Battle of the OVF's. K-3 vs K-3 III

**Kobie** · 05-04-2021, 07:10 PM - **1 Like**

Not a battle per se, but a comparison of the 2.

Youtu.be

SimplyCreativePhotography · 05-04-2021, 07:17 PM - **1 Like**

Just got mine yesterday and haven't had much time to play with it yet. The viewfinder is nice but I must say, compared to my K-5, the grip felt incredibly "perfect" the first time I picked it up. Great job on the ergonomics (except the somewhat odd placement of the play button)

Ishpuini · 05-05-2021, 12:20 AM

Tx for this comparison!

I'm hoping the O-ME53 will work nicely on the K-3 III, i.e. as well as it did on my K-3 II. If not, the size difference won't be much at all to me, but I expect there will be a bigger difference in brightness to compensate.

**snappyhoffy** · 05-05-2021, 09:05 AM

Originally posted by Ishpuini

Tx for this comparison!

I'm hoping the O-ME53 will work nicely on the K-3 III, i.e. as well as it did on my K-3 II. If not, the size difference won't be much at all to me, but I expect there will be a bigger difference in brightness to compensate.

I will probably sell my O-ME3 as to be honest it isn't needed and actually vignettes the view finder (in my view - excuse the pun)

gatorguy · 05-05-2021, 09:50 AM - **5 Likes**

Kobie, a great series you're doing on the camera, so many MANY thanks.

Sidenote: Last afternoon I had a friend visiting, and of course I had to show her the new K3III. Being a Canon shooter (I think one of their lower-rung mirrorless) she wanted to try the Pentax, a company by the way she thought had gone out of business. She shot a few pics of my dog in the yard, then two birds at one of the feeders and fell in love with it! it was like "OMG!". So she says that's the camera she wants, so much nicer than her Canon, but that changed as soon as I told her the price. Yeah, it's not cheap.

So long story short I also showed her one of my K-70's. She loved the feel of that one too and was amazed at how nice the bird pic she took was, especially at the price. I showed her a few of the other images I captured with it at a gig shoot a couple of weeks ago too. So she asked if I could let her borrow one of my Pentax K-70's which she may well purchase, and a spare Sigma 17-50 and Bower 85 for a tryout. She'll be a Pentax shooter soon enough.

**robbiec** · 05-05-2021, 11:47 AM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by gatorguy

Kobie, a great series you're doing on the camera, so many MANY thanks.

Sidenote: Last afternoon I had a friend visiting, and of course I had to show her the new K3III. Being a Canon shooter (I think one of their lower-rung mirrorless) she wanted to try the Pentax, a company by the way she thought had gone out of business. She shot a few pics of my dog in the yard, then two birds at one of the feeders and fell in love with it! it was like "OMG!". So she says that's the camera she wants, so much nicer than her Canon, but that changed as soon as I told her the price. Yeah, it's not cheap.

So long story short I also showed her one of my K-70's. She loved the feel of that one too and was amazed at how nice the bird pic she took was, especially at the price. I showed her a few of the other images I captured with it at a gig shoot a couple of weeks ago too. So she asked if I could let her borrow one of my Pentax K-70's which she may well purchase, and a spare Sigma 17-50 and Bower 85 for a tryout. She'll be a Pentax shooter soon enough.

Good job that man!

**MrNPhoto** · 05-05-2021, 07:44 PM

Thanks for the comparison. Looking forward to seeing the new viewfinder. Did you notice any difference in eye relief? Is there a difference in brightness of the settings info at the bottom of the viewfinder as well?

Ishpuini · 05-05-2021, 11:18 PM

Originally posted by snappyhoffy

I will probably sell my O-ME3 as to be honest it isn't needed and actually vignettes the view finder (in my view - excuse the pun)

I'll be curious to find out. Trade-off between being able to see all information in the corners of the VF easily and getting a large enough view for manual focus of some lenses. But perhaps I will find the K-3 III enough for the latter without additional aid? Even if I decide against the O-ME53, I won't sell it though because I still have a modded K-3 II that I will continue to use.

**Rondec** · 05-06-2021, 02:40 AM - **2 Likes**

Originally posted by gatorguy

Kobie, a great series you're doing on the camera, so many MANY thanks.

Sidenote: Last afternoon I had a friend visiting, and of course I had to show her the new K3III. Being a Canon shooter (I think one of their lower-rung mirrorless) she wanted to try the Pentax, a company by the way she thought had gone out of business. She shot a few pics of my dog in the yard, then two birds at one of the feeders and fell in love with it! it was like "OMG!". So she says that's the camera she wants, so much nicer than her Canon, but that changed as soon as I told her the price. Yeah, it's not cheap.

So long story short I also showed her one of my K-70's. She loved the feel of that one too and was amazed at how nice the bird pic she took was, especially at the price. I showed her a few of the other images I captured with it at a gig shoot a couple of weeks ago too. So she asked if I could let her borrow one of my Pentax K-70's which she may well purchase, and a spare Sigma 17-50 and Bower 85 for a tryout. She'll be a Pentax shooter soon enough.

I've always thought if more people could handle Pentax's, more people would buy them. I've had a couple of folks on Facebook buy a Pentax simply because they like photos I post.

stevebrot · 05-06-2021, 10:24 AM - **1 Like**

Thanks! Now we know what 1.05x looks like vs. 0.95x.

Steve

gatorguy · 05-06-2021, 10:55 AM

Originally posted by SimplyCreativePhotography

Just got mine yesterday and haven't had much time to play with it yet. The viewfinder is nice but I must say, compared to my K-5, the grip felt incredibly "perfect" the first time I picked it up. Great job on the ergonomics (except the somewhat odd placement of the play button)

You can remap the Play button, swapping places with the down button on the D-Pad. Watched a video on Youtube where someone did this and it's actually a perfect set-up. Now I can Playback, zoom in or out, review previous shots, and all from the D-Pad. IMO this is how Pentax should have set it up to begin with. So much faster and easier for Playback.

**Kobie** · 05-06-2021, 11:44 AM - **3 Likes**

Originally posted by MrNPhoto

Thanks for the comparison. Looking forward to seeing the new viewfinder. Did you notice any difference in eye relief? Is there a difference in brightness of the settings info at the bottom of the viewfinder as well?

I'm a big boy, I can handle my own stupidity... I had made a video making fun of the 3 mm eye relief. I take it all back, it actually does make the experience much more comfortable. You don't realize it when only using the camera, but when you grab your old one, you notice it right away. with the old camera it actually feels like you're smooshing the camera into your face compared to the relaxed feel of the K-3 III. I really didn't think it would make any difference but man was I wrong!

**c.a.m** · 05-06-2021, 01:08 PM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by Kobie

You don't realize it when only using the camera, but when you grab your old one, you notice it right away. with the old camera it actually feels like you're smooshing the camera into your face compared to the relaxed feel of the K-3 III.

That's exactly my impression when I used my K-3 II after using the K-3 Mark III for a week. My face and right hand felt a bit cramped on the K-3 II. On the K-3 II, I would smudge the right lens of my eyeglasses occasionally with my right thumb; not so on the Mark III. It's surprising how much difference 3 mm makes!

- Craig

Kunzite · 05-06-2021, 02:01 PM

Originally posted by Kobie

I'm a big boy, I can handle my own stupidity... I had made a video making fun of the 3 mm eye relief. I take it all back, it actually does make the experience much more comfortable. You don't realize it when only using the camera, but when you grab your old one, you notice it right away. with the old camera it actually feels like you're smooshing the camera into your face compared to the relaxed feel of the K-3 III. I really didn't think it would make any difference but man was I wrong!

On the K-1 it's particularly bad, with the moon-lander LCD protruding more than the eye piece. Not a deal breaker, of course - but could get uncomfortable.
It would be interesting to compare with the K-3iii.

Qwntm · 05-06-2021, 03:30 PM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by gatorguy

You can remap the Play button, swapping places with the down button on the D-Pad. Watched a video on Youtube where someone did this and it's actually a perfect set-up. Now I can Playback, zoom in or out, review previous shots, and all from the D-Pad. IMO this is how Pentax should have set it up to begin with. So much faster and easier for Playback.

You're welcome!

05-05-2021, 09:50 AM - 5 Likes	#5
gatorguy Moderator Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: Central Florida Photos: Gallery Posts: 6,094	Kobie, a great series you're doing on the camera, so many MANY thanks. Sidenote: Last afternoon I had a friend visiting, and of course I had to show her the new K3III. Being a Canon shooter (I think one of their lower-rung mirrorless) she wanted to try the Pentax, a company by the way she thought had gone out of business. She shot a few pics of my dog in the yard, then two birds at one of the feeders and fell in love with it! it was like "OMG!". So she says that's the camera she wants, so much nicer than her Canon, but that changed as soon as I told her the price. Yeah, it's not cheap. So long story short I also showed her one of my K-70's. She loved the feel of that one too and was amazed at how nice the bird pic she took was, especially at the price. I showed her a few of the other images I captured with it at a gig shoot a couple of weeks ago too. So she asked if I could let her borrow one of my Pentax K-70's which she may well purchase, and a spare Sigma 17-50 and Bower 85 for a tryout. She'll be a Pentax shooter soon enough. Last edited by gatorguy; 05-05-2021 at 10:12 AM.

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05-04-2021, 07:17 PM - 1 Like	#2
SimplyCreativePhotography Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Drayton, Ontario, Canada Photos: Albums Posts: 264	Just got mine yesterday and haven't had much time to play with it yet. The viewfinder is nice but I must say, compared to my K-5, the grip felt incredibly "perfect" the first time I picked it up. Great job on the ergonomics (except the somewhat odd placement of the play button)

05-05-2021, 12:20 AM	#3
Ishpuini Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Antwerp, Belgium Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,727	Tx for this comparison! I'm hoping the O-ME53 will work nicely on the K-3 III, i.e. as well as it did on my K-3 II. If not, the size difference won't be much at all to me, but I expect there will be a bigger difference in brightness to compensate.

05-05-2021, 09:05 AM	#4
snappyhoffy Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2018 Location: Buckinghamshire, UK Posts: 185	Originally posted by Ishpuini Tx for this comparison! I'm hoping the O-ME53 will work nicely on the K-3 III, i.e. as well as it did on my K-3 II. If not, the size difference won't be much at all to me, but I expect there will be a bigger difference in brightness to compensate. I will probably sell my O-ME3 as to be honest it isn't needed and actually vignettes the view finder (in my view - excuse the pun)

05-05-2021, 11:47 AM - 1 Like	#6
robbiec Site Supporter Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Cork Photos: Albums Posts: 1,882	Originally posted by gatorguy Kobie, a great series you're doing on the camera, so many MANY thanks. Sidenote: Last afternoon I had a friend visiting, and of course I had to show her the new K3III. Being a Canon shooter (I think one of their lower-rung mirrorless) she wanted to try the Pentax, a company by the way she thought had gone out of business. She shot a few pics of my dog in the yard, then two birds at one of the feeders and fell in love with it! it was like "OMG!". So she says that's the camera she wants, so much nicer than her Canon, but that changed as soon as I told her the price. Yeah, it's not cheap. So long story short I also showed her one of my K-70's. She loved the feel of that one too and was amazed at how nice the bird pic she took was, especially at the price. I showed her a few of the other images I captured with it at a gig shoot a couple of weeks ago too. So she asked if I could let her borrow one of my Pentax K-70's which she may well purchase, and a spare Sigma 17-50 and Bower 85 for a tryout. She'll be a Pentax shooter soon enough. Good job that man!

05-05-2021, 07:44 PM	#7
MrNPhoto Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Boston Photos: Gallery Posts: 276	Thanks for the comparison. Looking forward to seeing the new viewfinder. Did you notice any difference in eye relief? Is there a difference in brightness of the settings info at the bottom of the viewfinder as well?

05-05-2021, 11:18 PM	#8
Ishpuini Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Antwerp, Belgium Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,727	Originally posted by snappyhoffy I will probably sell my O-ME3 as to be honest it isn't needed and actually vignettes the view finder (in my view - excuse the pun) I'll be curious to find out. Trade-off between being able to see all information in the corners of the VF easily and getting a large enough view for manual focus of some lenses. But perhaps I will find the K-3 III enough for the latter without additional aid? Even if I decide against the O-ME53, I won't sell it though because I still have a modded K-3 II that I will continue to use.

05-06-2021, 02:40 AM - 2 Likes	#9
Rondec Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Gladys, Virginia Photos: Gallery Posts: 27,663	Originally posted by gatorguy Kobie, a great series you're doing on the camera, so many MANY thanks. Sidenote: Last afternoon I had a friend visiting, and of course I had to show her the new K3III. Being a Canon shooter (I think one of their lower-rung mirrorless) she wanted to try the Pentax, a company by the way she thought had gone out of business. She shot a few pics of my dog in the yard, then two birds at one of the feeders and fell in love with it! it was like "OMG!". So she says that's the camera she wants, so much nicer than her Canon, but that changed as soon as I told her the price. Yeah, it's not cheap. So long story short I also showed her one of my K-70's. She loved the feel of that one too and was amazed at how nice the bird pic she took was, especially at the price. I showed her a few of the other images I captured with it at a gig shoot a couple of weeks ago too. So she asked if I could let her borrow one of my Pentax K-70's which she may well purchase, and a spare Sigma 17-50 and Bower 85 for a tryout. She'll be a Pentax shooter soon enough. I've always thought if more people could handle Pentax's, more people would buy them. I've had a couple of folks on Facebook buy a Pentax simply because they like photos I post.

05-06-2021, 10:24 AM - 1 Like	#10
stevebrot Otis Memorial Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Vancouver (USA) Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 42,007	Thanks! Now we know what 1.05x looks like vs. 0.95x. Steve

05-06-2021, 10:55 AM	#11
gatorguy Moderator Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: Central Florida Photos: Gallery Posts: 6,094	Originally posted by SimplyCreativePhotography Just got mine yesterday and haven't had much time to play with it yet. The viewfinder is nice but I must say, compared to my K-5, the grip felt incredibly "perfect" the first time I picked it up. Great job on the ergonomics (except the somewhat odd placement of the play button) You can remap the Play button, swapping places with the down button on the D-Pad. Watched a video on Youtube where someone did this and it's actually a perfect set-up. Now I can Playback, zoom in or out, review previous shots, and all from the D-Pad. IMO this is how Pentax should have set it up to begin with. So much faster and easier for Playback.

05-06-2021, 11:44 AM - 3 Likes	#12
Kobie Site Supporter Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Bowmanville Photos: Albums Posts: 1,211 Original Poster	Originally posted by MrNPhoto Thanks for the comparison. Looking forward to seeing the new viewfinder. Did you notice any difference in eye relief? Is there a difference in brightness of the settings info at the bottom of the viewfinder as well? I'm a big boy, I can handle my own stupidity... I had made a video making fun of the 3 mm eye relief. I take it all back, it actually does make the experience much more comfortable. You don't realize it when only using the camera, but when you grab your old one, you notice it right away. with the old camera it actually feels like you're smooshing the camera into your face compared to the relaxed feel of the K-3 III. I really didn't think it would make any difference but man was I wrong!

05-06-2021, 01:08 PM - 1 Like	#13
c.a.m Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Ottawa, Canada Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 4,193	Originally posted by Kobie You don't realize it when only using the camera, but when you grab your old one, you notice it right away. with the old camera it actually feels like you're smooshing the camera into your face compared to the relaxed feel of the K-3 III. That's exactly my impression when I used my K-3 II after using the K-3 Mark III for a week. My face and right hand felt a bit cramped on the K-3 II. On the K-3 II, I would smudge the right lens of my eyeglasses occasionally with my right thumb; not so on the Mark III. It's surprising how much difference 3 mm makes! - Craig

05-06-2021, 02:01 PM	#14
Kunzite Pentaxian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Romania Posts: 15,132	Originally posted by Kobie I'm a big boy, I can handle my own stupidity... I had made a video making fun of the 3 mm eye relief. I take it all back, it actually does make the experience much more comfortable. You don't realize it when only using the camera, but when you grab your old one, you notice it right away. with the old camera it actually feels like you're smooshing the camera into your face compared to the relaxed feel of the K-3 III. I really didn't think it would make any difference but man was I wrong! On the K-1 it's particularly bad, with the moon-lander LCD protruding more than the eye piece. Not a deal breaker, of course - but could get uncomfortable. It would be interesting to compare with the K-3iii.

05-06-2021, 03:30 PM - 1 Like	#15
Qwntm Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Eastern Oregon Posts: 856	Originally posted by gatorguy You can remap the Play button, swapping places with the down button on the D-Pad. Watched a video on Youtube where someone did this and it's actually a perfect set-up. Now I can Playback, zoom in or out, review previous shots, and all from the D-Pad. IMO this is how Pentax should have set it up to begin with. So much faster and easier for Playback. You're welcome!