expensive as to put it out of my reach. As would be the case for any new body that would retail for more than, say, 1,200 or 1,300 euros. The K-7 and K-3 both stayed well below that personal crunch point, but those days may well be over ...At any rate, I'm rarely among the first adopters of new models, both for budget and refusal-to-be-a-beta tester reasons.
Since the March of 2017, when I posted to this thread, we have learned quite a bit about the upcoming K-3 III, and I must say Ricoh Imaging has convinced me that the new flagship should be compelling enough in what it will bring to my photography. I kinda dig why its designers are so proud of it, and you can sense that it goes beyond mere marketing blah. It would also seem that besides the nice touches they have so leisurely extolled in their product stories, they might have actually managed to pull off a marked improvement of their tracking AF. With a lens like the affordable 50-300 PLM, that beast might finally be a decent family action camera. Even at slightly less than D500-level performance, it would make a real difference. And I have come to accept that such an overall proposition must have its price tag. Therefore, a couple of months ago, I started putting aside a bit of money every week for the new camera, which I definitely want to get, be it this year or (more likely) next year, or even later.
Meanwhile, my trusty K-3 will serve me just as well as it has for the past 6+ years. It's been a hell of a camera, that's for sure. And with DxO PL4 on my computer, its output still looks decidedly gorgeous for a camera purchased back in 2014.
---------- Post added 01-23-21 at 11:46 PM ----------
Originally posted by Larrymc After the K-3III, I might try to pick up a DA35 f/2.8 macro but that will be it for me.
Great idea, Larry. I've owned the smc version of that lens since 2012, but took a while really getting the hang of it. Over the last one or two years, this little gem has become one of the most essential tools in my kit, hands down. What a capable macro standard this is, absolutely love it.