[speagles2]

So I rarely use live view, but I was experimenting a little with it this evening and comparing side-by-side with the K3, in a pretty dark room, swapping the the old nifty fifty A50/1.7 between the two. I noticed a few things:

- On the K3 iii the 'focus peaking' effect seems much more subtle than on the K3. I almost thought it wasn't working initially as in some scenes I could barely make out the effect as I swept focus back and forth. I was surprised at this as that's not how I remembered it from the K3, and when I tested with the K3 it was indeed much more obvious. I wonder if this is just because of the significantly higher resolution rear screen on the K3 iii - perhaps on the higher resolution screen there are just fewer, smaller white pixels lit up in the in-focus area. It's sufficiently subtle on the K3 iii that it feels like it could be hard to use, and maybe could use a firmware update to improve this.

- I noticed that on the K3 iii focus peaking deactivates while the shutter is half-pressed with a MF lens. The K3 doesn't do this, it remains active on half press.

- There was a *huge* difference in visible noise in live view when pointing the camera into a dark corner. I guess it's a combination of the K3 iii's improved sensor combined with the higher-resolution rear display, so the hot pixels aren't as pronounced. Looking at a dark scene with the K3 iii the image on the screen looked normal, just a bit grainy, whereas switching to the K3 it was a maelstrom of multicoloured noise.

- I always found the rear display on the K3 to be very good, but side-by-side with the K3 iii it suddenly looks positively low-resolution - The screen on the K3 iii is really nice, and it's a significant upgrade that I didn't really notice when I started using the camera

- On the K3 iii it's not possible to enable 'highlight alert' or the histogram in live view if focus peaking is enabled. This is not the case with the K3, and I'm not sure whether it's a bug or by design, but if it's deliberate then it seems like a regressive step. Some people have reported that the highlight alert works well in combination with focus peaking as you get a red highlight for the focus peak, not just the white one. Perhaps it's a deliberate choice to not allow this given the interaction between these settings, but in that case it's not obvious to me why the histogram shouldn't be available with focus peaking, In fact, it would probably have made more sense to combine focus peaking with the other options in the customisation menu that can be selected for each of the three available live view info display pre-sets. One workaround is to turn off focus peaking, turn on the histogram and highlight alert, and assign focus peaking to one of the icons in the 'control panel' screen accessed with the info button. That way you can quickly switch between the two - turn on focus peaking using the control panel and you lose the histogram and highlight alert, but when you turn it off they come back.

- Finally, although everyone raves over the size of the K3 iii viewfinder, I must admit I didn't notice a great deal of difference from the K3 and quickly got used to it. Comparing the two side-by-side a few weeks on, though, it *is* noticably bigger and brighter - looking through the K3 feels like looking through a window straight after the K3 iii.

[UncleVanya]

Does this focus peaking behavior seem the same with a newer slower lens? I ask because on my Sony A7riii I have noticed that the focus peaking is more subtle on faster lower contrast lenses. This isn’t as noticeable on my k-3 and KP. I attributed this to the Sony implementation, but it could be more related to the resolution of the evf/screen. In the k-3iii obviously there’s no EVF.

[mtkeller]

I really love the extract edge version of focus peaking. At least until they give us a color other than white for focus peaking, it’s my go-to.

[speagles2]

Does this focus peaking behavior seem the same with a newer slower lens? I ask because on my Sony A7riii I have noticed that the focus peaking is more subtle on faster lower contrast lenses. This isn’t as noticeable on my k-3 and KP. I attributed this to the Sony implementation, but it could be more related to the resolution of the evf/screen. In the k-3iii obviously there’s no EVF.

I just tested both bodies with my Sigma 18-200 cheapie at 200mm, which is f6.3, and the result was the same - the focus peaking effect is very clear on the K3, but very subtle on the K3 iii.

'extract edge' is kind of cool, but again I find it really hard to see, at least on my camera - the effect is a grey screen with thin and feint edge lines that can be barely visible. Using zoom helps.

[Philoslothical]

The way the K-3 simulates exposure in Live View is the thing I hate most about my camera - well, the fact that it can't be turned off. I'd be very interested to know if Pentax has improved on this in models newer than the K-3, such as your K-3 iii.

The problem is that with an A series or newer lens attached, when using Live View the camera attempts to simulate the exposure you will get on the screen. This makes it impossible for me to focus efficiently in dim environments while using a flash for illumination. I have to adjust one of the exposure factors, like the shutter speed, to brighten the display enough to see what I'm doing, and then I have to crank it back down to actually take the shot. It's a lot of extra work and it results in missing or not taking shots.

I recently got this K-3 and I think it may be my last Pentax camera. I'm coming from a K-7, and I also used a K-r for years, and I've used a K-5. I have a K-x kicking around, too. So I'm familiar with that generation of cameras and they all consistently lit the Live View display regardless of the actual exposure. This was simulated, too, I would assume by boosting the ISO, just turning up the gain, so to speak. It bothers me that Pentax failed to include a setting to turn off their "improvement" for something that affects such basic functionality.

For now, I've taped the contacts on my lens, and this works. It shows the K-3 is capable of using the "old way" of displaying Live View, but it prevents the possibility of using AF. Fortunately I don't need AF for my niche, but it's a severe limitation of the workaround. Please tell me it gets better in more modern cameras.

[Thagomizer]

- I noticed that on the K3 iii focus peaking deactivates while the shutter is half-pressed with a MF lens. The K3 doesn't do this, it remains active on half press.

That's too bad. This is the same behaviour as in the KP. My K-S2's peaking doesn't wink out on half press; the KP's does. Having it disappear while shooting macro is kind of a pain. I wonder why this is the case? Is it something that other features added to these models now prevent, or did Pentax decide to do this when designing these cameras?

[mtkeller]

That's too bad. This is the same behaviour as in the KP. My K-S2's peaking doesn't wink out on half press; the KP's does. Having it disappear while shooting macro is kind of a pain. I wonder why this is the case? Is it something that other features added to these models now prevent, or did Pentax decide to do this when designing these cameras?

I suspect the change is tied to the addition of extract edge focus peaking. In that mode, it's impossible to make out your full composition unless most of the scene is in focus. Half-pressing disabling focus peaking means that you can see your full composition before you fully depress the shutter. If the composition isn't right, you can let off the shutter, adjust composition, and then half press again. I have found this a really effective way to use the extract edge focus peaking.

[speagles2]

The way the K-3 simulates exposure in Live View is the thing I hate most about my camera - well, the fact that it can't be turned off. I'd be very interested to know if Pentax has improved on this in models newer than the K-3, such as your K-3 iii.

The problem is that with an A series or newer lens attached, when using Live View the camera attempts to simulate the exposure you will get on the screen. This makes it impossible for me to focus efficiently in dim environments while using a flash for illumination. I have to adjust one of the exposure factors, like the shutter speed, to brighten the display enough to see what I'm doing, and then I have to crank it back down to actually take the shot. It's a lot of extra work and it results in missing or not taking shots.

I recently got this K-3 and I think it may be my last Pentax camera. I'm coming from a K-7, and I also used a K-r for years, and I've used a K-5. I have a K-x kicking around, too. So I'm familiar with that generation of cameras and they all consistently lit the Live View display regardless of the actual exposure. This was simulated, too, I would assume by boosting the ISO, just turning up the gain, so to speak. It bothers me that Pentax failed to include a setting to turn off their "improvement" for something that affects such basic functionality.

For now, I've taped the contacts on my lens, and this works. It shows the K-3 is capable of using the "old way" of displaying Live View, but it prevents the possibility of using AF. Fortunately I don't need AF for my niche, but it's a severe limitation of the workaround. Please tell me it gets better in more modern cameras.

Hmmm, I've never noticed that as I rarely use LV, but I just tested the two side-by-side, both in M with exposure set to seriously underexpose. The behaviour of the K3 iii seem a bit different to the K3:
With the K3 iii the exposure is simulated in LV but if you half press the shutter to start focusing it returns to 'normal' (equivalent to +/-0EV on the exposure meter) brightness during the focus operation
On the K3 it does the same, but the brightness level it went to when I half-pressed the shutter was very dim, much dimmer than +/-0EV. This was in a pretty dark room

The K3 iii behaviour seems to somewhat achieve what you want - toggling to a normal brightness display during focusing - but it's not ideal because as soon as it's acquired focus it drops back to the EV simulation view, even if you hold the half shutter press - there doesn't seem to be a way to hold it in the +/-0EV view indefinitely. Worse, the half-shutter press does not work if the camera is in manual focus mode - there seems to be no obvious way to toggle it into that mode for manual focusing, which seems like when you would need it most.

Aha - after all that I just found a menu option on the K3 iii 'Exp Simulation LV' that lets you turn it off altogether!

---------- Post added 08-17-21 at 07:15 AM ----------

Hmmm, I've never noticed that as I rarely use LV, but I just tested the two side-by-side, both in M with exposure set to seriously underexpose. The behaviour of the K3 iii seem a bit different to the K3:
With the K3 iii the exposure is simulated in LV but if you half press the shutter to start focusing it returns to 'normal' (equivalent to +/-0EV on the exposure meter) brightness during the focus operation
On the K3 it does the same, but the brightness level it went to when I half-pressed the shutter was very dim, much dimmer than +/-0EV. This was in a pretty dark room

The K3 iii behaviour seems to somewhat achieve what you want - toggling to a normal brightness display during focusing - but it's not ideal because as soon as it's acquired focus it drops back to the EV simulation view, even if you hold the half shutter press - there doesn't seem to be a way to hold it in the +/-0EV view indefinitely. Worse, the half-shutter press does not work if the camera is in manual focus mode - there seems to be no obvious way to toggle it into that mode for manual focusing, which seems like when you would need it most.

Aha - after all that I just found a menu option on the K3 iii 'Exp Simulation LV' that lets you turn it off altogether!

Hmmm, if I turn off exposure simulation in LV the histogram in LV is now not very useful, as it just reflects the brightness of the image as displayed, i.e. it never changes if I change exposure settings. I think a better implementation would have been to simulate changes in exposure by shifting the histogram if you have 'exposure simulation in LV' set to OFF. Perhaps something for Pentax to consider for the K3 iv :-)

[phoebus]

[…]I think a better implementation would have been to simulate changes in exposure by shifting the histogram if you have 'exposure simulation in LV' set to OFF. Perhaps something for Pentax to consider for the K3 iv :-)

Hopefully an update for the K-3iii would fix that, it can’t be that difficult to change the datum for the histogram in code?

As a completely new, and complex, computing system, I suspect there are many issues yet to be fixed that are ‘known’ issues. And probably even more unknown ones to add to the ‘todo’ list.

If Ricoh are serious about their DSLR range - and by all evidence so far, they are - I’m fairly confident there will be many incremental updates to the K-3iii firmware before the K-3iv makes an appearance.

[Philoslothical]

Aha - after all that I just found a menu option on the K3 iii 'Exp Simulation LV' that lets you turn it off altogether!

This is promising, thank you for looking into this for me! It should be on the K-3, too. I just searched the manuals and checked my camera's menu for the nth time, and it's not, but it's something to know they corrected the oversight eventually.

Does the K-3 iii handle memory cards any more intelligently than the K-3? This is the other biggie for me. If I use slot 2 at all I have to manually remove it and power cycle the camera twice (card out, card back in) to get it to use slot 1 again. If I start using slot 2 and card 1 is empty, it won't switch to card 1 after card 2 fills up, it just decides the camera is full because slot 2 comes after slot 1. I really question the people who let this feature go to market in this state. One would think it could have been corrected in a firmware update, though this is true of the "LV simulation" setting, too.

[speagles2]

This is promising, thank you for looking into this for me! It should be on the K-3, too. I just searched the manuals and checked my camera's menu for the nth time, and it's not, but it's something to know they corrected the oversight eventually.

Does the K-3 iii handle memory cards any more intelligently than the K-3? This is the other biggie for me. If I use slot 2 at all I have to manually remove it and power cycle the camera twice (card out, card back in) to get it to use slot 1 again. If I start using slot 2 and card 1 is empty, it won't switch to card 1 after card 2 fills up, it just decides the camera is full because slot 2 comes after slot 1. I really question the people who let this feature go to market in this state. One would think it could have been corrected in a firmware update, though this is true of the "LV simulation" setting, too.

Sorry, haven't tried different combinations of SD card use - I always use RAW+JPG with RAW on 1 and JPG on 2

[Philoslothical]

Sorry, haven't tried different combinations of SD card use - I always use RAW+JPG with RAW on 1 and JPG on 2

No worries. I appreciate all of the other information you've provided in this thread. It's been very helpful.

[Pål Jensen]

How do you activate focus peaking and extract edge feature on the K-3III? I can't find any settings for this in the menus (scrolled through everything) and nothing about it in the manual...

[c.a.m]

How do you activate focus peaking and extract edge feature on the K-3III?

In the (English language) menu, go to Camera-1 menu, Still Image Setting Menus --> Focus Settings --> AF with Live View --> Focus Peaking.

I believe that the camera must be in Live View mode in order to set the Focus Peaking functions.

Focus peaking has two options: [Extract Edge] or [Highlight Edge].


- Craig

[Pål Jensen]

The meny system on the K-3III is certainly not as intuitive as previous models where I never had problems finding anything, or ever needed to consult the manual....