[GodsPetMonkey]

Screw drive autofocus is definitely louder than what you are used to with your Canon, but unless you are doing your portrait work in a library it is unlikely to be much a problem. There are some really good portrait options with screw drive - from the affordable (FA 50mm f1.4, DA 50mm f1.8) to the wonderful (FA 77mm Limited). Pentax has a great range of primes for APS-C, but any one of these will serve you well for portraits.

The DA* 55mm has SDM instead of screw drive, which is nice and quiet, but as you already know that comes at a premium. Of course, it is a really good lens too - you aren't just paying for the quiet AF

For landscape AF noise is a non-issue, but the current DA zooms are all DC or SDM anyway (both are silent). If you prefer primes all round the wide DA Limiteds are screw drive and produce awesome photos.

For the body, if you have been happy with the results your 70D gives you, you will be extremely happy with the K-70. The K-3II is a step up, but Pentax doesn't overly cripple the lower tier models (in the way that Canon and Nikon can do), so the K-70 has pixel shift, for instance, which is a pretty high end feature. Most of the differences come down to where money is saved in the physical build - it is cheaper to not include battery grip contacts and a second SD card slot. You'll need to decide if you can live without those extras tht are on the K-3II. Note that the K-3II doesn't have a built in flash or wifi, the K-70 will have both.

[UncleVanya]

On my K-3 I tend to use my FA77 f1.8 or DA70 f2.4 for portraits. Someone's I use my DA40 F2.8, sometimes my DA* 200, and while the 55 looks like a nice lens, the tighter 70/77 are more my style. I have the older F-50 and rarely use it for portraits for no good reasons.

[Rastadori]

I just want to thank everyone for the amazing help. Making a change from one system to another isnt easy. Especially because once i get into a system i want to stick to it with working up a nice lens collection. Luckily for my 70d i dont have much so making that change wont be hard. just want to be 100% sure that pentax is the way to go. And I must say it really has convinced me after seeing the lenses they have to offer

[slip]

you might want to think about the K3 with the battery grip. the grip lets you shoot in portrait without twisting your arm.


Good luck!

Randy

[UncleVanya]

you might want to think about the K3 with the battery grip. the grip lets you shoot in portrait without twisting your arm.

Twisting isn't what I call how I shoot in portrait mode. I can't get used to using a grip myself.

[Rastadori]

I have another question. So often times I shoot skateboarding but skaters tend to skate during that bright 2pm sunlight. My question is. If im correct this camera allows High speed sync. Which i can shoot at 1/4000 of a second or higher if needed while adding the fkash effect. My question is, what flashes work well for this with the k3-ii? Im sire there are some youngnuo that work?

[sarge]

I have another question. So often times I shoot skateboarding but skaters tend to skate during that bright 2pm sunlight. My question is. If im correct this camera allows High speed sync. Which i can shoot at 1/4000 of a second or higher if needed while adding the fkash effect. My question is, what flashes work well for this with the k3-ii? Im sire there are some youngnuo that work?

The Pentax AF360GFZ II and AF540GFZ II both offer HSS. To my knowledge they are the only ones that do. I use a couple of LumoPro LP180 flashes but they do not allow HSS. The Yongnuo flashes are very similar to the LumoPro flashes.

[robjmitchell]

Metz and Sigma also have some p-ttl flashes with HSS for pentax. Cactus RF60 has a HSS sympathy mode but is not p-ttl.

[reh321]

Twisting isn't what I call how I shoot in portrait mode. I can't get used to using a grip myself.

I am particularly intrigued by the guy in the middle; personally, I find that to be a very awkward way to hold a camera, with right hand suspended over the camera and elbow kind of flapping, but most photographers do seem to hold it like that; once I asked a wedding photographer why she held her camera like that, and after a moment thought, she said "I don't know". I rotate my camera the other way, which keeps my right hand on the right side of the camera and my elbow close to my body. I had a grip for my Canon Rebel, but I stopped using it because modern DSLR cameras are already too large from my perspective.

Now I see that the text under portrait says rotating the camera that way keeps your arms from becoming "twisted up", but my arms feel perfectly normal in this position, and their method causes them to violate their rule on the left to keep elbows "tucked into body". Incidentally, I took this picture with a manual focus Adaptall lens {I guess I should have brushed my hair!}

[UncleVanya]

I am particularly intrigued by the guy in the middle; personally, I find that to be a very awkward way to hold a camera, with right hand suspended over the camera and elbow kind of flapping, but most photographers do seem to hold it like that; once I asked a wedding photographer why she held her camera like that, and after a moment thought, she said "I don't know". I rotate my camera the other way, which keeps my right hand on the right side of the camera and my elbow close to my body. I had a grip for my Canon Rebel, but I stopped using it because modern DSLR cameras are already too large from my perspective.

Now I see that the text under portrait says rotating the camera that way keeps your arms from becoming "twisted up", but my arms feel perfectly normal in this position, and their method causes them to violate their rule on the left to keep elbows "tucked into body". Incidentally, I took this picture with a manual focus Adaptall lens {I guess I should have brushed my hair!}

You can find people who recommend your way - I however do the opposite. I don't have my elbow that far out but essentially that's the way I do it. It has been that way my whole life.

[Rastadori]

The Pentax AF360GFZ II and AF540GFZ II both offer HSS. To my knowledge they are the only ones that do. I use a couple of LumoPro LP180 flashes but they do not allow HSS. The Yongnuo flashes are very similar to the LumoPro flashes.

Metz and Sigma also have some p-ttl flashes with HSS for pentax. Cactus RF60 has a HSS sympathy mode but is not p-ttl.

thank you both. Just curious, are there transmitters so i can flash these off wireless in HSS?

[robjmitchell]

thank you both. Just curious, are there transmitters so i can flash these off wireless in HSS?

And thats where things get tricky....
There is no radio wireless trigger with p-ttl, only optical wireless which requires two p-ttl flashes (the on camera pop up flash can be used as a master/controller but not in HSS mode). I think you can trigger HSS with two HSS flashes but don't quote me on it. The big negative is that you have to do any power changes to the flashes manually (ie Pain in the rear)

The cactus radio wireless system is the obvious solution, as it allows you to control the power of all your flash groups easily from your radio controller on your camera. You loose preflash metering (which is not that reliable with multiple flashes anyway), plus the transmitter/receiver units can use a huge range of flashes as slave units. With the cactus flash which has built in transmitter/receiver you can use a sympathy mode that produces a long duration pulse allowing sync up to 1/8000sec
Cactus V6 Review - Introduction | PentaxForums.com Reviews
Note though I am not an expert on flash matters, (check out flash subforum)

[Rastadori]

And thats where things get tricky....
There is no radio wireless trigger with p-ttl, only optical wireless which requires two p-ttl flashes (the on camera pop up flash can be used as a master/controller but not in HSS mode). I think you can trigger HSS with two HSS flashes but don't quote me on it. The big negative is that you have to do any power changes to the flashes manually (ie Pain in the rear)

The cactus radio wireless system is the obvious solution, as it allows you to control the power of all your flash groups easily from your radio controller on your camera. You loose preflash metering (which is not that reliable with multiple flashes anyway), plus the transmitter/receiver units can use a huge range of flashes as slave units. With the cactus flash which has built in transmitter/receiver you can use a sympathy mode that produces a long duration pulse allowing sync up to 1/8000sec
Cactus V6 Review - Introduction | PentaxForums.com Reviews
Note though I am not an expert on flash matters, (check out flash subforum)

Thank you. Just new to HSS and it really helps my skateboarding shooting and I read on the K3-ii specs that it can do HSS. So usually with the transmitter and 2 RF60s. and with that ill be able to flash it off eve at 1/8000 of a second as long as setting the camera to the HSS mode and having the flashes at max power?

[UncleVanya]

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/125-flashes-lighting-studio/300794-acon-r...8000-sync.html

[robjmitchell]

Thank you. Just new to HSS and it really helps my skateboarding shooting and I read on the K3-ii specs that it can do HSS. So usually with the transmitter and 2 RF60s. and with that ill be able to flash it off eve at 1/8000 of a second as long as setting the camera to the HSS mode and having the flashes at max power?

Looks like i'm out of touch there is a new radio p-ttl trigger with HSS as uncle vanya posted above