[photogem]

@photolady.... if not too late:
If you go for the K3III: It is now way cheaper at Amazon UK (as are lenses) than at ParkCameras.
I find the prices there at ParcC. overpriced, also for used lenses.

[ZombieArmy]

One thing I don't think I have seen mentioned here is the lower capacity battery in the KP. That was the one thing - the only thing - that disappointed me when I upgraded from a K50 to the KP. I ended up buying a battery grip (which also gave me the larger body grip) to compensate. The K3 iii uses the larger capacity battery and gives you more clicks per battery. Important if you like to take a lot of pics in one outing, or you like to use burst mode often.

I think the 1000 dollar difference might allow someone to buy a couple extra batteries or the grip.

[PhotoLady]

Hello everyone,

Well!!! in a very short time at Park Cameras, without hesitation, I ended up buying the used KP with only 754 shutter counts and clearly almost as good as brand new, in the box with all it's extras.

The moment the camera was unpacked and put into my hands - 'scuse my gushing here - I immediately felt "at one" with this little gem and so did the camera with me. "Love at first hold" (I know ) There was absolutely no second thinking on my part if I should look further. As it turned out, they did not have the K3iii in stock, more being on the way, but I actually felt very comfortable with the price I paid for it plus giving me plenty left over for a good lens or two.

In this area, Park also had limited stock, the new DA 16-85 was £700 so I settled for the Sigma 17-70 f2.8-f4.0 DC Macro OS HSM Contemporary as suggested by @mlag - thank you - being in stock and very reasonably priced.
I decided that this would be a good choice for now to carry on with, to get to know my new 'baby' :-P better before splurging on something high-priced that may not suit my needs in the end anyway.


I tried the two together at Park Cameras and was honestly very happy with the results, brief as it was. The camera feels really comfortable and good in my hands, I like that it's smaller, and lighter and will definitely perfectly suit my street photography as well.

I didn't mention that going back to 2012, I started collecting the Takumar vintage lenses, SMC and S-M-C with MK42 and PK lens fittings and they are a dream to use with quality adaptors on my film and digital cameras eg Canon 70D and of course the K10. So it'll be fun trying them on the KP.

This has been a wonderful exercise for me, you all gave me so much more to consider which definitely led me to finally make the right choice. All the research I did on the KP showed very strong points as being the right choice for me.

And to those who mentioned that perhaps the K3iii didn't quite suit my needs, I do believe you were right so thank you too. In retrospect, I honestly believe now that it would prove to be "Too much camera" for too little use from me.

The K70 did appeal as well which I also looked at thoroughly but again, those suggesting that given its age, KP and K3ii were a far better choice.

You have all been wonderful, If I hadn't started this thread and taken your advice, I am sure I would have been lured by G.A.S and then suffered post-retail blues. (Don't we all?)

So again, many many thanks, I truly am overwhelmingly grateful for all your comments and will shortly be posting some images.
Thank you and bless you all
Dinah xx

Excellent!

[jgnfld]

Hello everyone,

Well!!! in a very short time at Park Cameras, without hesitation, I ended up buying the used KP with only 754 shutter counts and clearly almost as good as brand new, in the box with all it's extras.

The moment the camera was unpacked and put into my hands - 'scuse my gushing here - I immediately felt "at one" with this little gem and so did the camera with me. "Love at first hold" (I know ) There was absolutely no second thinking on my part if I should look further. ...

Thank you and bless you all
Dinah xx

Re. your immediate reaction to holding a KP...That was my exact reaction as well. So much so I started a thread about it. KP look and feel - PentaxForums.com

[photogem]

Very good choice, KP anyway and the latest Sigma 17-70 macro HSM Contemorary as well!
I had the Sigma for a little time and liked it very much, good 1:3 Macro but one has to go pretty close to the object unlike other others at 70mm because of the internal focus.
As you like Macro, maybe one day you want to buy a good 1:1 Macro, such as the now cheaper D-FA100/2,8 MacroWR which is a fantastic prime in every respect, super sharp, WR, when installed on the KP you have the feeling they belong to each other.


But make sure it is the WR version, the older non-WR is plastic fantastic and not worth more than 90 pounds. (I think it is a Tamron anyway).
Then I would prefer the Sigma 105 Macro (or the 70mm which is rare and such quite dear).

I am sure you will have lots of fun.

[ZombieArmy]

Another KP cultist joins the ranks.

[jgnfld]

Another KP cultist joins the ranks.

Best cult eevverrrr.

[UncleVanya]

Very good choice, KP anyway and the latest Sigma 17-70 macro HSM Contemorary as well!
I had the Sigma for a little time and liked it very much, good 1:3 Macro but one has to go pretty close to the object unlike other others at 70mm because of the internal focus.
As you like Macro, maybe one day you want to buy a good 1:1 Macro, such as the now cheaper D-FA100/2,8 MacroWR which is a fantastic prime in every respect, super sharp, WR, when installed on the KP you have the feeling they belong to each other.


But make sure it is the WR version, the older non-WR is plastic fantastic and not worth more than 90 pounds. (I think it is a Tamron anyway).
Then I would prefer the Sigma 105 Macro (or the 70mm which is rare and such quite dear).

I am sure you will have lots of fun.

There are multiple 100mm macros from Pentax. The non-wr D FA is not a Tamron design. It leveraged the same optical design (generally) that started with the F 100 macro. The main difference is the presence of an aperture ring and a focus clamp.

There is an older FA 100/3.5 that is a Cosina design by all accounts.

Optically I doubt many could tell an image made from the 2.8 versions of the F / FA / & D FA vs the current D FA WR unless given a lot of time and practice. I owned the F for many many years.

[gatorguy]

Hello everyone,

Well!!! in a very short time at Park Cameras, without hesitation, I ended up buying the used KP with only 754 shutter counts and clearly almost as good as brand new, in the box with all it's extras.

The moment the camera was unpacked and put into my hands - 'scuse my gushing here - I immediately felt "at one" with this little gem and so did the camera with me. "Love at first hold" (I know ) There was absolutely no second thinking on my part if I should look further. As it turned out, they did not have the K3iii in stock, more being on the way, but I actually felt very comfortable with the price I paid for it plus giving me plenty left over for a good lens or two.

In this area, Park also had limited stock, the new DA 16-85 was £700 so I settled for the Sigma 17-70 f2.8-f4.0 DC Macro OS HSM Contemporary as suggested by @mlag - thank you - being in stock and very reasonably priced.
I decided that this would be a good choice for now to carry on with, to get to know my new 'baby' :-P better before splurging on something high-priced that may not suit my needs in the end anyway.


I tried the two together at Park Cameras and was honestly very happy with the results, brief as it was. The camera feels really comfortable and good in my hands, I like that it's smaller, and lighter and will definitely perfectly suit my street photography as well.

I didn't mention that going back to 2012, I started collecting the Takumar vintage lenses, SMC and S-M-C with MK42 and PK lens fittings and they are a dream to use with quality adaptors on my film and digital cameras eg Canon 70D and of course the K10. So it'll be fun trying them on the KP.

This has been a wonderful exercise for me, you all gave me so much more to consider which definitely led me to finally make the right choice. All the research I did on the KP showed very strong points as being the right choice for me.

And to those who mentioned that perhaps the K3iii didn't quite suit my needs, I do believe you were right so thank you too. In retrospect, I honestly believe now that it would prove to be "Too much camera" for too little use from me.

The K70 did appeal as well which I also looked at thoroughly but again, those suggesting that given its age, KP and K3ii were a far better choice.

You have all been wonderful, If I hadn't started this thread and taken your advice, I am sure I would have been lured by G.A.S and then suffered post-retail blues. (Don't we all?)

So again, many many thanks, I truly am overwhelmingly grateful for all your comments and will shortly be posting some images.
Thank you and bless you all
Dinah xx

Being confident that you made the right choice for YOU is a wonderful feeling isn't it?

Now get out there and enjoy! Your next lens is going to be the 55-300. Combined with the Sigma you just bought you'll have a great range covered.

[K2 to K50]

Hello everyone,

Well!!! in a very short time at Park Cameras, without hesitation, I ended up buying the used KP with only 754 shutter counts and clearly almost as good as brand new, in the box with all it's extras.

The moment the camera was unpacked and put into my hands - 'scuse my gushing here - I immediately felt "at one" with this little gem and so did the camera with me. "Love at first hold" (I know ) There was absolutely no second thinking on my part if I should look further. As it turned out, they did not have the K3iii in stock, more being on the way, but I actually felt very comfortable with the price I paid for it plus giving me plenty left over for a good lens or two.


So again, many many thanks, I truly am overwhelmingly grateful for all your comments and will shortly be posting some images.
Thank you and bless you all
Dinah xx

Congratulations - the KP is a very nice camera. Make a point of carrying 1 or 2 spare batteries around with you. You may or may not want to invest in a battery grip. That would give you two batteries in camera, and a place to store a spare SD card. Also gives a second shutter button in a very convenient position for when you wish to shoot in a vertical orientation. But it will give a different feel to the camera in hand, which you may or may not like.
Have fun!

[photogem]

There are multiple 100mm macros from Pentax. The non-wr D FA is not a Tamron design. It leveraged the same optical design (generally) that started with the F 100 macro. The main difference is the presence of an aperture ring and a focus clamp.

There is an older FA 100/3.5 that is a Cosina design by all accounts.

Optically I doubt many could tell an image made from the 2.8 versions of the F / FA / & D FA vs the current D FA WR unless given a lot of time and practice. I owned the F for many many years.

I know that the optical design by the D-FA100/2,8 is the same optical design as the F100/2,8 Macro but I have a vague memory somewhere it was written that it was built by Tamron (as another few Pentax lenses)

I had the Cosina 100/3,5 Macro itself, a 1:2 Macro which in the German speaking region is called Yoghurt-Pot due to the plastic construction.

It isn't important if one can or can't tell the difference between the lenses you mentioned.
I mentioned the D-FA100WR because it is built like a limited, is WR and now is offered often cheaper than even the F-or FA Version.
The F- or FA Versions are much heavier, the FA Version has a very thin ring for adjusting sharpness, which is a nuisance because macro you often want to adjust manually and not via AF. I sold my F50/2,8 macro for the D-FA100MacroWR and still have the FA50/2,8 macro but without the limiter button which just fell off one day in the woods without myself noticing, when I came home it wasn't there anymore, so I would make a loss selling it and thus kept it. Both, the F and FA-Macros are heavy as well.

I wouldn't consider the Cosina or Pentax plastic-fantastic 3,5/100 macros, the AF on those is terrible and for a cheaper but better 1:2 macro-lens I would prefer the SMC A-Pentax 50/2,8 Macro, which is better built, light, short and one of the best 50mm primes aside of its macro function.

[Joetitch]

Another KP cultist joins the ranks.

It's only a cult if the beliefs are irrational. The KP is a fantastic camera is a fact and requires no belief. The fact it can also walk on water, well..............

[PhotoLady]

K-70 is very capable. Depends on your lens situation. If you need a modern lens or two, I'd suggest using the price difference to fund that. If you have modern lenses and/or are flush with cash (!)) the K3iii will not disappoint.


Actually, I'd say a KP would be perfect for you, likely, but that's not an option any more new.

Thank you - it is the KP I finally bought at a fairly good price and it is in mint condition. I also managed to find a brand new 17-700 lens and I am now very happy with what I have in hand.

Thank you for your comment
Dinah

---------- Post added 09-02-22 at 11:11 AM ----------

That is a dilemma! I recently upgraded after 10 years of not touching my old pentax. I bought the full frame k1 ii, and a few new lenses. I love the camera, but it sure is heavy. It's no easy feat to take long walks with it, especially with the 15-30 zoom, I want to love_ but boy o boy! So heavy. So I added a tripod... you can see how easily the weight even further adds up.

In the end, I want a walkable solution for gear. I do have a bit of addiction... I bought a rangefinder style fuji and a few adapters to use some of my old glass (film days). I like that it's light. And those small lenses are small. Even knowing they can only be shot manual, I'm still getting outdoors

So your question should be, what do you want to shoot? Do you care about the weight if you tequila a long lens? Or are you more interested in the exploration and making something lighter, and lower tech work for you?

Thank you RoseyD

In the end I settled for the KP, used but in excellent condition. It's small and very comfortable in my hands and a new 17-70 Sigma lens - a perfect combo.

Thank you for your comment, it was much appreciated
Cheers
Dinah.

[que es tu]

Thank you - it is the KP I finally bought at a fairly good price and it is in mint condition. I also managed to find a brand new 17-700 lens and I am now very happy with what I have in hand.

Thank you for your comment
Dinah

Congratulations on your new camera! The KP is the best camera in the universe!!. I know you meant a 17-70 lens, but just for fun, let’s imagine a 17-700 lens…wow, what a lens!! Happy shooting!!