[gump]

Critically define the job/results needed mission THEN decide on the tool that will best make it happen.

[RKKS08]

and K5 II are quite affordable but doesn't represent a very big step up from the K-x

??
Even the K-5 is a VERY big step from the K-x.

Featurewise, resolutionwise, high ISO, and it was the flagship model. And you should be able to get it for about $200, with not much more than 10k shutter actuations.. And this is not a lot for a K-5.
The advantages of the K.5II are the better back LCD and a (more often) accurate AF if light comes from energy saving and LED bulbs. As far as I know, this problematic behaviour was improved, but not completely solved with the K-5II, only with the K-3.

[GUB]

If I remember correctly the K5ii is a step back from the K30 because it does not have Focus Peaking which depending on your intended uses may be important.

[automorphism]

I think it depends whether you want the improved noise performance that might come with a newer body like the KP or K70.

[GlennG]

which represents the best value at the moment (used or new)

K-70. K3's are not bad, however, K3 starting to feel old and K3II is missing on-board flash.

[DeadJohn]

What types of photography do you like to do? How important to you are high ISO, autofocus, and burst speed?

Absent that, and before looking at your local prices, my first instinct was to recommend the K-70 for general photography. It does everything reasonably well. The K-3 offer improved build quality and a larger burst buffer, but the K-70 still has better image quality.

Looking at your local prices, though, you can get 3 K-30 for the cost of 1 K-70. If the K-30 meets your photo needs it might be worth risking the aperture block failure.

[mocker]

Depends on what you are going to shoot and which lenses are you going to use, but K3 is still unbeatable on some characteristics.

[RonHendriks1966]

With those options I would choose K-5ii(s).

[manufocus]

Testmessage please ignore.

---------- Post added 09-27-18 at 01:56 AM ----------

First, thanks for all the input! Second, for some reason the forum blocks me when trying to post my reply with a lot of quotes, so sorry for the delay.

So I'll try to post this step by step.

My collected thoughts:

This is/was my kit:
Samyang 8mm f3.5 --> hand-held group-ie photo fun
Pentax DA 35mm f2.8 --> workhorse while traveling (doesn't really warrant need for higher sensor resolution than the K30 offered I think)
Pentax M 50mm f1.7 --> workhorse walk-around
Tamron 70-200mm f2.8 --> too big, will look for 200mm prime to replace this
Samyang 500mm f6.3 --> so so much fun, looking for the 800mm variety

Things that are important to me:
- Center point AF (both K3/70 have the better AF motor)
- Very good JPG performance, I like pictures to be "done" when they come out of the camera.
- As a consequence, good white balance and metering (I think K3 has the upper hand with the 86k RPG sensor)
- MF-focus performance i.e. focus peaking in live-view would be nice. However as with the K30, center-spot AF confirmation usually does the trick for me.
- Bulb mode for at least 15 min. (I think K3/70/5 all have it)
- Ability to set minimum exposure time for manual lenses. Basically I want to set shutter speed to 1/500 or faster and ISO to maximum ~6400 while using the mirror lenses. K30 couldn't do it and I'm not sure if either K3/70/5 can do it.
- Good battery life is nice
- Good On-Camera display


KS2: I somehow can't arrange myself with the KS2, price-wise it's too close to the K5II/K3 and offers nothing really important for me.

K70 600€ new, not available used. Really tempting IQ wise, however the K3 should be a step up from the K30 anyway so it's not that big of a deal. However I really like the mirror lenses and they benefit hugely from high ISO performance which the K70 can do really well.

K3 520€ used good condition (or down to 400€ with scratches and around 20k shuttercount). Very appealing for it's long battery life, non-swivel screen and pro feature-set, also general sturdiness and great ergonomics.

K5II 300€ used around 30k shuttercount (or 400€ with <10k). I think I have to dig into the in-depth review again to get a better feel for this one, although price seems a bit high for it's age. (The K5IIs is just not available).

In general I think I might benefit from the K3 functionality more than from the added IQ of the K70. Also its quite a bit cheaper.

---------- Post added 09-27-18 at 01:57 AM ----------

If you loved the K-30, the K-70 is basically a K-30 on steroids, so you might really enjoy it.

I somehow misremembered the K70 IQ section when I read the review way back. This is really impressive IQ, I never thought the K70 would outperform the K3. This makesthe choice a bittougher. Still not loving the screen though...

K-5 II and IIs are nice for low light, only bettered on that list by the K-70 and KP. K-5 II has a better battery than those two cameras. It's not perfect and it's not compatible with some of the latest lenses from Pentax but I would consider it strongly if the KP isn't your cup of tea. And the cost basis is crazy; no way would I consider a KP to be three times the camera that a K-5 II is.

I took a closer look at the availability of the K5iis and it's pretty rare and costs nearly the same as the k3 with a reasonable shuttercount.

Sorry for some reason I was thinking you already owned a K-1ii and needed a backup.

I wish! But battery life of the K70 is a bit on the short side, but with batteries pretty cheap I try not to worry about it. Also I don't have any old batteries lying around.

---------- Post added 09-27-18 at 02:15 AM ----------

It seems some forms of quotes or even @ username breaks the forum for me, getting my IP blocked. Resulting in a 404 error when trying to post and subsequently beingunable to access pentaxforums.com at all.

[pres589]

... that's an odd collection of lenses. And I know this is a biased statement, but I don't find K3/K3II images to be any nicer than K-5II/IIs images. It's like something was lost with the move to higher pixel density with the K-3's. I think I'd go for the K-70 if you don't want a K-5II or IIs.

My two cents, take it for what it's worth.

[manufocus]

... that's an odd collection of lenses. And I know this is a biased statement, but I don't find K3/K3II images to be any nicer than K-5II/IIs images. It's like something was lost with the move to higher pixel density with the K-3's. I think I'd go for the K-70 if you don't want a K-5II or IIs.

My two cents, take it for what it's worth.

Checking K5II prices, the difference is very small to the K3 ~50-100€ and I think that's worth it for me.

[kernos]

".. that's an odd collection of lenses. And I know this is a biased statement, but I don't find K3/K3II images to be any nicer than K-5II/IIs images."

This is not the first time I've heard this. You might have to get into largish sorts of prints to see a difference in resolution. On the other hand there is the in camera jpg production. Is this for out of camera jpgs or do you do post processing pres589?


I have a question for the folks on the list. Is the K5ii(s) series more reliable than the K3 series? I know we have figures on the ACB failure but I wonder if anyone has done a survey on the K5ii vs K3(ii). My sense from listening to problems reported is that there are more K3(ii) issues than K5ii issues reported. That sense (and a lot of concern that Ricoh is slow to address issues) pushed me toward buying a used K5iis instead of a K3 or K3ii. Love to hear about other folks experience.

[pres589]

RAW out of camera is the only way I fly for at least 99% of the shots I've taken. The only time I haven't is when I'm having to hand the SD card to someone that doesn't have decent editing software on their computer so .jpg is the only real option.

There's some reliablity information out there. I don't think the K-5's are any more or less reliable than the K-3's. Not enough for me to feel like it's much more than noise in the data.

I've had my K-5II for four years and it's been basically flawless. About once a year it locks up in some odd way and pulling the battery fixes it. I like the top LCD more than what's on the K-3's and the low light / high ISO performance seems better with the K-5II and IIs than the K-3's. If it was between a K-5II or IIs vs. either of the K-3's, I'd still pick the K-5II. Your mileage may vary.

[Adam]

The low light ability of the KP would be awesome, but it is serious money

The K-70 brings the same great IQ as the KP for a lot less.

[manufocus]

I got an offer for a K3 with ~22k shuttercount for 370€ and took it. Seems to me a very good deal considering all alternatives.

K70 was tempting, but too pricey (600€) considering the main benefits were in the IQ department. Which is nice, but with 24" Screen wallpapers and 14" prints so far, I won't get much benefit from it. The only other tempting feature was wifi, but since I haven't used this feature once on my Lumix GX80 during my holiday, where it would actually make sense without a pc around, I can skip it.

K5II was just no competition price-wise.