[sebberry]

For wildlife you'd want to use OVF anyway to get more precise tracking and focus (usually on the eye). If you go down the rabbit hole of wildlife photography, be prepared to spend time on your belly.

Not me. Photo from the website Photography Talk: Point of View for Bird Photographers

Because eye detection is so great via LV?

[cport]

I strongly hope in APS-C with tilting screen, I strongly hope in KP II


I like UWA lenses and for them, this feature is simply a must ...

... to be honest, if my KP would fail, I would go to K-1 II now. Which would be unpleasant as most of my lenses are nice APS-C lenses.

[Kobie]

I know it isn't ideal but could you sync your phone with the camera (if it's on a tripod of course) for these shots?
"I don't do wildlife photography so I could of course be thinking out of my *** "

That only works with the camera in Live View unfortunately.

[volley]

That only works with the camera in Live View unfortunately.

... sure, just like the rear screen would, no matter if fixed or tilting.
Or am I missing something??

[Rondec]

That only works with the camera in Live View unfortunately.

As volley says, if you flip the screen out, it has to be in live view to use it. I think the point is that the auto focus improvements on the K-3 III are mainly using the viewfinder. I suppose you could do wildlife that was pretty slow moving using live view (either with a phone or rear screen), but I would think the main application would be landscape photography -- that's when I usually use live view with the cameras I own.

[gatorguy]

I know it isn't ideal but could you sync your phone with the camera (if it's on a tripod of course) for these shots?
"I don't do wildlife photography so I could of course be thinking out of my *** "

Mount your phone in a cold-shoe mount and ditch the tripod.

[sebberry]

With buying my K33, I started getting back into watching a lot more YouTube videos on photography. It doesn't matter if it's nature, landscapes, whatever...

1) Many have switched to mirrorless, especially the street photographers who want the autofocus to pick out people. When you have the incredible eye-tracking of platforms like the Sony, it makes it a no-brainer to be using something like that. Compose your shot and the eye-AF sticks like glue when you need it to. The keeper rate is higher and it makes for much more natural shooting than focus-recompose. It takes the 'staging' out of a shot.

2) A movable screen, whether tilty, flippy or articulating simply means more creative ways to capture a scene. Who really wants to leave a cell phone tethered via WiFi for shooting?


Two of my favorite youTube channels so far are 'fototripper' and Julia Trotti. In watching their videos it's clear how they're able to wring so much more out of their cameras.

Do I like my K33? Yes, it's an excellent camera, but it's still an APS-C DSLR. The photographers who I have been drawing inspiration from (and why I upgraded from the K5 to the K33 in the first place to renew my interest in the hobby) are showing how things like the flip screen and eye-AF can really improve their work.

[licht96]

@sebberry: 100% with your opinion.
Although our K3 III has some abilities, that are totally huge steps for Pentax compared, to the older ones... it is far away from those really "Auto" AF abilities of MILC cameras... I write here especially regarding "Auto" because it's a diffent story in a parallel thread. I'm always smiling a little bit, when Pentaxians are praising the new AF algorithm and the subject recognition like if they never use a EVF camera from the big 3 (C, N, S).
I love my Pentax K3 III... but if I would win a lot of money, I would buy an additional (!) MILC for using extensive flippy screen and sticky Eye AF while shooting @1.4 with a fast moving child.

[Kobie]

... sure, just like the rear screen would, no matter if fixed or tilting.
Or am I missing something??

The question I was answering to was related to Wildlife. The contrast AF in Live View isn't fast enough and doesn't track the way phase AF does (using the OVF). So, tilting screen, fixed screen, smartphone tethered isn't ideal for that situation, unless the subject is not moving.

[sebberry]

@sebberry: 100% with your opinion.
Although our K3 III has some abilities, that are totally huge steps for Pentax compared, to the older ones... it is far away from those really "Auto" AF abilities of MILC cameras... I write here especially regarding "Auto" because it's a diffent story in a parallel thread. I'm always smiling a little bit, when Pentaxians are praising the new AF algorithm and the subject recognition like if they never use a EVF camera from the big 3 (C, N, S).
I love my Pentax K3 III... but if I would win a lot of money, I would buy an additional (!) MILC for using extensive flippy screen and sticky Eye AF while shooting @1.4 with a fast moving child.

Am I unhappy with my camera? Not really. Am I thrilled? Not really. It does what it says on the tin and I do quite enjoy using it once I figure stuff out with it.

I was disappointed to miss focus a bit at a friend's kid's 4th birthday the other day while he was blowing out the candles. I was also too focused (pun intended...) on locking focus on the little one's eye then re-composing that I missed a few good moments and half cut someone out of the frame. I look at the operation of MILC cameras, especially the Sony with the excellent AF and think 'gee, if only I could think more about composition and have the camera find the eye' I'd have some great shots.

[tibbitts]

Tell that to Nikon and Canon. As far as I can tell neither of those companies pro DSLR cameras have flip screens and they cost several times the price of the K-3III. The K-3III seems to be in line with flagship DSLR ethos in this regard.
Flip screen on DSLR's seems to be a feature for amateurs and videoshooters....

In fairness I believe they did have flip screens on their flagship crop-sensor bodies.

[sebberry]

Flip screen on DSLR's seems to be a feature for amateurs and videoshooters....

Just out of curiosity, why is a flip screen on a DSLR a feature for an amateur? When we share and look at photos, composition plays a big role in whether someone finds it pleasing. If a tilt/flip screen makes it easier to either spend the time to compose the shot or for an otherwise impossible shot to be captured, why does it matter if the screen moves?

Today I was trying to get a shot of a Mute Swan framed by a low to the ground rock formation. The ground is covered in a stew of bird crap and broken mussel shells so there was no way I was crawling around to use the viewfinder so it was a perfect shot to take with live view. Unfortunately I totally missed the focus so I threw the shot away, but it was again one of those moments being able to move the screen would have helped tremendously.

Look, I get it - I love the OVF experience and the K3-3 has a fantastic one. I just want more flexibility in the tool that I use to capture moments. Is that too much to ask?

[Pål Jensen]

Just out of curiosity, why is a flip screen on a DSLR a feature for an amateur? When we share and look at photos, composition plays a big role in whether someone finds it pleasing. If a tilt/flip screen makes it easier to either spend the time to compose the shot or for an otherwise impossible shot to be captured, why does it matter if the screen moves?

Today I was trying to get a shot of a Mute Swan framed by a low to the ground rock formation. The ground is covered in a stew of bird crap and broken mussel shells so there was no way I was crawling around to use the viewfinder so it was a perfect shot to take with live view. Unfortunately I totally missed the focus so I threw the shot away, but it was again one of those moments being able to move the screen would have helped tremendously.

Look, I get it - I love the OVF experience and the K3-3 has a fantastic one. I just want more flexibility in the tool that I use to capture moments. Is that too much to ask?

I can put the camera on the floor, activate live view and have no problem composing and focusing the image even when seeing the screen from a steep angle and at a distance. I do have to bend my back slightly but that is something I have to do anyway in order to reach the camera. This issue is blown out of all proportions. A DSLR is not a cell phone camera. I accept that some people want to use a camera like one use a cell phone camera, but for those the DSLR with the best optical viewfinder is a waste anyway; wrong tool for the job.
Personally I would not want a more bulky and expensive camera for a feature than admittedly can be handy in some rare situation (I have never encountered such a situation where I couldn't get an image due to the lack of a flip screen), but is anyway easy to work around.....

[ThorSanchez]

Just out of curiosity, why is a flip screen on a DSLR a feature for an amateur? When we share and look at photos, composition plays a big role in whether someone finds it pleasing. If a tilt/flip screen makes it easier to either spend the time to compose the shot or for an otherwise impossible shot to be captured, why does it matter if the screen moves?

Today I was trying to get a shot of a Mute Swan framed by a low to the ground rock formation. The ground is covered in a stew of bird crap and broken mussel shells so there was no way I was crawling around to use the viewfinder so it was a perfect shot to take with live view. Unfortunately I totally missed the focus so I threw the shot away, but it was again one of those moments being able to move the screen would have helped tremendously.

Look, I get it - I love the OVF experience and the K3-3 has a fantastic one. I just want more flexibility in the tool that I use to capture moments. Is that too much to ask?

Flip screen is like, say... Bluetooth connectivity in your car. Can you get by without it? Sure, people did for many years. Do some people still ignore it today and say they'd rather pay a small amount less to not have it? Yep. Is it really annoying for many or most people to have to go back to how they did things years ago without this convenience? Absolutely. Ricoh asked all the K-1 and KP users who might be interested in the Mark III to buy a car without Bluetooth when they've had one before.

I bought a Mark III and I really like it, so this isn't a deal-breaker for me. But it's odd that Ricoh would leave off what's become a pretty standard feature for a camera like this. I assume integrating a screen like this drove the price over their already pretty high target and they didn't have another suitable means to bring it back down.

[normhead]

I probably shouldn't say anything. Anything I can say can be found in other threads. I get tried of repeating myself.

I'll just say, I'll never buy another camera without a tilting back screen. I wonder about people arguing for less functionality, or the argument that "because I don't need it nobody does". The thing with the tilting back screen is, if you don't want it, you don't have to use it. Glue it shut for all I care. But I use it, and when I want it, it's a definite advantage. Why people would want to convince me different, I have no clue. It's one of those mysteries of the universe.