Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Melbourne | KS-1 vs K-3 for Street Photography
After staying in London for a month, and making a huge attempt at being a street photographer, I have come to the conclusion, that out of all DSLR on the market, the Pentax System easily has the best DSLR system for the job. Out of all current SLR manufactures, Pentax is the only system that has nailed four out of the five aspects required (for me), that is, small but relatively fast primes (I'm using the plastic fantastic DA 50mm f1.8), silent operation (screw drive isn't really that loud compared to ambient city noise), excellent low light performance (both AF, which is average speed, but quite accurate, and high ISO noise performance) and durability (sure the 50mm isn't WR, but I've never had any problems in bad weather in the field). The only thing that I think could make Pentax THE BEST choice for street photography, would be if they released a smaller SLR, keeping what makes the K-3 amazing, adding an aperture coupler, and striping anything not essential (potentially SR, battery life, and even duel control wheels).
Fortunately, I am in luck, for the most part at least. Pentax has gone ahead and released the KS-1, and it almost ticks all the boxes for me. Sure, it has obnoxious LED lights, but they can be switched off, so no problem. Next up, Pentax has equipped it with that magnificent 100% pentaprism viewfinder, which seems to pretty much be too much for the other two to handle in their bodies. And last but not least, it keeps the SR while still being tiny, which is absolutely fantastic. But, I don't know why Ricoh does this too us, but like, where is the WR. I know its probably hard to implement, but this is not a beginner camera (at least in price), and outside of the lowest price bracket of cameras and lenses, Ricoh should be making an effort to keep the system consistently weather sealed, it's just convenient for the buyer. Sensor-symencher, I don't care, there no such thing as a Pentax camera which doesn't utilize it's sensor to the max (outside the 12-bit vs 14-bit argument, and don't quote me on that). But, the biggest let down is that Ricoh is still utilizing the 11 point autofocus system and the 77 segment metre. Sure, there is nothing wrong with that, but yet again, for the price I would at least expect one of the other, but maybe they couldn't fit it inside that tiny body? At least that is what I hope happened, as its time to start retiring that last gen equipment. I honestly hope this is the last Pentax utilizing this tech, and the next gen will be, for lack of a better phrase, more advanced.
Fortunately for Ricoh, I think, at least for me, those downsides are not complete let downs and are worth overlooking. For a street photographer like me, the KS-1 seems to be a no brainer purchase. All I have to do before purchasing is to see what happens this photokina, and hope for the best.
PS: Sorry for the rant, again...
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