[Lord Lucan]

On a tripod you use your smartphone.

No thanks. There are enough things to contend with on a shoot without needing to handle a smartphone as well. Nor do I want my shots being spied on and copied by Apple or Google and the rest of the world.

People seldom take low-angle "action" shots.I don't "get" why people keep complaining about it.

You seem to be saying it is an action camera, but it would be more than just that if it had a tiltable screen. Whether you or I want a tilting screen or not, it was unwise of Pentax, who have a small enough customer base already, to have ruled out a significant proportion of potential buyers by what is a deal breaker for many. The Pentax range of cameras is too small to have ones for limited purposes.

I have been shooting above my head on occasion for decades without a flippy and really don't know that I want to crane my neck like that

I'm not sure what you mean there. Do you mean crane your neck with a flippy or without one? If the camera is above your head you need to look up somehow or shoot blind (which can be seen to happen in press scrums). My father had a Rollei TLR and sometimes in a crowd he held it high over his head for a shot, looking up into its "waist-level" finder, quite tricky framing actually. A tilting screen on a DSLR is equivalent to the alternative waist-level finder on pro film cameras like the LX, with the advantage that the image is not reversed.

the definition of "flippy" seems to be in question!

True. It seems from comments on Youtube and forums generally that many use "flip screen" to mean one you can hinge right round to watch yourself doing a selfie. Others use it to refer to a simple hinged screen.

[pschlute]

Nor do I want my shots being spied on and copied by Apple or Google and the rest of the world.

When you get in your car do you worry about them knowing what music you listen to ?

[Haenzel]

When you get in your car do you worry about them knowing what music you listen to ?

I can understand his point of view. I also hate companies that collect data for the wrong purpose. Every time you give a little information. At the end your entire life has been 'pictured' when all the data is combined...

[garywakeling]

Happy to suggest the classic refconverter, works well on the K7 K5 K3 and I presume the K3III. I have used the app for remote use with my phone, easy to use and a more modern solution. Looking forward to reading some reviews on the new camera, I just skip over the flippy screen comments as I am in the improved pentaprism market segment. Just glad to see the K3 replacement finally here, I held off purchasing the KP as at the time they said it was NOT a replacement for the K3II, so I waited years to finally have the camera available. If you do end up with one, I hope you enjoy using another fine Pentax imaging camera with your lens collection.

[stevebrot]

Happy to suggest the classic refconverter

...or a suitable substitute...




Steve

(...the Oly is excellent, but the genuine Refconverter A would fit better...)

[C_Jones]

The K-3 III has a nice lcd screen on top.

[Oldbayrunner]

First off you all seem to forget the K1 & K1 Mk ll both are DSLR's an both have articulating screens that can do more than flip. Now as far as shooting with articulating vs fixed, I shot for a few years with Olympus. They were the first to come out with fully articulating screens and were a joy to use. When it came time to change gear when Oly got out of the Dslr market Pentax not having them almost made me not venture back into using Pentax. I am glad I did but now I am much happier having one back with my K1 Mk ll.

[MrB1]

You seem to be saying it is an action camera, but it would be more than just that if it had a tiltable screen. Whether you or I want a tilting screen or not, it was unwise of Pentax, who have a small enough customer base already, to have ruled out a significant proportion of potential buyers by what is a deal breaker for many. The Pentax range of cameras is too small to have ones for limited purposes.

+1

The K-3 III is not an action camera, not a portrait camera, not a wildlife camera, not a street camera, not a landscape camera, (etc.) - it is any and all of those, particularly for those photographers who will save their pennies to buy the best Pentax DSLR as their only camera. But sadly Pentax made the misguided decision to leave out a feature which would have made their new flagship camera demonstrate even further two of their own key 'Five Principles': "We design cameras that allow our users to enjoy all the processes involved in taking a picture," and "We respect and value the photographic experiences of our users and view this as an invaluable asset." From their use of previous recent Pentax DSLRs (or other makes of camera), some photographers have come to realise and enjoy the extra opportunities, experiences, and convenience in picture-taking which are provided by having an articulated screen available. Pentax already have the expertise in this area - for example, the simple rigid metal-framed WR tilting screen of the KP-type would probably have been appreciated by many potential buyers.

Philip

[RobA_Oz]

I don't "get" why they used a fixed screen on the K3iii either, kind of a dumb decision in my opinion; makes low angle shots dang near impossible!

I take it you didn’t read their rationale for not including a movable screen. It wasn’t done on a whim, or through casual neglect of the impact on potential buyers.

The thing they didn’t mention was the additional cost of making it movable. It may not have been huge, but every little bit helps, as the saying goes.

I’ve used fixed screens with a Refconverter (the Pentax A model is impressive, not to mention optical), fixed screens with a smart phone, and movable screens (the K-1’s is the best I’ve used so far). Although the movable screen works best overall for me, I’ve had no problem using a Refconverter for years, and the smart phone (or tablet) option is still available for those situations where you need even more flexibility. For those who refuse the smart phone option, all I can say is that, if you’re concerned about data harvesting or image theft, take out the SIM card and disable Bluetooth (and don’t use a maker whose business model is selling you as well as the phone) or find a Refconverter to buy.

[Lord Lucan]

you all seem to forget the K1 & K1 Mk ll both are DSLR's an both have articulating screens that can do more than flip

I haven't forgotten, I used mine only yesterday. Lady L does large jigsaws and I take a photo of each when done. I do it by holding the K-1 high above the table at arms length, pointing downwards, and I can only see to frame it by having the LV screen tilted downwards relative to the camera, which I guess does not meet the definition of "flip" which I think means tilted upwards. For these shots I would not be able to see into the OVF nor see a fixed LV screen unless I got a cherry picker into the room and shot from that. Of course I could zoom to widest angle, shoot blind, and sort out the mess in PP, but I would find that an unsatisfactory experience. This is only one of my frequent use cases for the articulated screen.

[DonV]

Rob in Oz,
No, I missed the "rationale", there has been so much written I probably have missed other reasoning also; but whatever the reason, it seems a step backward to me.
I actually like using the optical viewfinder, as that is all "we" used to have- and I'm used to using an slr at eyelevel; but as long as my camera has that little screen, I like it to move.

[Sidney Porter]

It's all about trade offs. I would rather have the improved focus, frame rate and high iso and give up the flippy screen and on board gps.

I assume not having the flippy screen makes it more durable.

The other thing to consider is the k3 series never had the flippy screen so I actually think the gps being removed is the larger change.

[Lord Lucan]

I actually like using the optical viewfinder, as that is all "we" used to have

But don't forget that the optical viewfinders of the film era could have interchangeable options, like the waist-level, angled and sport finders available for pro cameras like the Pentax LX, Nikon F series and Canon F1. The articulating/flip/tilt/whatever LV screen is the modern equivalent of those. I use the OVF of a DSLR whenever I can, I think the "zombie" (arms length) pose used by phone camera users and other LV lovers looks ridiculous and does not immerse you into the picture being taken, but there some circumstances when using the OVF is not convenient or even possible.

Another point is that my vision is OK for distance but, like everyone over the age of about 45, I need glasses for close viewing*. So I need to put on reading glasses to use LV, but the OVF is optically arranged for the eye being at distance focus. Looking between an outdoor scene and a LV screen can be done at a glance by younger people, but older people would need to keep putting glasses on and off, or keep changing them, and I don't want to do that in the field.


* Or vice-versa for some people. Essentially, the eye loses its ability to accomodate its focus to different subject distances.

[DonV]

That's true, all things turn out to be some kind of compromise in the end- well most things anyway.
One man's desired feature is of no use to the next man; and that fellow's requirement is useless to the next guy in line. "Different strokes" as they say.

I think that perhaps the improved pentaprism is a great but overlooked change. GPS only appeared in the K3ii, right? so its loss is kind of a reversion to the "norm".

[RobA_Oz]

Rob in Oz,
No, I missed the "rationale", there has been so much written I probably have missed other reasoning also; but whatever the reason, it seems a step backward to me.
I actually like using the optical viewfinder, as that is all "we" used to have- and I'm used to using an slr at eyelevel; but as long as my camera has that little screen, I like it to move.

OK, that’s fair enough. It was a deliberate decision, made in order to reduce the body thickness to the minimum. I imagine another model with a movable screen will appear soon, probably the K-70 replacement. I think most of us wouldn’t have been put off by the extra thickness (though I’m not sure about the extra cost) but there it is.

If you haven't seen them already, you may want to have a look at the Product Stories for the K-3iii on the Ricoh website. Even if you aren't a potential customer for it, there’s a lot of technical interest there. It’s undoubtedly the most advanced camera to ever carry the Pentax name.