[ajaya]

This thread was posted in 2018. Just saying.

The difference between the A7ii and K-1 for low light photography is minimal, both top out a close to 3200 ISO on DxO. The price difference means you could buy 2 K-1s or the price of an A7iii. That would get you one to use while your main body is out for repair, something you should have even if you do have a local repair centre. If you shoot a lot, regular maintenance is required and a back up body is a must.

The KR and is rated at 72, the A7iii and K-1 at 96.
Let's not pretend that those are reasons "Since i shot more of portraits and low light photography" that mean leaving Pentax.

Coming from a KR either will be a huge performance jump, and I really don' care what you buy. Just the reasons mentioned don't make sense.I suspect just some justification for a desired purchase. There are better ones. Eye AF, FPS, tracking etc. any one of which could be relevant to you. But overall IQ isn't one. There are no advantages to an A7iii that can't be overcome with knowing your camera and good technique for shooting Pentax glass. And current Pentax offerings in new glass are second to none.

Just please don't come back after you buy your Sony, and tell us Sony is better than Pentax, because you compared a K-r to an A7iii. We are definitely sick of that kind of nonsense.

I am aware that K1 rating is same as A7III and I am one of the few in my country who are using Pentax despite 1 service center for the entire country !
. but Pentax service availability in one of the biggest concern in India and lens availability too we don't get much of used lens like in other countries and have to invest on new lens which are expensive and there is a waiting period . These are the few concerns making me to thinking of switching to different brand and hence i wanted to know from this forum about similar experiences from others.

Thanks for the positive responses. i am waiting for the next apsc camera from Pentax hopefully it will satisfy my requirements.

[builttospill]

but Pentax service availability in one of the biggest concern in India and lens availability too we don't get much of used lens like in other countries and have to invest on new lens which are expensive and there is a waiting period . These are the few concerns making me to thinking of switching to different brand and hence i wanted to know from this forum about similar experiences from others.

Thanks for the positive responses. i am waiting for the next apsc camera from Pentax hopefully it will satisfy my requirements.

These are valid concerns, but how often have you needed Pentax equipment serviced? Remember Pentax builds durable cameras and lenses so hopefully you won't need servicing.

[builttospill]

e.g. need 4k120p for shooting a cat on the sofa in the dark.

Great points. I don't even have a 4k screen to display 4k resolution (and I'm not sure I need one in the near future).

[Kunzite]

I am aware that K1 rating is same as A7III and I am one of the few in my country who are using Pentax despite 1 service center for the entire country !
. but Pentax service availability in one of the biggest concern in India and lens availability too we don't get much of used lens like in other countries and have to invest on new lens which are expensive and there is a waiting period . These are the few concerns making me to thinking of switching to different brand and hence i wanted to know from this forum about similar experiences from others.

We don't even have that one service center. But, my GR III was repaired in Germany, and it seems they did a good job... except for setting the language to German

[tibbitts]

These are valid concerns, but how often have you needed Pentax equipment serviced? Remember Pentax builds durable cameras and lenses so hopefully you won't need servicing.

Going by the reports of SDM and aperture block/solenoid failure and my own need for focus adjustment on a new Pentax lens, I'm not entirely on board with the durable equipment theory. But realistically I think one service center per country (even the size of the U.S.) is okay, as long as there's some provision for "hot site" backup. You don't want your repair facility to be down for an extended period due to a natural disaster or other local event.

[BigMackCam]

Going by the reports of SDM and aperture block/solenoid failure and my own need for focus adjustment on a new Pentax lens, I'm not entirely on board with the durable equipment theory.

SDM and aperture solenoid failures were design and component related, affecting no other areas of the lens or camera. They're not durability issues. Needing focus adjustment on a new Pentax lens is an alignment / quality control issue - the likes of which happens even with Leica. No camera manufacturer I'm aware of tests every camera and lens off its production lines to ensure every aspect is within necessary tolerances. If they did, you'd have to pay an awful lot more for them. Again, that's not a durability issue... It's just a sad fact of modern manufacturing techniques.

[Kunzite]

SDM and aperture solenoid failures were design and component related, affecting no other areas of the lens or camera. They're not durability issues. Needing focus adjustment on a new Pentax lens is an alignment / quality control issue - the likes of which happens even with Leica. No camera manufacturer I'm aware of tests every camera and lens off its production lines to ensure every aspect is within necessary tolerances. If they did, you'd have to pay an awful lot more for them. Again, that's not a durability issue... It's just a sad fact of modern manufacturing techniques.

OTOH, the flimsy lens mount, light leaks and partial weather sealing are durability issues.

[ajaya]

These are valid concerns, but how often have you needed Pentax equipment serviced? Remember Pentax builds durable cameras and lenses so hopefully you won't need servicing.

there are many factors for service and I have been using KR from quite long time and small issues like battery slot spring,eye cup issue, lcd crack and pentax lens ring issue which i faced, so sometime i it takes months to get the to get it repaired and cost of courier is much higher than repair ! it's little sad that we dont have a store to visit and try camers,lens of k mount.

[Kunzite]

Oh, just in case; this:

OTOH, the flimsy lens mount, light leaks and partial weather sealing are durability issues.

doesn't refer to Pentax, but Sony.

[neokind]

Oh, just in case; this:

doesn't refer to Pentax, but Sony.

Flimsy lens mount may refer to the a6000, which had a plastic mount. Light leaks were in the first gen of the a7 & a7r. Both of these complaints refer to 7 year old models, correct? Partial weather sealing is true for the a7iii, but is more robust in the a7r and a9 series, if I’m not mistaken.

In response to the original question, if you have reasonable expectations that your camera will need service, and it sounds like you do, then buying a camera with a service center closer to you makes sense. There is no single issue—IQ, AF, weather sealing, or any of the hundreds of features on today’s cameras—that will likely be the only thing you care about. There are plenty of excellent systems out there. Pick the one that has the features you need, and can be serviced conveniently.

[Benz3ne]

Flimsy lens mount may refer to the a6000, which had a plastic mount. Light leaks were in the first gen of the a7 & a7r. Both of these complaints refer to 7 year old models, correct? Partial weather sealing is true for the a7iii, but is more robust in the a7r and a9 series, if I’m not mistaken.

In response to the original question, if you have reasonable expectations that your camera will need service, and it sounds like you do, then buying a camera with a service center closer to you makes sense. There is no single issue—IQ, AF, weather sealing, or any of the hundreds of features on today’s cameras—that will likely be the only thing you care about. There are plenty of excellent systems out there. Pick the one that has the features you need, and can be serviced conveniently.

(1) Flimsy lens mount - correct, early iterations of the a6xxx series and the A7 and A7R.
(2) Weather sealing - yes, it's partial on the A7iii, with an apparently lack of weather sealing in the base plate only. Granted, that's an obvious and clear omission but, for me at least, I (a) don't put my camera down in puddles, (b) rarely shoot with it in portrait orientation, less so upside-down and (c) typically use adapted, vintage lenses so defuncting the weather sealing in any camera I use/have used. Granted, that's a justification specific to me but given K-mount lenses give the option to use legacy glass, I see it as a worthwhile point to make.
For me, the A7iii has been a good little camera. I've been inclined to take it with me far more than I did a K-1 given it's diminutive profile (approx equal to the K70 in size and weight, FWIW).

[Dan Rentea]

Generally you'll find close nobody who a) shows photos which obviously go to any gear limits and b) then complains in a forum about the gear limitations.

But you get hundreds of people who complain on the whining side over and over again that they "need" brandnew feature X, whilst not haveing any meaningful background in any genre which would need it. e.g. need 4k120p for shooting a cat on the sofa in the dark.

There are small things that can't be explained with photos and there are things that can be explained with photos, but you receive comments from people who don't shoot the same things and they don't understand the challenges... And let me explain...

1. Speed (fps). I was involved in some discussions in this forum where people told me that shooting at 10-12 or 14fps it's just spray and pray. Now, the same people are happy when they see the 12fps in K3 Mark III. I showed pictures with some horses jumping some obstacles taken with cameras with 4-5fps and I explained why 10fps can make a difference in getting much better images CONSTANTLY, instead of random ones. There is a big difference in getting images constantly and getting random images of a difficult subject.

2. Af-C or tracking capabilities - no matter how many fps a camera has, if the af system can't handle it, it basically cancel half of the fps. Again, it's hard to explain af to people who shoot random action at f8-f9 for example with a 55-300mm lens. There is a big difference in getting the shot at f5.6 and 600mm or at f2.8 at 300mm and getting the shot at f8 and 300mm. There is also a big difference in the look of the image. It's also hard to explain the difference in focusing and tracking at f8 when you add a 2x TC on an f4 lens. Most cameras can focus but few can track the subject.

Getting back to mirrorless vs. DSLR. I have quite a lot experience with both systems. The most common problem I see regarding mirrorless system is the EVF. I understand the complains about headaches because I had them and I had to "train" my eyes to get read of eyes stain and headaches by making pauses after 20 minutes of shooting through EVF. Fortunately, I don't have any more problems with EVFs and since the new generation of EVFs, the problem becomes smaller and smaller among the ones I talked to. That doesn't mean that the eye pain doesn't exist anymore for some people. Another problem I hear about regarding mirrorless is handling and this is (was) Sony and Fuji problem. Sony with the new generation of camera pretty much solved the handling problem and Canon or Nikon mirrorless cameras are similar to Pentax K-3 in terms of size and grip.

When comes to mirrorless advantages, people always go for the same thing, the image quality, which is not different (better or worse) than an image taken with a DSLR. Most people who are interested in mirrorless don't put image quality first because they know it's not a deciding factor. Last weekend I organized a shooting session in studio, the main objective being Studio portraits with 2-3 light. I had 6 participants: me with EOS R, one with a D850, one with a 6D, one with a D610, one with an old Canon 450D, and 2 with Sony (A6400 and A6500). The only advantage I had with my mirrorless was the ability to concentrate on composition because eye af handled the model to be in focus no matter where she was in the frame. The ones with DSLRs had to focus and recompose or to select the focus point closer to the eye. Given that in studio we shoot between f5.6 and f8, we can focus on neck or nose because there is enough DOF to hide any focus errors. Then, we took some portraits without flashes, at fast apertures. Here the eye af showed the advantage of the mirrorless. Focus and recompose technique was the worse in terms of consistency. The situation was even more obvious when we told the model to move as we often shoot people at events for example. Again, mirrorless showed a big advantage with the eye af at fast apertures.

Then, there is the silent shutter that is great, even with some of it's limitations.

Also, when you shoot in challenging situations, seeing exactly how the image will look it's very nice. An experienced photographer knows when he has to overexpose or underexpose a shot. Even then you need to take 1-2 images and check them on the LCD. Also, in bright days, reviewing an image in the EVF it's a lot easier than looking at the DSLR lcd.

There are some small features of mirrorless than can't be explained with images but they make the life of a photographer easier, depending also on what you shoot. You can get the same images with a DSLR? Sure you can. It's just that with mirrorless you can do it faster and with more consistency in certain situations, depending of course on what you shoot.

The advantages of my former camera, a 5D mark IV over my current camera (EOS R) are:
- focus tracking on very fast subjects like european bee eater or kingfisher
- OVF.

When comes to focus tracking, I suspect it had a lot to do with the lag of the EVF also. R5 and R6 on the other hand makes 1Dx III to look less mighty than it is and sometime the flagship it's a little under R5 and R6 due to animal af found in the mirrorless bodies.

So yes, the main advantage of DSLRs remain for some people the OVF as it seems. Other than that, personally I can't find other advantages after shooting side by side with lots of mirrorless and DSLRs, from entry level ones to flagships.

[Kunzite]

Flimsy lens mount may refer to the a6000, which had a plastic mount. Light leaks were in the first gen of the a7 & a7r. Both of these complaints refer to 7 year old models, correct? Partial weather sealing is true for the a7iii, but is more robust in the a7r and a9 series, if I’m not mistaken.

In response to the original question, if you have reasonable expectations that your camera will need service, and it sounds like you do, then buying a camera with a service center closer to you makes sense. There is no single issue—IQ, AF, weather sealing, or any of the hundreds of features on today’s cameras—that will likely be the only thing you care about. There are plenty of excellent systems out there. Pick the one that has the features you need, and can be serviced conveniently.

The SDM issue mentioned is with the old-style micromotor SDM, last such lens being launched in 2008. And actually with the first 2 DA* lenses.
Sony's issue do not get an excuse for being "old".

The A7Riii's weather sealing is not the best, by the way: Water Torture: Nikon D850 vs Sony A7RIII, Canon 5D Mk IV & Olympus E-M1 II

Of course, I disagree with "Pentax equipment does not need servicing"; but let's not imagine that Sony is somehow more robust.

[Benz3ne]

The SDM issue mentioned is with the old-style micromotor SDM, last such lens being launched in 2008. And actually with the first 2 DA* lenses.
Sony's issue do not get an excuse for being "old".

The A7Riii's weather sealing is not the best, by the way: Water Torture: Nikon D850 vs Sony A7RIII, Canon 5D Mk IV & Olympus E-M1 II

Of course, I disagree with "Pentax equipment does not need servicing"; but let's not imagine that Sony is somehow more robust.

I don't think anyone was saying anything to this effect, really. It's always going to be a case of 'the camera suits the photographer' and that the photographer should choose their camera accordingly, and be mindful of said camera's caveats.
When I had my K-1, it had to be sent for a gasket repair as one of the scroll-wheel gaskets had come loose at some point during its life. In contrast, my A7iii has just come back from the Sony Service Centre where it had undergone some 'repair' alongside a service, all under warranty despite being a used item. It had taken a tumble from around 2ft off the ground after a strap (I hate neck straps) had gotten caught on a table drawer handle. No obvious and immediate issues to note, but it went for a free service and turnaround was reasonably quick so zero complaints.
All said and done, no camera is invincible, there's potential for each and every one to have some issues but the majority are manageable and/or repairable.
I would definitely say the K-1 was more robust feeling than the A7iii, having owned both, but the A7iii took it's tumble like a champ.

The water tests are very valuable bits of info - as I mentioned above, however, I wouldn't take the K-1 out in the rain with a film-era, unsealed lens just as I wouldn't chance the same with the A7iii. Plastic bags, although unsightly, are a decent way of keeping water off any camera, so no harm keeping one by just in case (especially if you live in rainy ol' Wales, as I do).

[Dan Rentea]

Plastic bags, although unsightly, are a decent way of keeping water off any camera, so no harm keeping one by just in case (especially if you live in rainy ol' Wales, as I do).

Each time I get the chance, I tell people to buy a rain cover for their camera and lens or at least to keep a plastic bag in the backpack. No camera company covers the warranty due to water damage, so why torture the gear as long as it's so easy and cheap to protect it?!

There are 2 things that are always in my backpack:

1. rain cover for my gear
2. a folded white flipchart paper (I use it as a reflector in case of emergency)