[Carl7253]

Background: I am on a student exchange in India for one year. My Pentax k-50 has started giving me issues (The exposures are coming out all over the place, even in manual). When I get back to the states I want to work into the higher level enthusiast level and try to touch the lower end of pro photography. Travel+ college does not leave me with a ton of wiggle room, but I do have around $1,000 set aside for an upgrade. I have four lenses, two kit lenses, a 70mm f/2.4 limited and a 17-50 f/2.8.

Should I fix the k-50 and wait for a potential k-3 III or buy a K-3 II now? I have been debating on what to do for a few weeks; help would be much appreciated.

[Adam]

I'd probably just go for it. Whatever replaces the K-3 will probably be more expensive, and the K-3 is already a pretty big upgrade over the K-50 in just about every area

[The Squirrel Mafia]

You can't go wrong with the K-3II. However, if you can hold out for the next generation APS-C flagship, it'll more than likely be worth the wait.

Old school manual Pentax glass with a manual aperture ring might be something that can help you hold out for a bit.

That or the new firmware allowing you to use the new KAF4 55-300 PLM lens. The aperture is controlled electronically inside the lens.

[KiloHotelphoto]

I would second Adams thoughts. I started with a K-50 and then went to a K-3 and was blown away by how good it was. If you have the money set aside for it do it, you won't regret it at all.

[Paul the Sunman]

Do you need a K3 II, or would the K3 be a better choice? With the Mark II you pick up pixel shift (not any use for most types of photography) and GPS but lose the built-in flash (which is great for triggering an off-camera P-TTL flash). Depends which you would value more.

Although the K3 is officially discontinued, it still seems to be available on a number of US sites, including Amazon.

[Davidparis]

Another argument for acting now or "very soon" is that the K-3 II APS-C successor is niether rumoured nor announced. This means your waiting time would be long, during which time you'll find yourself frustrated. The K-3 II is a body that will sell well when the time comes to upgrade.

[Bengan]

You can always wait for something new to be released, but my advice is - Go for a K-3/K-3II. The K-3 is a fantastic camera. I plan to keep mine for a number of years yet.

[Canada_Rockies]

I have a K-3. It is a fine camera. I do use the flash occasionally as mentioned above, but generally wouldn't need it. I have an AF 540 FGZ which is a lot more flexible.

The K-3 or K-3 II are cameras that weren't even possible five or six years ago. 8 frames per second? ISO above 1600? Go for it. If you can get a near new or new K-3, saving a few dollars, you can use the money for lenses or tripods or other things to improve your photography. I have been a Pentaxian since 1961, and never got around to upgrading until the current camera started acting up. I bought my previous body in Nov 2007.

I have looked at the K-1, and it is a lovely camera, but my feelings are that we are in the same place 35mm was many years ago when I started out. Back then 120 was the film size that was standard for better photography and 35mm was the tiny upstart. Of course the 120 was the same to 4x5. As Norm Head has in his signature, APS-C is my favourite compromise as much as it is his. To save those precious dollars, check into reputable used cameras. I didn't buy mine from the marketplace here, but how could I turn down CDN $525 for a K-3 with less than 17,000 actuations, warrantied by a local camera chain?

I have bought and sold and traded in the marketplace here, and these are enthusiasts who know their equipment. Start here in the For Sale, and if you don't see what you want, put a Wanted notice up. I put up a wanted notice quite a few months ago for an FA macro lens -- I wanted the focus limiter and the optics are virtually the same as the newer versions. Newer coatings are better, but the FA 100 has better coatings than the M 100 macro I have. I plan on putting that up one of these days. It"s a find lens, but I really wanted to get to 1:1 without an extension ring and have the camera set my exposure when a bug is in a hurry. I waited a while, but it came, and it is gorgeous. No complaints.

[Rondec]

Either a K3 or K3 II would be an excellent camera that would give you plenty of room to grow into with regard to the camera specs. K3 II supposedly has a little better tracking auto focus, adds GPS, astro tracer, and pixel shift over the K3 and loses the on board flash.

What will the K3 III bring? My guesses would be better video, a slightly better sensor (better high iso like the K70), slightly faster frame rate/deeper buffer, and a little better auto focus. I doubt anything revolutionary and I wouldn't hesitate to go for a K3 or K3 II.

[Kunzite]

Another argument for acting now or "very soon" is that the K-3 II APS-C successor is niether rumoured nor announced. This means your waiting time would be long, during which time you'll find yourself frustrated. The K-3 II is a body that will sell well when the time comes to upgrade.

CP+ (February 23-26 2017) seems like a good occasion to announce the K-3 II's replacement.
Of course, even if it happen there would be a small delay until market availability, and we'd be talking about full MSRP (for a while).

[BigMackCam]

The replacement for the K-3II - when it arrives (and we don't know when that will be) - will undoubtedly be a little more capable in a few areas, but more expensive than the K-3II is right now. Furthermore, as a brand new model it may have one or two minor issues that will need to be ironed out through firmware updates and possibly service updates. We've even seen that happen with the full-frame flagship K-1. Early adopters are always at risk of experiencing unexpected problems, and whilst most of them are quite minor, some aren't. If you wait for the new model, you'll run that early adopter risk, but more importantly you'll miss out on many months of enjoyment.

So, my vote would be to get the K-3II. And, if you can get a nice deal that includes a free lens and/or grip, even better. It's a proven, well-sorted camera that does almost everything very well indeed, and you'll love it. Alternatively, as has been mentioned above, consider a new or used K-3. Now that the KAF4 compatibility update has been released, the K-3 is future-proofed as far as lenses are concerned. All it really lacks compared to the K-3II is GPS, astro-tracer and pixel-shift resolution for stills photography - nice features, but hardly essential (do you really need them?). However, you do get an on-board flash which is useful in so many ways, particularly as a trigger for off-camera flash units.

Choice, choices

[Carl7253]

Do you need a K3 II, or would the K3 be a better choice? With the Mark II you pick up pixel shift (not any use for most types of photography) and GPS but lose the built-in flash (which is great for triggering an off-camera P-TTL flash). Depends which you would value more.

Although the K3 is officially discontinued, it still seems to be available on a number of US sites, including Amazon.

Wow, lots of great advice! I had heard that the Pentax forums had a good community, but man you guys blew it out of the water. It seems like it comes down to choosing a k-3 or a k-3II. I personally do need the GPS with how much traveling I will be doing in the next 8-10 months. I could try to rember the places I go, but Indian geography is not my strongsuit. On my k-50 I never did use the flash because I dont like the harsh direct effect of the on bord flash. I have gotten around this by always keeping a small hikeing head lamp in my camera backpack.

Firm wear was brought up several times during this disscushion, do you think out dated firm ware could be the problem with my k-50? The reson I did not look into it before is because it was working just fine for months prior to the issue. Eather way it is time for an upgrade.

Thank you to everyone who gave advice, it has helped to set my mind at rest.

Carl

[Conqueror]

K-3ii is insanely good.

I wasn't expecting such a jump in IQ from the K-5iis, but I reckon its quite noticeable.

The dual slots and astrotracer built in are great features.

[pathdoc]

The K-50's aperture/exposure issue is well known, and is also well known to be a hardware issue (the actuator which stops the lens down to the correct aperture for the correct time is what fails). Upgraded firmware will not fix it, although if Pentax were to bring out an electronic-control zoom in the 18 to 50-something range, it would provide a workaround for the aperture control issue. An 18-55 and 55-300 pair would set things right.

(We have an upgrade for the K-3 and the K-50; please Lord, let the K-5 be next).

[audiobomber]

Firm wear was brought up several times during this disscushion, do you think out dated firm ware could be the problem with my k-50? The reson I did not look into it before is because it was working just fine for months prior to the issue. Eather way it is time for an upgrade.

Definitely do that first.