Pentax K-3 II Review

Flash

The Pentax K-3 II lacks the on-board flash of the original K-3, as an internal GPS antenna has taken its place.  Visually, this may not immediately be apparent since it still looks like there is a flash.  Of course, the camera also has a standard hotshoe and thus external flashes can be used with nearly the same functionality as the K-3.

The K-3 II has a hotshoe but no on-board flash

The only other key feature that the K-3 II does not support is wireless flash, since the body has no means of triggering an external flash without an accessory cord or trigger.  As a result, the flash menu has been simplified somewhat:

Pentax K-3 II simplified flash menu (illustration)

In order to use a strobe-triggered wireless flash with the K-3 II, a compatible flash has to be mounted on the hotshoe.  For example, a Pentax AF 360 FGZ or AF 540 FGZ (either mark I or II) could trigger a second such flash off-camera without the need for any cords.

Learn more about P-TTL flash functionality in our AF 360 FGZ II flash review.

On the other hand, what you can do with the K-3 II is use an external flash at the same time as GPS.  Whereas other Pentax cameras only support GPS via the hotshoe-mounted O-GPS1, the K-3 II's internal unit frees up the hotshoe so that an external flash can always be mounted while the body takes care of GPS.

Removing the flash from an enthusiast-level APS-C body is an unprecedented move, though it is common in flagship professional bodies such as the Canon 1D series.  While advanced users may not have as big of a need for an on-board flash, we feel that it is still nice to have for travel, family photos, and other less common applications such as illuminating a scene at night to check the composition prior to taking a multi-second exposure.

As long as the original Pentax K-3 continues to be available alongside the K-3 II— which seems to be the case— users have a choice and we will not dwell on the removal of the flash in the K-3 II.  What we find to be more concerning is the arguably corner-cutting approach that Pentax engineers took with respect to the K-3 II.  Rather than integrating the GPS unit without affecting the flash, or at least redesigning the entire prism area to remove artifacts of the flash, the camera designers simply sealed the flash shut and left the remainder of its components intact.  Some Pentax fans may be discouraged by the apparent lack of effort that this reflects.

Verdict

The K-3 II has no on-board flash and cannot trigger external flashes wirelessly on its own.  It does allow for hotshoe flash use at the same time as GPS, however, which could prove to be advantageous in some situations.  Users who prefer to have an on-board flash should consider the original K-3 instead.