[DonV]

I use a field monitor. Have done on several Pentax (and other brand) cameras. Much more versatile than a flippy screen.

Mount it on another tripod, or a magic arm attached to the main tripod. Even on the camera hot shoe!

Move the camera body where you will and trigger it via an app or remote control.

You can kneel, stand, sit...your choice. Just put the field monitor where it's comfortable to view.

Try it. You won't want a flippy screen again!

Two more "things" or three to juggle does not seem like an improvement to me.

[Erictator]

I'm going to post an alternate view from a slightly different perspective... I use the flippy screen on my k1 far less than I envisioned because I've never acquired the knack for accurate critical macro focus on the screen. I find using my cell phone tethered to be much more useful and accurate to easily focus than the flip screen ever was. Might just be me, but there's my .02
Eric

[gatorguy]

Don't put yourself down. You are clever, or seem to be judging from the images you share.

If given the chance to work with a K-3 MkIII for a while, I bet you could quickly figure out how to make it do some really neat things.

Cheers and enjoy... M

---------- Post added 03-22-22 at 12:10 AM ----------



Fine tuning "trial and error" seems to always be the first order of business when building a new skill. It's also fun.

https://youtu.be/xactD3bm34w

I bet you could figure it out, if you really wanted to.

Cheers... M

Yup, the phone app seemed to work just fine for "PhotoUniverse", in fact better than fine IMHO. It all comes down to a work flow that fits.

[longbo]

I upgraded from a K-50 to a K-70, and for the purposes of macro, I've found the articulating screen indispensable. I'd settle for a more robust option like the K-1(II) or the KP with less articulation, but no articulation would be a step back. With macro, the AF performance of the K-3 III becomes far less relevant, as often I'm using MF anyway for small, close objects. With the KP discontinued, and the K-1 II not offering the additional effective zoom of a crop sensor, I think Ricoh has little to offer macro photographers. Thankfully the K-70 is a great camera - so long as the aperture solenoid holds out, and even if it fails, I can buy three of them for less than the price of one K-3 III so it's not all doom and gloom.

You say "the K-1 II not offering the additional effective zoom of a crop sensor". True, with the K1 the target image may not fill the frame, but there will be more or less the same number of pixels in it as there would be in a crop sensor camera. So, you can crop the image yourself in PP?

[Michael Piziak]

I never saw a great need for it on my K5 or K3, but I do appreciate and get use out of it on the K1. Actually, I tend to use it more for waist-level street photography than for macro. But this is probably around 1-2% of my usage, so no big deal.

That's a good point and something I never considered doing, which is use the articulating screen for waist-level street photography. I always thought the old type film cameras that you had to look down at the top, well I felt they were great for street photography because it makes me, as the photographer, it makes me feel like I'm kinda hiding and makes me feel more comfortable taking photos of people! I am going to do some street photography this summer and use the waist level technique!!!!

---------- Post added 03-22-22 at 10:07 PM ----------

Two more "things" or three to juggle does not seem like an improvement to me.

I agree. I just don't see things like using other monitors or using ones phone as a substitute for the articulating screen.

---------- Post added 03-22-22 at 10:14 PM ----------

I'm going to post an alternate view from a slightly different perspective... I use the flippy screen on my k1 far less than I envisioned because I've never acquired the knack for accurate critical macro focus on the screen. I find using my cell phone tethered to be much more useful and accurate to easily focus than the flip screen ever was. Might just be me, but there's my .02
Eric

I've had quite the opposite experience. My first 2 DSLR's (the Pentax k2000 & Pentax k-r) did not have articulating screens. My k-s2 has one, and at first I hardly ever used the articulating screen, but the more I use it the more I use the movable screen. I've found it especially useful with obviously macro, but recently when doing some astro photography I found it quite useful again....

I'm sorry, but it was just a plain mistake to leave it off the k3iii. In fact, so much so that it is a deal killer for me.

[Paul the Sunman]

That's a good point and something I never considered doing, which is use the articulating screen for waist-level street photography. I always thought the old type film cameras that you had to look down at the top, well I felt they were great for street photography because it makes me, as the photographer, it makes me feel like I'm kinda hiding and makes me feel more comfortable taking photos of people! I am going to do some street photography this summer and use the waist level technique!!!!

Highly recommended! But it's not just the anonymity of waist level shooting, it's also the lower perspective that can give a more intimate view. Being immersed in the scene rather than above it.

I usually use the K1 for street photography anyway, so not having it on the K3iii isn't a huge concern.

[RobA_Oz]

Highly recommended! But it's not just the anonymity of waist level shooting, it's also the lower perspective that can give a more intimate view. Being immersed in the scene rather than above it.

It strikes me as odd that many people don’t think about using the camera down below eye-level. It’s possibly a hang-over from the days of fixed rear screens or from the majority of 35mm film SLRs and rangefinders, but as you say the lower viewpoint can be more interesting for some work.

[Michael Piziak]

Highly recommended! But it's not just the anonymity of waist level shooting, it's also the lower perspective that can give a more intimate view. Being immersed in the scene rather than above it.

I usually use the K1 for street photography anyway, so not having it on the K3iii isn't a huge concern.

Well, that's the one thing that has kept me from doing much street photography. And that is the lack of anonymity. I have always felt *intrusive* when I'm taking photos of people by looking straight through an SLR type viewfinder (at them). To me anyways, it has an affect on me. I often get people looking straight back at me and I truly feel like I'm invading their privacy and taking pics of them "without permission." And especially more so if it is of children or even adults accompanying their own children. I know it's 100% legal in most states, since photography in public places has been upheld in courts as being a free domain to photo, but I still feel like I'm "out of bounds" when doing so.


Now, I've always felt like the use of those old type camera that you look straight down at the camera, I've always thought that if I had one of those then I would feel like 99% better photographing people on the street or in public. One of my favorite photographers, and I encourage everyone to look her up, is Vivian Dorothy Maier. She had a Rolleiflex camera and took some of the great photographs of her time with such a camera. Those type cameras just feel unobtrusive to me. From Wikipedia, "
Vivian Dorothy Maier (February 1, 1926 – April 21, 2009) was an American street photographer whose work was discovered and recognized after her death. She worked for about 40 years as a nanny, mostly in Chicago's North Shore, while pursuing photography. She took more than 150,000 photographs during her lifetime, primarily of the people and architecture of Chicago, New York City, and Los Angeles, although she also traveled and photographed worldwide." The wikipedia article about her is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivian_Maier
Her photos were discovered by accident, long after her death, and that's when she became famous.... A website of her photos: http://www.vivianmaier.com/ Also, a short taste on youtube:

You Tube

You Tube

So again, I really appreciate the tip to use the articulating screen for street photography. That has really given me ideas and persuaded me to get back out on the street and take some waist level photos! Less intrusive and a different perspective, as you mentioned!


I would like to include this photo that pretty much sums up why I don't like looking straight through a viewfinder and phographing people, a.k.a. street photography. As I was looking through the viewfinder, I instantly felt uncomfortable as the woman looked directly at my camera pointed at her. I felt that she felt somewhat shocked or surprised that someone was taking her picture. Even at 300mm, I felt like an intruder.

[jersey]

True, it feels weird with OVF when everyone is instantly turning his attention to you. It was not the case when I was younger and cameras where "natural" thing and no one really cared when you were pointing one at them. I suppose if I had urge to try street photography those days I would either use smartphone (no one cares about those) or get something with tilt screen. Or old TLR and use film.

Now, I've always felt like the use of those old type camera that you look straight down at the camera, I've always thought that if I had one of those then I would feel like 99% better photographing people on the street or in public. One of my favorite photographers, and I encourage everyone to look her up, is Vivian Dorothy Maier. She had a Rolleiflex camera and took some of the great photographs of her time with such a camera. Those type cameras just feel unobtrusive to me. From Wikipedia, "
Vivian Dorothy Maier (February 1, 1926 – April 21, 2009) was an American street photographer whose work was discovered and recognized after her death. She worked for about 40 years as a nanny, mostly in Chicago's North Shore, while pursuing photography. She took more than 150,000 photographs during her lifetime, primarily of the people and architecture of Chicago, New York City, and Los Angeles, although she also traveled and photographed worldwide." The wikipedia article about her is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivian_Maier
Her photos were discovered by accident, long after her death, and that's when she became famous....

There is an excellent 2013 documentary about her called Finding Vivian Maier.

When I lived in Rome I was asked if it was ok to take my photo and I was flattered, so said yes. In Prague a couple of years ago a young guy jumped in front of me and took my photo and once again I assumed it was because he felt the way I looked was worth photographing - in both cases I could be wrong but I will never know!
As for your photo of the woman in your example - imagine you were exiting your car and saw a guy with a zoom lens taking a photo of you, what would you think, you would wonder why wouldn't you? I think that accounts for her expression.

[35mmfilmfan]

In my days of film camera use, I had a right angle viewfinder attachment, to enable me to shoot from a lower viewpoint with the camera on a tripod. I now have one which fits my K3 and K20, for the same purpose. Over the past lockdown-free year, while out birding, I have witnessed three people damage or remove entirely their flip screen, plus two more who lost the pop-up flash (to illuminate an entire birding scrape ?!? Maybe they were better off without it !) in the same manner. I find my method works for me, for landscape and macro shots - YMMV. BTW, I have no interest in 'Street' photography - I see far too many humans to want to get photos of them as well.

[biz-engineer]

It would have been more expensive to put it in the K-3iii, but it would have changed things to "possible sale" from it's current "no sale".

Believe it or not, the K3III fixed display is likely a marketing choice , to minimize overlap with other products (K1, KP), the same way as Canon sold 5D and 7D to the same customers. For Pentax the K3 III is supposed to bring the speed than the K1 doesn't have, the K1 is supposed to be the field camera, and product spacing in time suggest that a number of customer would buy both (that's the way I understand it).

[biz-engineer]

I use a field monitor. Have done on several Pentax (and other brand) cameras. Much more versatile than a flippy screen.

I came to the same conclusion, especially for video recording. A field monitor is extremely useful because it's large enough to view from a distance, facing the subject when vlogging, and even Pentax HD streaming though HDMI is plenty good enough on a 7" field monitor.

[biz-engineer]

Two more "things" or three to juggle does not seem like an improvement to me.

Of course, a field monitor is one more thing to carry and deal with in the field. View cameras, 4x5 , 8x10" are no different. So it's about priority, do I favor convenience over performance. I think most of the market today favor convenience over performance.

[biz-engineer]

It's always a mistake to assume your solution fits everyone's needs.

Internet forums are like a medical waiting room and lots patients with various medical conditions trying to medicate each other, the doctor/qualified physician being absent. While in the waiting room, one patient says "I have a pain in my shoulder joint". Another patient responds "Well, my blood pressure is too high and the doctor gave me those tablets, I'm very satisfied with the results, maybe you could try those tablet if that helps with your shoulder pain". Another patient says "I fell in the stairs last week and I broke my leg, went to hospital, got my leg plastered, maybe you should have your shoulder plastered, plaster cast would prevent motion, reduce pain".