My experience with a converted K-3 vs a color K-3 pretty much mirrors your findings. Monochrome dedicated cameras have amazing noise control since they only measure light. No need to convert color or blend pixels for shading etc.
I'll admit that previous to the K3iii Monochrome I'd had no experience or even looked into "real" Monochrome photography. So this blew my mind a little bit! It makes total sense now that I'm learning more about it and the fact there's no colour filter/layer on the sensor. It's just crazy how much difference that makes to the light transmission onto the sensor. Photography really is a never ending learning experience! And I definitely think this camera has a place in the market now after using it for myself. Cheers Kobie
Way over my head Lee , but seeing your results is what I want to see. The two Kiiis are just phenomenal cameras sophisticated and complex they can be but simple functional and easy fun when needed. For a simple shooter like me they’re both a revelation especially with your ability on the monochrome version. The mind boggles at what a photograph of your stunning model Max the Labrador would turn out on the Monochrome especially if he is now a little grey around his muzzle. Great job mate 😅.
Way over my head Lee , I go with the results that you have obtained with both these fabulous cameras because the results are superb 👌. As for which type of photographer you are is in my book 📕 irrelevant you are naturally talented all round. Got to say it would be great to see a photograph of your magnificent model Max taken with the fabulous Monochrome it would be an eye opener for sure especially if he has gone a little grey around his muzzle. Great work mate 😂.
@@b.2221 😄 yeah I must admit I much prefer the real world stuff myself. Sadly I'm unable to see Max anymore, since I'm no longer in contact with my parents. I keep meaning to take on some more pet photography work but it's been hard as it reminds me of Max 😪
Yeah good shout 👌 I wanted to test the native images against each other first. But yeah I think that would be a telling comparison Mono vs B&W converted.
Thanks Lee. Maybe the reason for the superior monochrome performance is that there aren't any colour filters on the monochrome sensor. I'd be interested to understand the science behind this.
I think its literally that simple, it has a dedicated Monochrome sensor without the colour layer/filter. So it collects more light. Probably a very simplified analysis on my part haha 😄
The monochrome is certainly impressive and for me it would certainly be of use in certain genres that I shoot. That said I’m perfectly happy using the colour Mk3 for monochrome images and don’t really think I could justify the cost for what I think would be very limited use.
It is isn't it! I get where your coming from though, I took the Monochrome out to photograph an Enduro event a couple of weeks back & had so many messages asking for the colour versions of the photos. In saying that I've got a good video coming soon on why I think this camera is great.
Great review Lee for normal use my K3 Mark iii is a phenomenal camera I limit mine to ISO 12800 and get perfectly useable hand held pictures far better than any Pentax APS-C camera I have ever used
I can agree 100% the K3iii beats out my old K3 by a fair amount, I'm totally comfortable using iso 12,800 with it. The K3iii Monochrome doesn't have the colour layer/filters on the sensor so it's no surprise when I think about it now that it's yet another step up in ISO performance. After using the camera I now have a new appreciation for it & I do think it was a good move for Pentax.
Hi Lee, just found your channel by chance looking for info about the PK3-3M(not gonna 'catch on' is it?? LOL). I just ordered mine! I'm old enough to have used what was a great camera at the time, the Nikon D100. An APS-C, 6MP with a CCD sensor. At 1600 ISO, the images looked even worse than your colour images at 80K ISO. Incredible how technology has advanced! And comparing that with the Monochrome sensor is taking to a whole new level mate! Incredible! I've just sub mate, gonna pay a visit to your videos, starting from the older ones... Cheers, Ray.
Hi Ray, thanks for the sub. Yeah it's crazy how far tech has come that's for sure! Funny you mention about the CCD sensor, I'm going to try & find a good deal on a camera that has a CCD next year, I've been impressed by the colours those sensors produce, especially the REDS!
@LeeIveson If you can afford it, get a good Canon EOS 5D, they call it classic. That will give you a great comparison between CCD, early CMOS and current ones. Look forward to the videos mate!
Awesome stuff! Being a fan of old 1600 or 3200 ISO film grain... I'd easily keep the 80000 ISO file as is. I like the type of grain at those iso's more that 25600. It becomes more defined and more like grain instead of noise.
Thanks a lot for taking the time to do this comparison. Sadly, the important information is missing: the exposure time. The fact is that ISO is a very arbitrary number that doesn't mean much with digital images, particularly when exposure levels are adjusted on the computer (and for some reason that I don't understand, you also don't seem to be always comparing like for like ISO). If you were repeating the comparison by pairing the images by exposure time instead of somewhat similar ISO, would you reach the same conclusion?
I'll have to test out shadow recovery, I'm assuming it's going to be pretty good though. As for AF tracking its the same as the K3iii colour version & that's the best Pentax currently has to offer by a country mile.
The Monochrome will be sharper, the color inerpolation reduces sharpness, the Monochrome isn't interpolated. At 51,200 and up, it's pixel level noise for the monochrome and interpolation size noise for the color. Gives an idea of how much resolution advantage the monochrome has. The Monochrome is the best digital camera I've shot for absolute image quality. My conundrum is that my large format film is still far, far superior. As a landscape photographer I really question what I should do moving forward. I should have just stayed a wedding photographer, a couple of Fuji Xt3's and done. 🙂🙂🙂 (Make more money too...)
😅 I'll take your word on that explanation haha I'm not the most technical photographer out there, I should really learn the inner workings a little more. Yeah you might have been better off financially sticking to wedding photography, but then again nothing beats being outside in the fresh air with a camera!
@@LeeIveson Well, I'm also not that young anymore and weddings really take it out of you. It was good money back in the day. But I agree totally, nothing finer than being outside with a camera for sure!! You have really done a great job shooting what you shoot and finding your niche. What's most impressive to me is you made the gear you have work for you by learning what you're doing. You are a lot better off developing skill and knowledge instead of buying a computer that does most of it for you. One of the many benefits of being a Pentax shooter.
@@EdwardMartinsPhotography I can imagine that wedding photography is all go all of the time! I didn't know any different in regards to the gear I learnt to shoot with, I definitely think that helped me out when I look at it now, like you say if I had of started out with a camera that did 99% of the work for me I'd probably not have learnt much. And I still feel like there's so much to learn everytime I pick a camera up! But I wouldn't want it any other way because that's part of the fun that is photography!
@@LeeIveson I think I found it. Thank you! Profile Browser > Camera Matching > Natural. Don't know how I never saw those. See I learn so much from your videos even when it's not something you're trying to show us haha
@@LeeIveson Yeah no worries! Just one little hiccup. Great video, really illustrates the difference. I was surprised how nice the Mono handles noise, and it seems sharper, too!
My experience with a converted K-3 vs a color K-3 pretty much mirrors your findings. Monochrome dedicated cameras have amazing noise control since they only measure light. No need to convert color or blend pixels for shading etc.
I'll admit that previous to the K3iii Monochrome I'd had no experience or even looked into "real" Monochrome photography. So this blew my mind a little bit! It makes total sense now that I'm learning more about it and the fact there's no colour filter/layer on the sensor. It's just crazy how much difference that makes to the light transmission onto the sensor. Photography really is a never ending learning experience! And I definitely think this camera has a place in the market now after using it for myself. Cheers Kobie
A really nice, well-controlled comparison of both of these truly wonderful cameras.
Thanks mate 👍 sort of wish I'd have went to max ISO just because. Maybe a short video just to see what would happen would be interesting 🤔
Way over my head Lee , but seeing your results is what I want to see. The two Kiiis are just phenomenal cameras sophisticated and complex they can be but simple functional and easy fun when needed. For a simple shooter like me they’re both a revelation especially with your ability on the monochrome version. The mind boggles at what a photograph of your stunning model Max the Labrador would turn out on the Monochrome especially if he is now a little grey around his muzzle. Great job mate 😅.
Thanks for sharing this really interesting video Lee 👍
No problem, I'd been told that there was a noticeable difference so I thought let me do a simple test to see the difference.
Way over my head Lee , I go with the results that you have obtained with both these fabulous cameras because the results are superb 👌. As for which type of photographer you are is in my book 📕 irrelevant you are naturally talented all round. Got to say it would be great to see a photograph of your magnificent model Max taken with the fabulous Monochrome it would be an eye opener for sure especially if he has gone a little grey around his muzzle. Great work mate 😂.
@@b.2221 😄 yeah I must admit I much prefer the real world stuff myself. Sadly I'm unable to see Max anymore, since I'm no longer in contact with my parents. I keep meaning to take on some more pet photography work but it's been hard as it reminds me of Max 😪
Might be an interesting comparison to compare to the monochrome to a B&W converted colour file. Good bid 👍
Yeah good shout 👌 I wanted to test the native images against each other first. But yeah I think that would be a telling comparison Mono vs B&W converted.
Thanks Lee. Maybe the reason for the superior monochrome performance is that there aren't any colour filters on the monochrome sensor. I'd be interested to understand the science behind this.
I think its literally that simple, it has a dedicated Monochrome sensor without the colour layer/filter. So it collects more light. Probably a very simplified analysis on my part haha 😄
The monochrome is certainly impressive and for me it would certainly be of use in certain genres that I shoot. That said I’m perfectly happy using the colour Mk3 for monochrome images and don’t really think I could justify the cost for what I think would be very limited use.
It is isn't it! I get where your coming from though, I took the Monochrome out to photograph an Enduro event a couple of weeks back & had so many messages asking for the colour versions of the photos. In saying that I've got a good video coming soon on why I think this camera is great.
Great review Lee for normal use my K3 Mark iii is a phenomenal camera I limit mine to ISO 12800 and get perfectly useable hand held pictures far better than any Pentax APS-C camera I have ever used
I can agree 100% the K3iii beats out my old K3 by a fair amount, I'm totally comfortable using iso 12,800 with it. The K3iii Monochrome doesn't have the colour layer/filters on the sensor so it's no surprise when I think about it now that it's yet another step up in ISO performance. After using the camera I now have a new appreciation for it & I do think it was a good move for Pentax.
Hi Lee, just found your channel by chance looking for info about the PK3-3M(not gonna 'catch on' is it?? LOL). I just ordered mine! I'm old enough to have used what was a great camera at the time, the Nikon D100. An APS-C, 6MP with a CCD sensor. At 1600 ISO, the images looked even worse than your colour images at 80K ISO. Incredible how technology has advanced! And comparing that with the Monochrome sensor is taking to a whole new level mate! Incredible! I've just sub mate, gonna pay a visit to your videos, starting from the older ones... Cheers, Ray.
Hi Ray, thanks for the sub. Yeah it's crazy how far tech has come that's for sure! Funny you mention about the CCD sensor, I'm going to try & find a good deal on a camera that has a CCD next year, I've been impressed by the colours those sensors produce, especially the REDS!
@LeeIveson If you can afford it, get a good Canon EOS 5D, they call it classic. That will give you a great comparison between CCD, early CMOS and current ones. Look forward to the videos mate!
@@RayLombardi Thanks for the heads up on that camera, I'll look into it.
Awesome stuff!
Being a fan of old 1600 or 3200 ISO film grain... I'd easily keep the 80000 ISO file as is.
I like the type of grain at those iso's more that 25600. It becomes more defined and more like grain instead of noise.
I can see what you mean with the grain, it would actually suit a fair amount of Monochrome images.
Thanks a lot for taking the time to do this comparison. Sadly, the important information is missing: the exposure time. The fact is that ISO is a very arbitrary number that doesn't mean much with digital images, particularly when exposure levels are adjusted on the computer (and for some reason that I don't understand, you also don't seem to be always comparing like for like ISO). If you were repeating the comparison by pairing the images by exposure time instead of somewhat similar ISO, would you reach the same conclusion?
thanks Lee, interesting
You should try the Monochrome against the K1mkII as they are roughly the same price!
How well does it recover shadows? I have to think you can get 4 stops out of it? and how's the focusing on it - any good on tracking?
I'll have to test out shadow recovery, I'm assuming it's going to be pretty good though. As for AF tracking its the same as the K3iii colour version & that's the best Pentax currently has to offer by a country mile.
Have monochrome its best camera ever owned
The Monochrome will be sharper, the color inerpolation reduces sharpness, the Monochrome isn't interpolated. At 51,200 and up, it's pixel level noise for the monochrome and interpolation size noise for the color. Gives an idea of how much resolution advantage the monochrome has. The Monochrome is the best digital camera I've shot for absolute image quality. My conundrum is that my large format film is still far, far superior. As a landscape photographer I really question what I should do moving forward. I should have just stayed a wedding photographer, a couple of Fuji Xt3's and done. 🙂🙂🙂 (Make more money too...)
😅 I'll take your word on that explanation haha I'm not the most technical photographer out there, I should really learn the inner workings a little more. Yeah you might have been better off financially sticking to wedding photography, but then again nothing beats being outside in the fresh air with a camera!
@@LeeIveson Well, I'm also not that young anymore and weddings really take it out of you. It was good money back in the day. But I agree totally, nothing finer than being outside with a camera for sure!! You have really done a great job shooting what you shoot and finding your niche. What's most impressive to me is you made the gear you have work for you by learning what you're doing. You are a lot better off developing skill and knowledge instead of buying a computer that does most of it for you. One of the many benefits of being a Pentax shooter.
@@EdwardMartinsPhotography I can imagine that wedding photography is all go all of the time!
I didn't know any different in regards to the gear I learnt to shoot with, I definitely think that helped me out when I look at it now, like you say if I had of started out with a camera that did 99% of the work for me I'd probably not have learnt much. And I still feel like there's so much to learn everytime I pick a camera up! But I wouldn't want it any other way because that's part of the fun that is photography!
@@LeeIveson Absolutely, well said!! 👍👍
How do you apply the camera natural profile in Lightroom? I don't see it listed anywhere.
It's always been there from what I remember?
@@LeeIveson I think I found it. Thank you! Profile Browser > Camera Matching > Natural. Don't know how I never saw those. See I learn so much from your videos even when it's not something you're trying to show us haha
@@jbp6759 🤣 I'm just the gift that keeps on giving 🤣
You stopped comparing the same ISO at 6400. The mono was at 6400 and the color was at 12.8k.
Ah well spotted, I messed that bit up! I did pick back up comparing like for like at 25,600 ISO.
@@LeeIveson Yeah no worries! Just one little hiccup. Great video, really illustrates the difference. I was surprised how nice the Mono handles noise, and it seems sharper, too!