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Forum: Pentax K-3 III
01-15-2024, 10:28 AM
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I have owned the K-3iii for 2.5 years and smile every time I pick the camera up. Ergonomics and build quality are excellent, with superb image quality (I shoot DNG RAW).
Everything is superior to my previous K-3. A full run down of the K-3iii capabilities are shown in the Kobie contribution to this thread. Regarding AF performance for action, I have a very high keeper rate from cars moving at motorway speeds, birds in flight, to athletes (I photograph for my local athletics club). The missed focus shots have been down to my error, not the camera. For action photography I have been using the D FA HD 150-450mm f4.5-5.6 ED DC AW Lens, HD PENTAX-DA 55-300mm F4-5.8 ED WR Lens and DA HD 16-85mm f3.5-5.6 ED DC WR Lens, which have all performed very well with the K-3iii. Apart from action photography, this camera is a superb all-round performer, with excellent IBIS and a dynamic range to match the best top-end cameras. Battery life has been very good and I have not experienced overheating. I trust this is useful.
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Forum: Pentax K-3 III
01-04-2024, 01:53 PM
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Autofocus is great
Overheating?? never heard of it from anyone
Battery life is excellent
Raw images are just fine
I'd say you've read bogus reviews, which there are a lot of unqualified reviews out there.
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Forum: Pentax K-3 III
01-04-2024, 10:17 AM
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They have improved the AF a great deal with firmware updates. They added options to control the sensitivity and aggressiveness of the AF tracking. This is nice for fine-tuning to what you're photographing:
- Good all-around performance (Type 1 and Sensitivity 3), which I find nice w/subject recognition on for eye tracking of my kids
- Aggressive tracking performance (Type 1 and Sensitivity 5),
- Absolute maximum z-axis performance (Type 3 and set Sensitivity to 5),
- Eye tracking for a model that is posing but moving slowly (Type 1 and Sensitivity 1)
- and so on.
Now it's still a DSLR, so you need skill and knowledge. But my keeper rate of a dog running toward me is now above 90% whereas with my K-3 it was 40% or less. This has always been the hardest use case for Pentax AF, the area they were behind the most, and now it has been fixed.
Camera will not overheat taking stills. I've never had it overheat taking video either but I don't do much of that.
RAW files are the best I've ever used. High ISO performance is remarkable: both in noise, but also in color accuracy. The latter is something I think few recognize and appreciate. Take an ISO 25.6k photo of a flower with the K-3iii and compare it to the same with a K-3, or even a K-1. You'll see how much better the K-3iii file is. I'm not sure how anyone could knock it.
It's not perfect. The screen doesn't tilt and the RAW buffer is small. The latter is not an issue for me because I don't shoot long bursts even when photographing birds in flight. I dread processing that many photos. But certainly there are cameras with better buffers. And of course the autofocus while absolutely amazing now for a DSLR is not going to be as good (or rather, as "easy") as the newest mirrorless. There is no animal eye autofocus, and even if there were it would not be as good. A mirrorless can focus across the entire frame with a ton of points, whereas the K-3iii is limited to a smaller area with fewer AF points. That's just a DSLR limitation currently. But boy does it ever get the job done, and IMO in a much more satisfying way than with an EVF.
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Forum: Pentax K-3 III
01-04-2024, 10:12 AM
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There have been a number of MAJOR firmware updates which have changed the camera quite a lot. From drastic AF improvements to new features, improved performance and added customizability functions.
I pre-ordered mine before it was officially available for pre-order. Started on firmware 1.00. At that time, the AF was way ahead of anything PENTAX had ever done previously (I have a K-30 and a K-3 and also used a K-1 II for a while).
On the K-30 my general high ISO limit was 6400. On the K-3 it was 3200 unless I absolutely needed the shot in a pinch, then it would be 6400. On the K-3 III, it's 12,800 to 25, 600 ISO which gives slightly less noise compared to the K-3 at 3200-6400 ISO.
As for the "OMG it bakes in NR on raw files, NOOO!!!!!". People seem to have a habit of only focusing on ONE element of a statement that they don't like without taking in all the context of that statement. Yes, it does have baked in NR, BUT, it's not about the NR, it's about the new image processing. They've managed to maintain accurate colors, sharpness and contrast while simultaneously reducing the image noise at high/extreme ISO's. But, at the end of the day, EVERY camera manufacturer is doing this through their image processing. This is not a new thing, and actually PENTAX was one of the last to start doing this (Sony has been doing this for a quite a while as well as Canon).
The thing with the new AF system on the K-3 III is that you need to systemically go out and take time to go through all the settings. This is NOT the same platform as any other PENTAX camera, so if you're expecting it to behave the same or similarly to what's been released before regarding your AF settings, ya, you may not be very happy. I've had to change my shooting methods from how I shot the K-3 and K-30 since the techniques I used for those cameras just didn't work on the K-3 Mark III.
So, what's different with the AF? Well, where do you want to start? Using the viewfinder an up to date K-3 III has... Subject recognition on/off, Automatic Zone, Full Auto AF, 3 different settings for tracking a subject. Oh! How sensitive do you want the continuous AF? Do you want to use the center point to measure distance while tracking with surrounding AF points (Option 5 - Emphasise Trackability)? Do you want it to wait a little before moving the AF point and re-measuring the distance which is great for slower moving subjects or those times when the subject comes to a standstill and you don't have time to switch from AF.C to AF.S (Option 1 - Emphasise Stability), plus the in between settings. So you have 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 AF.C sensitivity options. Do you want the 307,000 pixel RGBir sensor to help the AF system by being able to better detect the shape and color and location of the subject and feeding that data directly to the AF module? Ya, that's another option.
All the reviews I've seen, I haven't seen one that's actually gone through each of these options to really understand how the camera works. And now after all the firmware updates that have been released, it's just not the same camera anymore. We now have an XS (extra small) focus point to choose which is clutch for shooting in very busy scenes such as between dense branches on trees etc. We have quick toggle mode capability so in a pinch you can enable and immediately disable a specific setting that you normally flip back and forth from.
Honestly, there's so much more to the camera than anyone is willing to read if I broke it all down here. I will agree that the buffer is small, but for myself, I don't burst shoot to the point of needing more buffer than the K-3 III has (right now). If I can't get the shot at 11 FPS in AF.C for 36 ish shots, well, the image wasn't going to happen even if I had 200 shots in the buffer.
The camera gets warm when shooting 4K video, but I've never had it overheat.
The other thing to keep in mind is these reviews are always comparing AF performance to Mirrorless Cameras. MILC will always win since it's just a computer system and advanced software that can read light. A DSLR still has physical attributes and is not the same platform as a MILC.
I have not gone back to my K-3 since getting the K-3 III and shooting them back to back after getting used to the K-3 III and all its settings.
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Forum: Pentax K-3 III
01-04-2024, 06:34 AM
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I pre-ordered the K-3 Mark III, and have taken tens of thousands of photos with it. There have been some relatively minor upgrades through new firmware releases on a regular basis.
But, I never had a single instance of overheating, although I don't take long videos. The autofocus has always been impressive, and massively better than any prior Pentax camera I've used. The battery life has been good, I've never had any issues with it. And the complaints about the built-in processing of RAW files, to me, have always been patently ridiculous. The high ISO performance of the camera is at least several stops better than the K-3 Mark II, and the supposed loss of detail... if you can find it, good for you, since I can't.
So, from my perspective the Mark III has always been a wonderful camera and I wouldn't hesistate to upgrade from a K-5. The improvments will be substantial.
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Forum: Lens Clubs
03-23-2022, 12:27 AM
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Forum: Lens Clubs
02-21-2023, 07:25 AM
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The staircase at my friend Jules' place, with the fish eye it looks rather "Esher-esque" shot with Coolpix 4400 with FC-E8
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Forum: Lens Clubs
06-20-2023, 10:47 AM
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PZ-20, DA 10-17 fisheye, Kodak Eastman XX
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
02-07-2022, 12:35 PM
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I have owned the smc version since May 2016 and used it extensively on the 24 MP sensor of my K-3. Shot at its sweet spot and processed with a good RAW converter that has a correction module for it (DxO PhotoLab, for instance), the smc DA 11-17 fisheye zoom remains a very satisfying lens, both in use and results-wise. I doubt the HD version would be significantly sharper, although the better coatings will improve flare resistance and mitigate ghosting. But even the older smc coatings are already doing such a good job in those regards that I've never been shy of including the sun or other pointed light sources in the frame or about shooting backlit scenes. By the way, the smc version was the first Pentax lens featuring the protective SP coating on the front element.
As long as you accept the inherent limitations of this kind of lens and don't expect standard or macro lens corner-to-corner sharpness, you should be happy with either version of the fisheye. Find yourself a mint copy of the smc, and if you're anything like me, you may well have a blast with it, without breaking the bank.
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
04-29-2021, 10:06 AM
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The DA 10-17 is a very good and "creative" lens. And yes, it's different than a rectlinear one (like the 11-18) and get some work to get hang of it and control the effect to get what you want. Every people are different, some people will love it, others will never be able to get something good out of it. I guess it's mostly a matter of mindset on how you think the picture rather than any technical qualities or flaws of the lens.
I really love mine and it's one my favorite Pentax lens, although it's only to be used in specific settings when I know it should work and give something interesting and different than the usual UWA.
A few pictures (all with a K-3 and DA 10-17 "original non HD"), many if not all would have been impossible with a UWA because they all have a much widewr AOV:
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
05-08-2019, 04:05 AM
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It's not bizarre at all. If you have a weather sealed lens/camera combination, the last thing you want to do in the field is swap lenses to change the angle of view. A zoom makes much more sense.
Mind you, I'm all for improving the range of weather sealed primes. Bring on the DFA*85, 35, and hopefully 24 in the not-too-distant future!
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Forum: General Photography
09-12-2023, 12:35 PM
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Indeed replace the _ underscore by a digit or letter... note there are 2x26 letters aAbB...so plenty capacity
I would keep 3 letters for the camera like K32 K3mark2 or K70.... or KP_
But verify how it looks in your photo sw environment, like when you sort images alfabetic or numeric.... different programs might behave/sort/arrange files slightly, well, different...
Personally I have folders for every year, and subfolders for the events in the year (ranging from anniversary over travel ’area/country’ or lenstestxxxyyy, so duplicated nrs isn’t a problem, but I do change the prefix for each camera....( I own and ever owned...). The biggest folders are 2 ..3 thousand pic’s from typically 2 or 3 cameras (<6 , might include family members)... and digital started in 2004 , still scanning older film years .
Somehow it suits me as my photographic memory also seems to remember the year of the pictures ”situation” , well at least +/- 1 year accurate :lol:
One reason i started with the folders are the (older) restrictions on max number of files in one folder and the access speed of some viewers if folders grew too big...
PS: have NAS storage server
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Forum: General Photography
09-14-2023, 08:35 AM
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I've bougth a couple of lenses and my K-3 MIII from Japanese vendors in ebay without any problems, just check that is not a new vendor, and try to go for "renowned" vendors like Mapcamera and Robert's Camera.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
02-28-2010, 08:34 PM
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Hi Pentaxor:
1)Yes, this is precisely my point. I did not bring up IQ or distortions, but responded to the fact that others who did, only mentioned the ones which weighed positively on the 12-24. For example:
2) On your "word" "irregardless" --you should use regardless, because it would support your thoughts here. Irregardless, a corruption of regardless, by combining the 2 words "irrespective and regardless," actually says the opposite of what you are trying to convey: irregardless=not regardless. The word originated in a dialect and has persisted in use, though it is generally considered to not be a word.
3) Yes, I understand the forces which drive price in a capitalistic society. It is common knowledge Tokina and Pentax work together on lens' design. For example, this quote from DPreview: "Tokina clearly cooperates very closely with Pentax (and its parent company Hoya), and even a cursory glance at the respective lens lineups shows many designs in common." The 12-24's creation owes homage to both Pentax & Tokina. This fact, IMO, weighs heavily in favor of Sigma: Tokina can sell the lens for $399 in Nikon/Canon mount, and still make money, while Sigma sells its UWA for $480, for all mounts, and also makes money. Pentax sells its version, to its own people, for a substantial sum more.
Most of the costs for lens' design go into the optical formula, not into the mount. This is well evidenced by the fact of how easily we see people "converting" one mount to another with patience, a drill and a dremel.
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Forum: Pentax K-3 & K-3 II
04-12-2016, 09:32 AM
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For me:
AF-C with AF Hold and center point Expanded Area AF for action
AF-S with center point for still shots, i.e. focus and recompose
I use Hyper-Program or TAv for stills shooting. I have User1 configured for action. To switch from shooting a bird in a tree to BIF, I just need to turn the Mode dial two clicks. AF-C is not good for still subjects.
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Forum: Sold Items
04-02-2023, 07:37 PM
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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
01-19-2022, 12:35 AM
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the matte screen does not sit in front of the AF sensor it is located on a different path from the lens. The matte screen can however mess with the metering of the camera
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Forum: Pentax K-3 III
11-23-2021, 01:47 PM
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Maybe try playing around with the setting under:
Menu > Camera Icon > Page 1 > AF with Viewfinder > Action When AF Fails
You can specify if the camera should drive the lens (hunt) when it can't find focus OR if you want the lens to stop focusing until you press the AF again.
Might help, idk :D
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
08-25-2017, 06:43 AM
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The flash doesn't change the meterinģ of the scene, Stelman.
It adds light to the scene.
You retain control over the ambient light level as always.
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Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands
10-22-2022, 12:08 PM
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Hmmm, looks like every other company had the foresight to put the locking hole out of the way of other pins if you should put the equipment on backwards!
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Forum: General Talk
08-01-2023, 02:05 AM
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Twitter will be renamed "X", or that is Musk's intention*, and its url will become x[dot]com which for the moment re-directs to Twitter. Musk has owned the x[dot]com domain name ever since it was that of his rival banking system to Paypal. Contrary to popular belief, Musk did not found Paypal, he did not even like Paypal, but he was a founder of x[dot]com as a copycat. X[dot]com was not a success, partly because Musk's software (he wrote it back then) was rubbish, so after a year it merged with Paypal's owning company (Confinity) and there was a boardroom battle over which system should go forward : Paypal or x[dot]com. Musk lost the argument** and was sacked, but has continued to own and harbour a fondness for the x domain name ever since, along with his ambition to become the World's banker.
There is no doubt he will drop the Twitter name in favour of X, he has already changed the sign on the HQ I believe (breaking the city by-laws in the process - he doesn't care). At the same time he expects x[dot]com to be everybody's portal to everything on the internet, not just social media but entertainment, commerce and banking too. Actually he has said 50% of everybody, but it is the fantasy of a megalomaniac either way.
* He will probably face some legal battles. EG "X" is a trademark of Microsoft (eg X-Box) and there is a big trading company in China with the name.
** Not least because it sounds like a p0rrn website.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
07-31-2023, 09:18 PM
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
08-01-2023, 05:47 AM
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Other then SDM, which may or may not break, it is excellent lens. And there is really no replacement for it in Pentax lineup.
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Forum: Pentax K-3 III
07-30-2023, 02:42 PM
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Preaching to the converted!
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Forum: Pentax K-3 III
07-21-2023, 04:11 PM
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Depending on how slow it is, a slower shutter speed may blur the water and create a better HDR, a faster shutter speed may benefit from a faster burst, but it is still not going to align ripples and waves, but will more likely give you patterns combined from all of the images, which may still look ok.
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