[Sandy Hancock]

k3iii is by far the better Cam.

Define better.

The KP is lighter and more compact.
The KP has an articulated rear LCD screen.
There's not much difference in ultimate image quality.

I have both cameras, and there will be times when I choose the KP.

[kypfer]

k3iii is by far the better Cam.

Your experiences would be appreciated … or is this just a spec. sheet comparison?

[TimR]

I too have both the KP and the K 3 III. I love my KP.
But I love and use my K 3 III even more.

[aslyfox]

. . . I have both cameras, and there will be times when I choose the KP.

both a crosscut hand saw and an electrical powered hand saw will cut wood

there are times where certain " characteristics " of a tool determines usage

[Fila]

a suggestion

often the key to being successful in photographing sports seems to be anticipation of where the action will be and pre focusing on those areas

use of continuous shutter and good depth of field can be helpful

Yes, I am anticipating action, but not sure how to pre-focus when there is no player in that area yet?

I tried a continuous shutter, but with K-50 aperture of death I still suffer from high shutter count anxiety - I still have to liberate myself
DOF is surely an issue, I am not sure how people solve this for indoor sports.
It is low light fast action - it hurts both ways:
1. Wide open fast lens and I have 13 cm - 5 inch DOF or
2. Close aperture to have bigger DOF pushes shutter speed to be too slow?

What is nice that high ISO does not hurt I let it go more than 10000.

I played with DOF and FOV calculator to have an idea how best to try on the court,
this one is quite nice as it gives both DOF and FOV for two lenses : Depth of Field, including a Depth of Field Calculator with a plus. A Hyperfocal Chart, and a better way to blur the background. Comparing Depth of Field of Two Lenses

---------- Post added 01-18-22 at 03:12 PM ----------

In the technique section there is a sports thread. You might get some suggestions there. There are lots of examples.

But your issues sounds to be environmental with really poor lighting.

What you didn't mention is you focus technique. I use continuous, back button, center focus, with high burst shutter.

You mentioned 200mm at 8-15m away. Another option is shoot wider and crop in post

It is indeed very demanding for both camera and photographer - fast action with poor lighting.
Yes, I wanted to ask advice about focus technique, it is continuous, active area L, no area restriction, 1st frame action is focus priority, action in AF.C is also focus priority, hold AF status is none, and it uses both AF and AE sensor - type 1
I do not use back button, I used it on K-50 when focusing and recomposing, I do not understand how it help here?
What is great on K-3 III is joystick to choose focus points, so easy to move them and then recenter with a click - when I started using it I got better focus on players faces instead of jersey.
200mm is a prime, I will try with zoom lenses next time.

---------- Post added 01-18-22 at 03:24 PM ----------

I too have both the KP and the K 3 III. I love my KP.
But I love and use my K 3 III even more.

I see that KP gets a lot of love from users and given that I snatched one of the last KP's available new in Europe for good price it is most likely I will keep them both.

[aslyfox]

. . . not sure how to pre-focus when there is no player in that area yet? . . . .

try to focus on what is there

examples

the floor

the lines on the court

the backboard

[Fila]

try to focus on what is there

examples

the floor

the lines on the court

the backboard

True, I could try the floor - lines on the court, thanks

---------- Post added 01-18-22 at 04:34 PM ----------

In the technique section there is a sports thread. You might get some suggestions there. There are lots of examples.

Thanks, I have found it, and indeed there are many examples, not so much explanation of technique used, but is very helpful in number of ways,

subjective: I could be having too high expectations and

objective: I could find number of indoor photo's and peruse their EXIF to check out the parameters - it is pity that it is not always available, but yes, even not all photo's are still available
Somebody also mentioned back button focusing, I'll try that as well.

[martin42mm]

Do as I did, buy the KP. You will not regret it. It is a joy to use!

I'll second that-best Pentax I've used since my trusty MX!

[aslyfox]

. . . subjective: I could be having too high expectations . . .

You may find that it takes time to dial in your equipment and its operator

That would not be unexpected

[Fila]

I have made little gallery from two photo-shoots, the first is mainly 200mm where I have problems with narrow DOF, and the second is with 70-210mm where light is even worse so ISO get pushed quite high (it was training so only a small part was match like).

Those are JPG files from camera, no post processing: https://guusbaits.com/PentaxK3IIIGallery/ (captions can be disabled by pressing 'c')

I am actually not so unhappy as after the first photo-shoot, and with some practice it can only get better.

I also realized I need battery grip as most photo's are portraits.

And finally I tried KP, really nice camera, but K-3 III is quite better for indoor sports even if AF points are invisible on LCD screen, pity they could not keep LED as KP has.

[aslyfox]

just because I like to repeat myself - as you have experience with the equipment and the subject matter you will improve

however I must say now

I don't see much of a problem with what you have done so far

[Fila]

just because I like to repeat myself - as you have experience with the equipment and the subject matter you will improve

Completely agree, the only way is up

however I must say now

I don't see much of a problem with what you have done so far

Thank you, the question I had so far was if that little problem was only me, or both me and equipment.
I am now inclined to think it is just me - so I'll be shooting a lot indoors sport now, trying to improve

[stevebrot]

I used 200mm 2.8

Famously sluggish AF performance with SDM. I would definitely blame the AF motor and not the camera for this one.


Steve

[Fila]

Famously sluggish AF performance with SDM. I would definitely blame the AF motor and not the camera for this one.
Steve

Thanks Steve, I have now 70-210mm F/4 to try, this one is also SDM, so I can also expect the same problems?
What lens would you recommend?

[Mikesul]

SDM problems almost always refer to a few of the early DA* lenses. Pentax has continued to use the SDM term for even their newest lenses which use completely different motors. The 70-210 does not use the old SDM motors.