[bertwert]

Those are both great lenses...
If you are taking close-ups of still life, you could drop the 100 as the 35 is also a 1:1 macro.
But on the other hand the 100 gives you a longer working distance.

[Des]

A K30 with a wide-angle lens and a K3 with a macro or long tele or zoom would be a great pair out in the field. The K30 is still plenty useful.

That's exactly what I do. The extra pixels of the K-3 give more scope for cropping, and bigger and long-focus-throw lenses benefit most from the more powerful AF motor. But images taken with the K-30 in normal shooting conditions that don't need much cropping still hold up well.

Glass matters more to IQ than the difference in bodies. Put it this way: if I put the FA77 on the K-30 I will always get more of a "wow!" image than using the 18-135 or 55-300 at 77mm on the K-3.

---------- Post added 01-21-16 at 11:46 AM ----------

Right i've finally decided that this year for definate i'm going to get the K3 II camera and both the Pentax 35mm f2.8 Macro DA Limited prime lens and the Pentax SMC D FA 100mm Macro F2.8 WR prime lens

Two stellar lenses. Either will do well on the K-30 too.

[richardstringer]

Thanks guys, I think the two lenses I showed you will be fine, I chose the 100mm for two reasons, one because it's an award winning lens and the other reason is it'd be a little better suited for situations where I don't want to get o close or can't get so close to the subject. I'll be selling the K30 when I buy my K3 II though as I definately don't need a back up lens, i've never had a problem with the K30 and never found I needed a back up camera especially as I do photography in my spare time not as a paid job. I can understand if someone who's job is photography might need a back up camera though.

[ebailey001]

I would be interested to see the what those 2 macros would look like with the pixel shifting feature. The DA35 is so sharp it makes my eyes bleed on the K-5iis.

[Des]

I'll be selling the K30 when I buy my K3 II though as I definately don't need a back up lens, i've never had a problem with the K30 and never found I needed a back up camera especially as I do photography in my spare time not as a paid job. I can understand if someone who's job is photography might need a back up camera though.

I'd suggest you hold off on this Richard. I'm a hobbyist too, but I find that having a second body is very useful not only as a backup but because it saves a lot of lens changes.

[TER-OR]

You'll find 100mm is VERY tight. It is a telephoto length. The 35 will give you closer to a "normal" view you get with your eyes. You won't be disappointed in either lens, but you may eventually want more flexibility. You'll have fun though, learning the system and lenses.

[BrianR]

Two stellar lenses. Either will do well on the K-30 too.

A thousand times this.

I'd just get the lenses and work on getting the most out of them on the k-30. They're both superb and capable of excellent image quality on pretty much any pentx dslr, even going back to the 'olden' 6mp days. Upgrade the camera later if you still feel the need.

[TheOneAndOnlyJH]

A thousand times this.

I'd just get the lenses and work on getting the most out of them on the k-30. They're both superb and capable of excellent image quality on pretty much any pentx dslr, even going back to the 'olden' 6mp days. Upgrade the camera later if you still feel the need.

I'll agree to this if you don't have extra cash, but I'll also say the K-3 (II) is a great camera and you won't be disappointed. Aside from cost, the biggest downside is the larger file sizes.

I'd suggest buying the lenses first and spending a few weeks with them on your K-30 before you upgrade to the K-3 (II). This will give you a direct comparison and you'll better understand the individual nuances and behaviors of the lenses and bodies rather than trying to adapt to both at the same time. If the lenses make you happy, you might even be happy sticking with your K-30 for a while longer while K-3 prices continue to fall.

FYI, some people that bought the K-3 weren't happy because they were pixel peeping, but 100% view of a 24 megapixel image will magnify any flaws or errors more than 100% view on previous 16 megapixel cameras, so don't fall into that trap!

[bobbotron]

I have a Pentax K30 and love it so much but i'm wanting to upgrade now and was looking at the K3 II but i've read bad reviews about the amount of image noise it suffers from, what are you guys ideas on the K3 II compared to the K30?

I think noise claims are way over stated. The k3 is pretty awesome, and the prices are really good right now if you live in the states! I love my k3, it was a huge jump up. If I am getting noise... I shot the photo too dark to begin with.

This was shot at 12800 ISO on my k3. Post processed a little - there's still noise as I'm not a terrific post processor (plus it's 12800 ISO!), and I'll take some noise over the bluring some denoising does...

[nomadkng]

Quick story:

My backup/GF loaner K3 was stolen. GF was forced to temporarily recommission her K30 for use. (It was her first DSLR but she quickly outgrew it.)
After 1 hour with the K30 on a photo trip, she put it back in the bag, put the bag in the car and started shooting with her iPhone.

I asked her what she was doing and she replied, "I'm so used to the K3, the K30 is useless. I might as well use my phone, because it's not worth the effort to carry the bag around."

That sums up the K3 vs K30.

[bertwert]

Quick story:

My backup/GF loaner K3 was stolen. GF was forced to temporarily recommission her K30 for use. (It was her first DSLR but she quickly outgrew it.)
After 1 hour with the K30 on a photo trip, she put it back in the bag, put the bag in the car and started shooting with her iPhone.

I asked her what she was doing and she replied, "I'm so used to the K3, the K30 is useless. I might as well use my phone, because it's not worth the effort to carry the bag around."

That sums up the K3 vs K30.

OK...

I wouldn't agree there...

[bobbotron]

Quick story:

My backup/GF loaner K3 was stolen. GF was forced to temporarily recommission her K30 for use. (It was her first DSLR but she quickly outgrew it.)
After 1 hour with the K30 on a photo trip, she put it back in the bag, put the bag in the car and started shooting with her iPhone.

I asked her what she was doing and she replied, "I'm so used to the K3, the K30 is useless. I might as well use my phone, because it's not worth the effort to carry the bag around."

That sums up the K3 vs K30.

Wow, that's pretty harsh, and not terribly accurate. You get a lot just being on the APS-C format, that an iPhone will never have!

[UncleVanya]

Quick story:

My backup/GF loaner K3 was stolen. GF was forced to temporarily recommission her K30 for use. (It was her first DSLR but she quickly outgrew it.)
After 1 hour with the K30 on a photo trip, she put it back in the bag, put the bag in the car and started shooting with her iPhone.

I asked her what she was doing and she replied, "I'm so used to the K3, the K30 is useless. I might as well use my phone, because it's not worth the effort to carry the bag around."

That sums up the K3 vs K30.

Wow... I routinely pulled my K50 out of the bag and used it while I owned both the K50 and K3 - I cannot imagine why she felt that way. The only area that I feel like the K50 was a major step back was low light focusing. The ergonomics are different enough and the controls are different enough that could cause some mental gymnastics but that wasn't a deal breaker for me.

I can see how if you have become used to a particular set of control customizations it could be difficult. The placement of several key buttons is different and it could confuse some people a lot.

Even so I can't imagine putting up a K30 for an iPhone.

Are you sure she's a keeper?

[Quartermaster James]

I keep my K-30 and some vintage glass at the office as a backup. Yeah, sometimes it takes a little while to readjust to its controls vs the K-3, but not so much as I would ditch it for the phone, nor for the Powershot G9 that usually lives in my parka pocket.

[Des]

I keep my K-30 and some vintage glass at the office as a backup. Yeah, sometimes it takes a little while to readjust to its controls vs the K-3, but not so much as I would ditch it for the phone, nor for the Powershot G9

The K-30/K-50 is an awesome camera and despite being not as sophisticated there is little you can do with the K-3 that you can't do with the K-30 or K-50.

The only area that I feel like the K50 was a major step back was low light focusing. The ergonomics are different enough and the controls are different enough that could cause some mental gymnastics but that wasn't a deal breaker for me.

That's been my experience with K-30 and K-3 too so far. It's not too hard switching between them. I'm still getting familiar with the advanced features of the K-3 - maybe when you get addicted to particular ones of those it is hard to go back, but I'm not there yet.

It was very different when I went from the K100D Super to the K-30 - that was a huge upgrade with immediate rewards, and I found it difficult to readjust to the K100D Super in the short time before I passed it on to a friend for his kids to use.

But the K-3 has been a great acquistion. The build is excellent, and there are features that I am coming to love (a small example - the ability to check for dust on the sensor without having to take pictures of the sky, upload them and look at them on the computer). As for the images themselves the biggest difference I have noticed so far is not the absence of AA-filter or better resolution, but the scope for cropping. That's great for birds and wildlife where even with long lenses cropping is the norm. (I defer to other more experienced users who have noticed marked differences in IQ - I'm just not there yet.)