[LeeRunge]

I don’t have a K-3iii (renting one in about a month to tryout) but it seems like AF is really good on that body. They keep referring it to “near D500 like” which is still one of the best AF camera’s available so I don’t see what the problem could be.

Maybe referring to lens adjustments being something that might be needed? Mirrorless doesn’t need that which is a maybe a perk if it’s ever a factor.

I’ve never had a lens micro adjust issue with any of my Pentax glass or 3 Pentax body’s.

For AF I have a lot of shots of fast moving subjects from aircraft to motorcycles to bif stuff and even with my K-3 which I wouldn’t consider having great AF-C it can be done. I typically use the technique clackers mentioned and good aim, or I just have focused on where I know my action subject will travel through and fire a burst into that when they intersect.

Here’s a Puffin at full speed that dropped off a 100 foot cliff then skimmed over the water. I missed a bunch of them but still got some decent Puffin in flight shots from that trip (Newfoundland). Those are probably one of the more difficult birds to get in flight. Small and fast.


I’d expect the K3 iii would have given me more shots to choose from on this trip. I’m looking forward to giving it a test run with a rental.

[BigMackCam]

Maybe referring to lens adjustments being something that might be needed? Mirrorless doesn’t need that which is a maybe a perk if it’s ever a factor.

I’ve never had a lens micro adjust issue with any of my Pentax glass or 3 Pentax body’s.

I think it depends on one's individual tolerance for pin-point accuracy, type of subject and style of shooting. If you're doing portraiture or other close-in work at faster apertures, very fine focus accuracy can be important. Of all the lenses I own, less than half required a small amount of AF fine adjustment (+/-3 at most) on my K-3 and K-3II, with a couple needing more than that... but manufacturing and alignment tolerances are such that some folks' cameras and lenses will need greater adjustments... Of course, you don't see much of a difference if you're shooting at greater distances, stopped down and/or with wider-angle lenses due to increased depth-of-field - but even then a properly AF-fine-adjusted lens can give slightly better results. I'd bet money that a good few of the negative reviews in our lens reviews section are due to lack of - or poorly executed - AF fine adjustment.

I love my Pentax DSLRs (and my old Samsung-badged models), but the need for time-consuming AF fine adjustment without any automated assistance is one of the bug-bears, IMHO. It should, and could, be made easier... especially since Ricoh is intent (thank goodness) on forging ahead as the vanguard of DSLR-type cameras...