Originally posted by following.eric Any threads on KP vs K3ii which one to buy?
I'll be upgrading in June to either the KP or k3II and with the success of the Kp the price for the k3ii will drop, second hand dropping a lot. At my estimates a good condition second hand k3ii will be half the cost of the KP new.
So where is the money better spend?
I want KP to get ahead of the times for once, but logic tells me k3ii will do just fine.
Any body else dealing with this same issue?
I am no professional photographer in fact I always describe myself as a hack/amateur
but having both the K3II and KP I think I can try to shed a little light on this.
You are right both are EXCELLENT cameras seriously you can't go wrong with either. Luckily for you, the choice you have might be difficult but no matter what side of the fence you end up on you will have an awesome piece of equipment. Seriously - no doubt both with a decent lens and a half way skilled photographer behind them will take AWESOME photos.
However both cameras have strengths and some weaknesses or areas they aren't as strong in. In the end I will say this the choice will come down to what you want to spend and how you want to use the camera... Also which one you WANT in your camera bag.
Let me start with the K3II...
Incredibly well built camera, full fledged APS-C sensor Pentax flagship if you will, very well priced especially if you get a free battery grip included etc. The value of the K3II is so great, my dad got one too. For under 900 USD you get a K3II and a battery grip and the "baby" Pentax flash, what a screaming deal that was! The K3II also has a larger buffer and higher FPS if you are shooting sports etc. K3II also includes GPS/Astrotracer if that is important but lacks even a little whimpy built in pop-up flash. The K3II also has dual memory card slots which is nice and a top LCD screen with the vital information on the camera which some people REALLY dig. "Only" has an ISO sensitivity of 51,200, incredible when compared to 5 years ago but is not the highest ISO sensitivity Pentax anymore. Also the 24 megapixel sensor is pretty darn good and I think ISO performance up to 800 is phenomenal, 1,600 is very good, 3,200 pretty good and 6,400 is fair or acceptable but any higher is unusable.
As for the KP...
Simply put a stunning top tier premium more compact body. I would say premium small(er) nearly full fledged APS-C Pentax flagship best describes this camera. It has an incredible premium feel and a strong retro vibe but lacks a few key K3II features. Top LCD, dual SD card slots, larger buffer and slightly lower FPS. But... has better styling a more compact design, better ISO range 6,400 is like 1,600 on the K3II or so and 12,800 is like 3,200 much above that and I question the usefulness but anyways. It has the newer Prime IV image processor and great manual knobs/layout. Three interchangeable grips, I like the small for the shooting I do with it and a tilting rear LCD screen/display. Higher priced by a few hundred dollars so clearly not a better value for the dollar BUT sometimes that isn't important. To me it is a camera that is more fun to snap photos with but the K3II is better with a big telephoto lens and a tripod. The KP is better in low light BUT the K3II had more professional features like dual SD card slots.
The choice is yours, you can't go wrong... I knew I couldn't pick just one so selected both to be in my kit!
Some help I am right?