[tjstimbo]

I'm wondering what other forum members think of the review in Amateur Photographer of the K3 iii.

From my perspective if the AP Staff were not working virtually one would of heard a collection groan and who gets the short straw and has to review the Pentax, but would rather be gushing over the latest Sony, Canon or Nikon. I'm someone who likes a review to actually tell me what the camera is like from someone actually using it and then reviewing it. I thought the AP review was quite shallow in this respect and maybe have benefitted from the usage of more of a wide range of lenses. Additionally a lot, but especially this review seemed to have a large element of cut and paste from other sources of information. That being said specifications, etc. do not change. In my digital copy off the review the author even managed to refer to the camera as a K3 ii, but I think that may have been corrected, we'll see when the actual print magazine turns up.

No, it's not a mirrorless camera and the review seems to take pains to point out that Pentax is effectively running down as a company and relying on existing products and the odd refresh to keep afloat. However, comparing apples to oranges is not helpful and maybe needs to include comparable +ve and -ve for example I do also own an Olympus OMD-E M-1 Mark 3 supposedly one of the excellent newer cameras. Yes it's nice but when I'm out for a days shoot I can easily get through 4 batteries and upping the ISO even a bit produces grainy pictures and I need to add noise reduction to my workflow. The K3 III ISO performance is actually stunning and this really wasn't captured in the review.

I don't apologise for being biased and additionally it's always nice to see space dedicated to Pentax equipment. However, the review did leave me a little perplexed over a job not so well done.

KR
Tim

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Last edited by tjstimbo; 07-18-2021 at 12:34 AM.

[biz-engineer]

No, it's not a mirrorless camera and the review seems to take pains to point out that Pentax is effectively running down as a company and relying on existing products and the odd refresh to keep afloat.

To me , it looks like the more we are moving in time after the advent of mirrorless (in 2018), the less I care if my camera has a mirror or not. I care less and less, because I see mirrorless makes no difference on images. I find, however, that good lenses (primes?) can make a significant difference, regardless if it's mirrorless mount or DSLR.

[Rondec]

Being a Pentaxian requires patience. You don't get tons of products thrown at you. New cameras come out every year or year and a half max. This isn't the sign of a brand that is going away any time soon, but rather of one that has orders from Ricoh to "live economically." At the same time, looking at sales of the K-3 III in Japan and also the theta cameras and GR IV, it seems as though recent launches have hit good niches in the market.

MILCs may rule the world, but they require a lot of investment by the brands launching them and that segment of the market is extremely crowded right now. I think the safest place for Pentax to focus right now is SLR tech -- particularly as other brands have mostly abandoned this segment. I wouldn't expect AP to know or understand all this nor will DP Review when they get around to releasing their review.

Honestly, the fact that there are MILCs that shoot 30 fps and have a million auto focus points has jaded reviewers to the fact that 12 fps, IBIS, and eye focus through the viewfinder with a better OVF are all very nice features to have and are good enough for the majority of photographers.

[ffking]

As I've said elsewhere (and I haven't read this one) there is a tendency for reviewers to seize on an established narrative and go with it, which gets very boring - the camera market as a whole has no bearing on the ability of a particular camera to get the job done and as Rondec says, they effort put into this camera totally belies something running down - birds are dinosaurs, and they can fly better than any mammal.

The shame is that back in the day AP used to like Pentax - maybe just too many changes of ownership, but they should give Ricoh credit where it's due for producing fine photographic equipment - where they think the market is going is irrelevant and pundits are usually wrong anyway.


PS - just had a quick flick through the review - not too bad, but on narrative, as mentioned - the verdict seems to be an exercise into how many times the word 'however' can be inserted into a segment.

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Last edited by ffking; 07-18-2021 at 02:54 AM.

[BarryE]

I haven't looked at AP for years. I gave up reading magazine reviews about the same time as I'm convinced that reviews correlate with the amount of advertising revenue the publisher receives. An example that might have been written ...

"This camera is great. It has all the attributes that a serious stills photographer would want. However, the following "critical" flaws make me (the reviewer) mark this camera down. They are:

a) the colour of the underside of the camera just doesn't work;
b) the PENTAX badge is too prominent. Ricoh should use a much smaller font size;
c) the test lens is a new HD 77mm Limited. This lens should be 85mm. Who wants 77mm? I do agree it takes fantastic images, but it's just a weird focal length;

etc. etc.

So overall, a very fine camera. A great lens. However, with the "failings" I've indicated above, I can't give this camera more than 3 out of 5."

Editor to reviewer: Good review. Have you seen the new Sony? There's a promo piece lined up for the next edition. Glorious images - probably taken with a medium format 645Z, but who cares. Can you get a review back to me asap. Sony will deliver the new camera to you. Lucky you as they say you can keep it.

[BigMackCam]

My response is in an earlier thread on the same topic.

As I stated in yet another thread regarding a review from a different source, I've given up on Pentax reviews unless they come from PF staff and forum members, who view Pentax and DSLRs more-or-less as I do...

[zapp]

I don’t care about any particular review. Read more review and play with the gear yourself.
Too bad everybody with no brain or very limited perspective needs to write down his or her opinion.

[repaap]

I would not let that review to let you down regarding that K-3III. It is amazing camera, and it is showing that DSLR can be very advanced in terms of many things like very capable AF and 12 FPS/11 with AF. In fact many mirrorless looses their advantage in dim light and when shooting things, like vehicles(northup trying 'fast moving' car and new Sony and Canon where their max 30 FPS just dropped below 15 and even to 8 FPS.


That said, mirrorless do have lead in AF. The thing is that K-3III is not that far off.


If you want modern camera with great image quality even in bad light, and you want to have mirror in it and amazing OVF, then there is not actually that many options is there

I don't regret at all staying with Pentax. I had Older gen Oly 5MII and one of the reasons I parted iwth it was ISO noise with even 400 ISO. Not sure how much better O -1MIII is compared to that.

[jpzk]

I haven't looked at AP for years. I gave up reading magazine reviews about the same time as I'm convinced that reviews correlate with the amount of advertising revenue the publisher receives. An example that might have been written ...

"This camera is great. It has all the attributes that a serious stills photographer would want. However, the following "critical" flaws make me (the reviewer) mark this camera down. They are:

a) the colour of the underside of the camera just doesn't work;
b) the PENTAX badge is too prominent. Ricoh should use a much smaller font size;
c) the test lens is a new HD 77mm Limited. This lens should be 85mm. Who wants 77mm? I do agree it takes fantastic images, but it's just a weird focal length;

etc. etc.

So overall, a very fine camera. A great lens. However, with the "failings" I've indicated above, I can't give this camera more than 3 out of 5."

Editor to reviewer: Good review. Have you seen the new Sony? There's a promo piece lined up for the next edition. Glorious images - probably taken with a medium format 645Z, but who cares. Can you get a review back to me asap. Sony will deliver the new camera to you. Lucky you as they say you can keep it.

"Failings" ??? I haven't stopped laughing since I saw that!!!

[stevebrot]

My response is in an earlier thread on the same topic.

What they said ^ ^ ^

Beyond that...If you agree with the reviewer, don't buy the camera. If you disagree with the reviewer, don't post a link to or reference the review. It only drives traffic to the site.


Steve

[jatrax]

I usually don't bother with magazine or website 'reviews' because in general they are shallow at best and bias and full of errors at worst because the "reviewer" really doesn't spend all that much time with camera. If you are not used to how a Pentax (or Sony, or Nikon or Canon) works then it would take you weeks or months to be familiar enough with it to do a proper review. Picking up the camera and taking a few snaps and running through the menus, is not a review.


These so called reviews are nothing more than click bait and don't tell you anything that reading a couple of real user reviews would. The myth that these 'reviews' are better because they are done by "professional reviews" or "camera journalists" is just that: a myth. In the dim past there was some validity to it but no longer, they are just click bait. And it isn't just cameras. Try getting a real review of most anything like a lawn mower or power tool. Nearly all are computer generated aggregations that are nothing but click bait.

[robbiec]

I used to subscribe to AP back in the day. In fact I still have physical copies of their K10D, K20D & K-7 reviews. They are a shadow of the magazine from those days with a marked shift in their editorial stance after Damien Demolder left as editor (whom I regard as a closet Pentaxian since he used to rate the 43 as his favourite lens )
As others have remarked, it takes time to understand a camera and that is with the benefit of system knowledge and this review barely scratches the surface.
A good example of the sophistication of the K-3iii is that Ricoh-Imaging are currently holding virtual workshops of the S-Fn button right now.

[jatrax]

A good example of the sophistication of the K-3iii is that Ricoh-Imaging are currently holding virtual workshops of the S-Fn button right now.

Do you have a link to those?

I have always thought that Pentax would themselves a lot of good if they did some sort of training videos or sessions on camera features. The manual is not training and Pentax does things no one else does like Astro-tracer. A little help would go a long way toward getting new users up to speed. And explain how Pentax intended some of those modes and features to work, rather than letting us figure it all out ourselves.

[robbiec]

Do you have a link to those?

I have always thought that Pentax would themselves a lot of good if they did some sort of training videos or sessions on camera features. The manual is not training and Pentax does things no one else does like Astro-tracer. A little help would go a long way toward getting new users up to speed. And explain how Pentax intended some of those modes and features to work, rather than letting us figure it all out ourselves.

Two by sessions available.

https://twitter.com/RicohImagingSQ/status/1416231237249732610?s=19

And I miss read originally. These are about the various AF customisation & options available. Judging by some comments on here, might be useful

[jatrax]

These are about the various AF customisation & options available.

Thanks, and those would indeed be useful. There are a lot of options and no real way to understand what they do except experimentation. Thanks for the link!