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Pentax K3III - Final Summary
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- Опубликовано: 7 авг 2024
- In this summary video I menu dive and explain a few hidden features that are new on the K3III that I came to really appreciate during my time with the camera.
Thanks for watching.
0:00 Intro
2:02 No Tilt Screen
6:47 Priced Too High?
7:30 It Is A Very Nice Screen However
8:58 Does It Have Better AF?
11:10 Final Thoughts On The New Subject Recognition
13:56 Thoughts On Buffer/FPS (is it enough?)
14:59 More User Modes!
17:47 New Thingies I Especially Liked
18:12 Button Assignments Showing
19:33 Special Function Button
21:40 Highlight Weighted Metering
24:24 User Modes Revisited
28:56 One Last Special Function Button Example
Other K3III Videos;
Part1; • PENTAX K3III, DAY 001
Part2; • K3III & Li's Tee :-)
Part3; • Pentax K3III - Face De...
Part4; • PENTAX K3III, DAY 023
Now that the series is complete we can say that this is a new reference for in depth review of the camera. Incredible how much effort you put in this. I really enjoyed it.
Thank you, your comments and support much appreciated.
I have come to your video in 2024, two years on from when you made it and you have really piqued my interest in going to see what this camera does. The granular level of customisation available seems to be very powerful. I think you have just added the K3iii to my wish list. I was thinking of just buying a K3 Mono but, the standard one seems to be a compelling proposition.
Well the two cameras are very different (despite sharing the same body, buttons and many features). You buy the Kimono if you want an excellent IQ camera for monochrome images, where fidelity and tonality are high on the want list, and you want it affordable and are happy with the APS-C shortcomings. Of course as others have pointed out, a normal full frame camera will have about the same IQ when it comes to its monochrome images, it's just the Kimono will arguably be the best APS-C monochrome making machine.
"I had a drink while watching; I apologize."
Very well executed summary. The amount of customization is amazing and the ease of access to changing the various modes is a photographers dream!
Thanks Kobie, it sure is and it's the stuff I appreciate.
Thanks so much for this Eddy, you got some great bird shots and I like the way you've covered this camera. I'm really torn. I got my first Pentax, a K10D, way back in 2006 when it was sitting next to the Canon EOS400D in the local big box store. At the time, and for a measly $100 more, the K10D felt like the far superior camera. Got the standard 18-55 and 50-200 kit lenses, added the FA50 1.4, upgraded to the K-5 and bought a new DA*50-135, a used 12-24 (love this lens), a used DA*16-50 and a used Sigma 18-300. My AF540FGZ flash bit the dust and was warrantied. The replacement failed out of warranty. My 50-135, while lovely optically, is now on it's 3rd SDM motor which also died so I firmware hacked it to screw drive, as with the 16-50. Obviously the speed and AF performance with these lenses won't improve on the K3iii, I'd really need to get a PLM lens to take full advantage of the AF speed.
You did a great job covering the many ways the menu system and customization really take the camera much closer to a professional level but I can't help but think I'm going to continue to be frustrated by AF performance in more dynamic and candid photo situations. These bodies are $2500CDN, and I can't help but feel like Pentax is somewhat intentionally taking advantage of a captive audience already invested in Pentax glass. It's also disappointing to see no more support from Tamron and Sigma, thereby making lens selection less diverse and more expensive.
I think I'll hold off making a decision for now. I may be suffering a little from 'grass is greener' syndrome watching all the amazing videos covering the Sony mirrorless platform, but at the end of the day I'm just a hobbyist with a Flickr account with a friend's dog for a model.
I am however having a hard time saying no to the FA31 Limited. I think you used that in a previous video and those shots were some of the best I've seen out of a Pentax. :)
Yes, I think the price is rather high and it does feel like it is only going to appeal to an even narrower margin of Pentaxians (Pentaxians with deep pockets and almost fanatical devotion to the brand). But, that doesn't take away from what it can do with the right person behind it. At this point in time with my career with photography I am starting to disassociate myself with a brand per se, and even ignore the camera, it's about the lens and I'll use whatever has to be attached to it for the best results. The FA Ltds and the Takumar 50(8e) is what is really keeping me playing with Pentax stuff, its truly magical stuff (oh and the 645D with the DFA55 :)
Good job on the review. I really like all the thought they put into the menus and customization on this camera. Being able to access important functions quickly without having to dive into menus is so handy. Especially for those of us who shoot wildlife. They made a few odd decisions with this camera but I think they really nailed the UI part of the camera.
Agreed. I would have liked to have seen a few more shortcuts, even something like a 'Save Settings' button so that I can quickly bind what is working currently in the field to a User Mode/Box (rather than menu dive to the same setting), but its nitpicking at this point. It's the same with Fuji, so many things to be able to bind and assign but its always a couple of options that you in particular would like to bind that aren't available :)
Great video, thanks for going into so much detail.
Well explained but yet again the buffer.... the buffer for me is let's be gentle, low. Because I do shoot sports with Pentax and when I tested it yes the buffer is slow and does not get the job properly done. A D500 on the other side, makes it flow.
Overall it is a fantastic camera event for motorsports, but the buffer is an important issue for me.
Yes, I was most nervous about the buffer but from my outing it was not really an issue. It is obviously different to sports. I see a bird and take a few shots of it docile in the tree and then a burst for maybe maximum 2-3seconds as it flies away. The I am recovering from that with no subject to shoot. Its a different pace, burst, rest, repeat. With sports I can imagine it's burst, burst, buffer, wait, burst, buffer, repeat :(
It is sad that they could not beef it up a little more. To go to all this effort and feel somewhat thwarted at the final hurdle seems a bit of a pity. But really tho... honestly... if you're shooting sport with Pentax you made a bad camera brand choice to begin with, it is bending the platform to its weakest attribute. Have you tried different combos to help navigate it? RAW to only one SD card etc, UHSII (though I'm not sure it makes much of a difference than UHSI for Pentax because I still think it has a bit of a bottleneck?).
In 2021 I still have actually no problem recommending a K-1 to someone who is into landscape. I think the weather resistance, 36mp, full frame, pixelshift, excellent dynamic range files, built in astrotracer, useful LED lights for buttons, lens mount, all that stuff... its actually a super solid piece of kit and at the right price a bargain can be had. And I think this one (K3III) is ok for some hobbyist wildlife pursuits which I think it is actually more likely its market. I would bet there are way more Pentaxians trying to shoot wildlife than sports.
@@SummersSnaps It is a wonderful camera. Feels awesome in hand and takes no time to get used to it specially to the dials and where is what. It is a fantastic camera. It also is a big improvement from the previous iterations of K3s. It is quick, the AF is reliable, the touch screen is great, the menus are fantastic once you are used to them, and the crop mode in camera I see it as perfection. And the buttons again, they are so well layout.
Even the Live View AutoFocus works fantastic.
Overall is a superb camera. But for me it lacks the buffer, and it is quite important as I was looking forward for an improvement there as well as in the AF mode. The AF did improve a lot. The buffer is the same iteration after iteration. For example, I am shooting cars in a corner and a bunch pass by, you take pictures (burst and up to the end of the buffer) then another bunch comes and you haven't been able to even check any image to get to know if what you did was even looking okay-ish. Yes you don't need this every single time, but if the buffer would clear quick, would be phenomenal.
I agree, we doing sports are a few bunch, but this camera looks like a great tool for us also.
Agreed on the K1 being a superb camera still today for landscapers. :)
Thanks for the review Eddy
Hi Eddy best review I have seen so far of this Brilliant camera.
I shoot BIFs a lot and find that small zone detect with subject recognition OFF is very good (locks on whatever is under the zone) as is the expanded area tracking modes but you must lock onto the bird with your first shot.
Glad you mentioned Highlight metering - no other reviewer has.
Also good you explained the wonderful user mode engineering of the camera;
You can drop any of the 10 user modes to the dial for the day's shooting and even different special functions dial setups can be stored to each user mode.
I guess the reason they don't show the user name is so they can show the symbols of what you have set?
The best feature of the user modes is how you can set it to make changes stick and not revert until the mode dial is turned to another mode - Fantastic!
This means you can turn the camera on/off as much as you like and the changes stick so long as the dial stays on that user mode. This allows you to adjust for the days conditions.
I reckon it will take me a year to really get the most out of this camera.
Yep, it is a wicked camera and I also noticed the option in the menu for how much the changes to the User Modes 'stick', pretty cool. On the K-1 I tended to keep one slot always free and call it 'Temp' and so if I was in U1 for the day and was doing stuff like changing AF and WB or something, I would grey card and then save those variations of U1 to the 'Temp' User Mode. Here I can see we might not have to do that which is again really cool.
Small Zone, Subject Off, AF.C, Focus Release and Focus Priority definitely was the combo that assisted with keeper rates (and BBF).
In regards to the User Mode name being omit, I think perhaps they just forgot about it (the Name for the User Mode), of they couldn't squeeze the characters across the top etc. I once suggested to Pentax to allowing a difference colour scheme to a User Mode, so that the tog could quickly realise that all their fonts and what not were a certain colour that it would be another quick visual reminder as to what mode they are in. I think with the K-1 there is a way to hit Info or something that will splash the name of the User Mode briefly or something, but yeah something should be done about it really.
I know it took me a long time to fully exploit the K-1 and I expect nothing less with the K3iii.
Thanks again for commenting, feel free to share the review where ever :-)
Thanks Eddy for this awesome presentation, I love my Pentax K3 III...
Great review Eddy. I’ve watched this a couple of times to help with the menu settings and shortcuts. Thanks for going in to the finer details.
Wonderful, glad you found it useful :)
I took the plunge and bought the K3-3. It's a significant upgrade to my K5, and while I really wanted to explore the Sony A73, by the time I added some decent lenses to it I'd be in it for way too much.
Just take your time to learn it, there's a high level of customisation here that should help you get the job done. This camera is definitely aimed for existing Pentaxians and I think you'll be quite happy with it for a number of years. Moving forward for Pentax I am not sure... they need to attract fresh blood to their market and not continually cater for only existing users.
@@SummersSnaps I have never been and likely never will be someone who makes video content, so the video features of the K3-3 are not much of a concern for me. However, video capabilities really do seem to be driving much of the mirrorless market these days thanks to independent content creators, and I'm surprised video features were overlooked to the extent they were in this camera. I was trying to take some ground level wide angle snow photos yesterday with my 12-24 and found myself wishing they stuffed a tilt screen into the camera. The body is barely bigger than my K5, and I'm sure I've held some larger APS-C cameras before, so growing it a little bit for a tilty screen would have been welcomed. It'll be a little while before I can add any PLM lenses to my collection, so I'm stuck with screwdrive converted DA* lenses and my DC Sigma which should be good for now. I have to see if I can change the focus modes assignable to the Special Function dial. Ergonomically I think it's a beautifully laid out well designed camera and so far the image quality does seem very good. I'd like to see some firmware improvements to AF, namely the ability to fine-tune AF correction for both long and wide ends of zoom lenses, and I'm a little concerned that focus accuracy might be off on the points outside the very center, but time will tell if that's a problem in actual practice.
Great menu diving video, its fair to say that this camera is packed full of nice features that actually have a use!
Yeah for sure, I mean I like impression videos and stuff, I get the whole 'rush to YT to be first to talk about a camera' thing, but reviews take time, and I left so much stuff out as well (video?). ahaha. It's a good camera, I think you'd love it but I'm not sure you'd see huge value in the upgrade if the feature upgrades don't matter too you (fps/buffer). You might feel the file difference between the K-70 is not much different to K3III, the K-1 on the other hand... ;)
Excellent Eddy. The amount of customisation and fiddalilabilty it offers users is incredible. Very well demonstrated. Yes, odd about the screen and it being fixed. I'm an OVF person, so no biggy. For macro, if you want to get down dirt level it ain't ideal but hey, has a lot of other positives. Best review I've seen on the K3-iii, but guess that's because you spent time with it and studied it's true potential and purpose. Well done man. 👍🏻
Thank you Jacques, much appreciated.
Excellent vlog, really enjoyed it. I like the look of the amount customization you can do. That two shot bracketing with the fast frame rate looks really useful.
Thanks Colin, Highlight Metering is a super feature to have.
Thanks again Eddy for all the time you put into these. Just started playing with my new K3 III today as an upgrade from my K-3 and I am quite impressed. This video gives me a ton of ideas about what's possible with the mark III and some suggestions on how to improve my photography by tweaking the most appropriate of the myriad of available settings.
Now that I have my new camera I'll be going over the other videos again to make sure I didn't miss anything!
Super, glad it's been of help. Getting to know your camera and exploiting the plethora of options just increases its overall value imo. You're only limited by your imagination :)
The highlight weighted metering is really a great feature. I really liked it in my GRIII. I really hope they bring all of this to a K1iii.
The AF is what it is. It's really about keeper rate in the end. I rarely ever hit the buffer on my K-1 when I'm trying to get pictures of him running around. I think the faster frame rate and slightly quicker AF would give me a better keeper rate. Not spending $2000 for more keepers of my dog 😂, but if this is all something that could translate into the K-1iii I'll be happy.
Great summary Eddy
Thanks Matthew.
Thanks for this, Eddy. Thanks to your series I now know exactly where this camera stands. If I weren’t already I’d have subscribed by now 😄
Thanks JS!
Great review
Thanks Georges!
Nice video Eddy!
Really wish my camera had that extra user modes thing to sub in and out for different days.
Thanks Steve, yeh every camera does something a little different. I still think Pentax needs to borrow some tools and tips from Nikon! But... sometimes the average AF of Pentax is all that gets talked about and there's some really nice things under the hood that many reviewers ignore and brands would do well to listen.
I am seriously considering upgrading from the KP. I shoot with the OVF ever since the film days 30 years ago and only use the screen for menu interactions and want a bright OVF. Thank you for this review!!
Wonderful to hear! I think you'll love it.
I don't personally miss the tilt screen, but I don't have one on any other Pentax DSLR I've owned. For people who have owned a KP or K1, and enjoyed the use of the tilt screen, I get why they feel that it's a problem, but not for me. I've had the K200D, K7, K5iis, K3 and now the K3iii. It was mentioned in the videos which Pentax released that they wanted the viewfinder experience to be central to the K3iii, and they couldn't manage to engineer the tilt screen into the body while making the viewfinder more comfortable. The current design allows the eye to be comfortably close to the viewfinder, while adding the tilt screen meant that it would protrude more and place the eye further from the viewfinder. The highlight-weighted metering is great if the subject is bright relative to the bokeh, but it's terrible if the subject is backlit, which often happens with birds. The only thing which really annoys me is that after so many updates, the camera doesn't display the name of the mode as you rotate the mode wheel. What's the point of naming the user modes if the name never appears on the screen? It's bizarre. On the subject of AF, again perhaps the K1 AF is much better than the K3, but for me going from the K3 to the K3iii was a quantum leap. I find the positioning of the AF mode button useless for big lenses like the DFA 150-450. It needs to be a button in a different location so you can change AF patterns without taking your eye off the viewfinder. I have tried to use the function wheel to do this, but somehow the result isn't the same as using the AF mode button. I am not sure which lenses you used in your tests (I'll have to check the previous videos) but if you didn't try the HDDA 55-300, HDDA*16-50 and DFA 150-450, you really need to see how these behave with the K3iii AF system before you conclude that it's not much of a change to the previous APSC bodies.
Yes, I could see HL Metering not being great against a blue sky or something, for my scenario it worked well as they twist and turned around a national park that had light from multiple sources and what not. I'm aware the feature is on Nikon and that wedding togs like to rely on it a lot to not blow out the brides dress etc. It's just a great metering mode to have, no coming back from blown highlights and here we have a way to ensure that never happens. Pretty neat, I'd love it on my K-1.
Yes I too thought the fact the Custom User Mode names are not presented (even briefly) was a bit odd.
I don't want people to get the wrong idea, I do think it is better on K3III, but the keepers are stemming more from the fps and deeper buffer vs actually a complete overhaul or revolutionized new AF system. This camera is behaving exactly like I would imagine the KP or K-1 if it too could manage the same fps and buffer. And in my previous video where I look at Live View, it feels the same experience as K-1, just with glossier UI really, not a massive difference at all, bit of a shame for 5yrs worth of waiting time. It still feels like a hurdle for the company. But here we are and I thought I did ok with some of my shots for not being a birder type guy. With more practice you are only going to get better, if this was my genre I'd choose K3III over the KP and K-1 any day of the week.
The lenses I used across the month were the Three Amigos, HD DA 55-300PLM and the DA 12-24.
@@SummersSnaps thanks for the thoughtful reply! I guess one of the things I have been frustrated by is the number of people complaining about the lack of a tilt screen. If you've been using a KP and/or K1 for a long time, I can understand it. But for those upgrading from the vast majority of Pentax DSLR models, it's not a feature they had, so it's harder to miss. A lot of the reviewers are pros who have had the K1, and maybe do a lot of work with the live view. So in a way, getting owners of the K1 or KP to review the K3iii is bound to lead to complaints about the lack of an articulated screen. Pentax said that they wanted the K3iii to be about the viewfinder. Again, if you're used to the K1 there's probably no change, but from the K3 to K3iii viewfinder it's a revelation. Maybe there's not much difference between the K1 AF and the K3iii AF. I don't know because I don't have a K1. The other thing I really noticed going back to the K3 was how slow it was. Not just AF but everything. The K3iii is more responsive in every way. Is the K3iii AF for wildlife great in terms of subject detection? No. I have ended up going to the cross AF pattern for wildlife because in most cases the subject is in the middle of a busy background and the camera gets distracted, especially by ripples on water. The subject recognition works pretty well for a bird in flight with sky in the background. The wide AF patterns seem quite good for landscape photography. I also need to experiment more with video, which is a lot better than I expected on a PLM lens.
Well done Eddy! Hope you could review the K-1 Mark iii or the 645ZS in the future too!
645ZS! Hahaha do you know something I don't!?
Eddy, thanks very much for these series of K-3III reviews. They're like having the K-3III myself. I do agree that Pentax made a mistake by omitting the articulating screen. It was the dealbreaker for me. You're right too about the camera being the entry into the system. Instead of the K-3III, I decided to go in the opposite direction, looking for less weight, good weather sealing and bought into M43. If I'd spent the $2000 on the K-3III I'd have never discovered just how superb, weather sealed and compact M43 cameras and lenses are.
Yeah, did you go Olympus? I hear they are the gold standard for WR.
As time goes on my needs change, and I bought the Fuji as I wanted specific features that none of my Pentax currently give nor will likely in the near future. I've not jumped ship, I just think of myself as being a tradie with a tool bag and have bought a different kinda fancy drill :D But for those with needs that haven't changed much, have Pentax glass and want more fps and buffer to increase keeper rate, this is for them.
@@SummersSnaps Olympus yes. Mostly second hand gear at good prices. Weather sealing is really really good. The IBIS is phenomenal too: I can easily handhold 1/3 to 1 second. I still love shooting with Pentax APS-C, but the weight difference is noticeable and IQ difference not so much, if at all. Olympus AF is much more reliable, except in very low light. No fussing with lens corrections. My Pentax Auto 110 lenses have found a natural home too (16mm = 43). Pentax and Olympus... the road less travelled, but that suits me fine ~~
With the K1 you can adjust the grid lines with the custom wheel. You don’t need to go in the menu.
love this video! practical, useful. i was wondering... i'm glad that the K-3 has all these capabilities but when i'm out in the field, i find myself scrolling through the menu trying to remember how to enable/disable/change a setting. it would be awesome if the next generation of cameras had voice recognition, a la smartphones; e.g. "turn live peaking on"
Thank you, I'm glad you found it useful :)
@@SummersSnaps and never mind voice recognition... how about a search function?
BTW, i've used Pentax DSLR's since the K10D. love them. wish Pentax had been faster to embrace digital cameras. oh well... the K-3 III will last me for a while. might be their last DSLR. maybe a mirrorless Pentax in the future?
@@SummersSnaps a question: my K-3 III recently stopped showing highlight alerting in the review function (the flashing red areas). it's still enabled in the menus... is it tied to another setting, perhaps?
@@stevericketts7414 I'm afraid I can't help. I did find the camera to being a little 'buggy' at times. The OS seemed to be quite a change from previous years camera releases, I was expecting some niggles and this might just be another one. Sorry, can't help :(
@@stevericketts7414 No, Pentax have been very transparent that they will never go mirrorless. In truth I think the finances of the company restrict their means to adapt and change now anyway (even if they wanted to), so they will stick with the Pentaprism and become ever increasingly niche (which they might need to embrace anyway if they are to survive).
I have had my k3-lll for almost 6 months now. Still using my original k3 mostly at the moment, as I try to learn all the settings on the new camera. If I had a gripe on the new camera, it would be the non-lighted focus points as compared to the original. In some scenes, you can lose them when trying to get them on an eye. Not a lot, but sometimes. I like how the old one had a lighted focus point that you could clearly see. Perhaps that is something that you can get used to.
One other thing, is the file must be a slightly different type, because on the original, I can take a jpeg, reduce its size down to 6mp, then edit it in Snapseed, and it will look pretty good on Facebook. With the new camera, if I do it the same way, it will look good on my iPad, but when I post it to Facebook, it will look slightly less sharp. I have yet to figure out how to correct this.
About the dark focus points, yeh a few have complained about that, pretty big mess up from Pentax here imo, big woops!
About the file type/resizing/snapspeed thing, yeh no clue. I tend to export my images to 2048px longest edge and upload to fb/insta etc and its fine regarless what camera, so sorry can't help on that one!
@@SummersSnaps thanks for the tip, I will double check to make sure I have Snapseed export it at that size, I appreciate the reply. 🙂
Watching this review I get the feeling that the tilt screen would have made this the ideal Pentax normal day use camera, if they wanted to make a sport or wild life camera, then the tracking has to be spot on, or as close as possible, unfortunately it seams the tracking is nothing to write home about, only the camera processing is much faster, also for that kind of shooting, the buffer has to be much larger!
With a K1 tilt screen and all the fantastic ergonomic of the camera and a lower price, this camera would have sold in buckets load.
We have to remember that the new Pentax lenses are quite expensive, which is a problem if the body is expensive too, you can get a Nikon Z6 for the same price or cheaper and that is full frame. The next K1will probably be priced away from normal people with normal income and that is a departure from Pentax of old, usually you got crappy tracking but a great body for a killer price, now still a crappy tracking system but a stupendous high price. Disappointed to say the least.
Yeh, it does seem to be a move away from what initially hooked me towards Pentax. K-50 and K-1 were fantastic value compared to other entry level DSLR's and FF cameras at the time of release.
Still... there is some interesting things going on here that I hope we'll see ported across to future models, let's see what develops down the line.
Look at you, getting a shout out by Ricoh/Pentax! Well done! Thanks for the in-depth look at the K-3 III. Sadly most reviewers don't take the time that is needed to fully appreciate the quality of life features Pentax cameras deliver.
Here's to hoping that Pentax will soon launch a K-1 III that inherits a number of the K-3 III's features.
Haha! Thanks! As you know I no longer frequent PF anymore, so feel free to link this stuff somewhere on the board if you like, if you think it might be of value. I might even get 3 more subs! hehe xD
I see you did! Thank you! xx
I just purchased the K3 III and really appricate the video's you made. Mine has the updated firmware (2.10) which other users said the focusing has been greatly improved. I noticed your viedos are about a year old, which means the camera has the older firmware. If you still have the camera do you think you could do a update on the focusing capibilities?
I do still have a K3III but only one lens left, the 55-300PLM. I do intend to update the camera to the latest f/w and in doing so I will give my thoughts on the AF. But tbh I would not hold your breath, I am in some forums where others have updated and are still disatisfied with the AF.
I shoot the Fuji XH2S professionally for gigs, and that AF is generally leaps and bounds above Pentax, but its still not perfect. Of course without the mirror I am getting away from soft front/back focusing issues, I have advanced tools like face/eye detection (I can choose which eye), I have 117 (AFC) or 413 AF points covering the entire frame yet I can still get some shots not quite in focus from a stationary subject playing an instrument. From a burst of 10-15 shots (1-1.5 sec burst), maybe half are pefect focus and half not. Fuji AF is still not at a Canon or Sony level, I still have to burst a little to guarantee a moment captured well and in perfect focus.
I think the K3III is a lot like this too, that Pentaxians are mistaking AF from really a camera capable of bursting properly and sustained for a good second or two. Up until now they have NEVER had this priviledge (where many other brands have), this is what I think results in the keepers most seem to report, it gives the AF system a little more time to reaquire focus (whereas before the buffer and fps maxed out).
AF is a huge topic and its hard to separate fps and buffer from the subject because its all entwined. You can have fast AF, but not necessarily accurate. You can have accurate, but not fast. You can of course have both and the lens itself factors massively into the equation. Testing the K3III with just the 55-300PLM would be really only telling half the story, but I can try and do that sometime down the line when time permits.
All I would say is if you feel you are getting the shots you need in focus with the gear you use, with the techniques you adopt... then really there is no issue. If you are not, have invested considerable time trying to troubleshoot and play with settings to resolve such problems to no avail... maybe it is just the camera.
Good luck and congrats on the purchase! (it's still a great camera that overal sees too much negativity).
@@SummersSnaps Thank you for the reply.
This is a good review, looking not just at 'what' features the camera has, but also 'why' it has them (how they can be utilised). Like Eddy, I have the K-1, but like to have a smaller setup because full frame body and lenses are sometimes too much to hike around with. I don't like to sell older bodies, so still make good use of the K-3ii and K-70 and my hope was that the K-3iii would have included their particular benefits - the moving rear screen and integrated gps - whilst remaining a very compact apsc camera. I guess the K-3iii is a specialised camera which seeks to attract action togs, so it's not designed for me then and sadly I am giving it a miss despite its many other lovely features. For photographers who specialise in action, sports, wild life etc it looks like really well designed camera.
Thank you! I feel similar, a camera I will likely pass on but am looking forward to the next K-1 etc.
Thanks for diving in to the menu system Eddy, something many others ignore. Way too much effort spent on comparing the flippy screen, why not show how the phone app can be used to give a workaround, no need to flip, just get on to bluetooth for the rare moments a flippy screen is missed. The ref converters from previous cameras M and A also work well with this camera. Swapping between the K1 and this camera I find the real annoyance is that they have swapped the location of the SD 1 and SD 2 cards. Keep up the good work
Personally, I'm not going to be bothered with the phone app, I have more of a hate relationship with it than love. I just can't see me dig my phone out of my bag for a low shot out and about in the field, I'd sooner carry a small mirror or get down and dirty :D
I actually have a ref converter for the D, never thought to try it on the K3iii! Mind you, same issues arise, checking the shot, the histo, reviewing etc, its still done from the screen and not from the OVF so its only somewhat helpful.
Thanks again for commenting.
Did you find it renders reds a bit strangely? Some others have observed this and when I compared it with my KP, the reds from the K3iii were far too 'orange'. I'm referring to shots taken in AWB mode and the orangey reds theme also holds true for the entire image in that it seemed it had an orangey bias in it. Easily rectified in PP, but a bit odd.
I have to say I did not go into comparisons or colour science too much. I have a K-1, XT4 and a 645D and they all do colours quite differently. When I want accurate colours I use an Xrite Colour Passport2, otherwise I enjoy playing with the colours in post and is part of the fun of photography. As you say, prolly a slight slider adjustment to the red hue should correct it? AWB I have learned can be the issue, I think my Fuji has about 3 different AWB modes to choose from that all result in quite different end results, which just goes to show how much AWB can 'struggle' at times with certain scenes.
Hi Eddy. Thanks and I will review this video again because I want to start using the USER modes. I've been too resistant to that for too long. Getting to the flip screen, I think they left it off to keep cost down. That is my own assumption. There were videos about how they worked really hard on a new type of glass for the OVF. Production was not going well and they had to move that back to Japan. Perhaps if they put a tilting screen that can do touch it would have just pushed the price too high? Whatever the reason, pretty much all reviewers are dinging Ricoh for leaving that out. As for AF-C, when I use a PLM lens it is so fast I don't even realize it happened! Did you use a PLM lens on your birding video? I can't recall. Also, I have trained myself to use back button AF and if I hold it down when shooting, I can see the AF points when info screen reviewing the shot. One complaint I have is that I just cannot see the AF points on a dark or highly contrasted subject. I truly miss the little red dots I have on my old mk 1 and K-5. Image quality is better than my old mk 1 but really only at the higher ISOs. That is awesome because I'm getting some stunning high ISO shots!
Yeh the screen the screen. It's not all bad. I can live without a tilt, I'm still young, I can get dirty and supine in the mud if I have to :D
I did indeed use the PLM, both in video 1 and 4. I tend to do BBF for wildlife or action portraits and front shutter for other type of portraits or landscape. It all depends, and that's why I appreciate the customization so much.
I did think about bringing up the somewhat dimly lit AF points on the focus screen, but I didn't find it too much of a hassle for the shoots I was doing.
This was the first camera I really felt I could feel the presence of the baked in NR in the RAW files. Not sure how I feel about it.
Thanks for commenting!
I feel like those neat little customization features need to be more aggressively advertised by Pentax, what and how you can do with those and how you can profit from those 1-button-press things in the heat of the moment in the field. But the truth of the industry seems to be that most people don't care about this, and so the industry itself doesn't advertise it, it's always just been about megapixels, fps, af speed etc...
Pentax don't advertise period! So that's why it's down to us to help them out :) Indeed it is a strength of the brand.
the AFC of the Pentax k3 III has nothing to do with the previous models, both for the number of focus points and speed. If you are not used to photographing wildlife, no camera is going to solve it. If you know how to use it, the K3 III has an exceptional continuous focus system.
I do hope I have not given the wrong impression about the camera. My perspective comes based from owning a K-1 and KP and yes doing occasional wildlife stuff with those cameras (I'm just not a die hard birder, if I were I think I'd be off to another platform). The OVF AF.C aspect of those cameras feels like its 'business as usual' here with the K3III, but that the success of the keepers I think lies more to do with the FPS and Buffer than actual AF improvement. If you visit one of my previous videos where I test the Face Detection in LV and the Subject Recognition via the OVF I specify the parameters used for those tests and see only a marginal improvement of hit rate improvements over the K-1/KP. Toggling into Focus Release and FPS Priority gives much better results but that is placing greater emphasis on the buffer and fps of the camera rather than purely the AF system (if that makes sense).
For a Pentaxian with glass already, and a Pentaxian that likes to do a fair bit of wildlife or birding, this camera is a no brainer and would be my preferred choice, and I think that's whom this camera has been developed for by Pentax.
no tilt screen - no pop up flash - not interested.
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I'm sticking with KP.
I actually don't have a huge problem with specific cameras suited to certain tasks. I did use my KP for some birding and it was nowhere near as successful as the K3III has been. It just feels overall however to being very niche and specific. A tilt screen would have been a wonderful inclusion that opens up the camera to a lot more shooting genres. Oh well..
@@SummersSnaps unfortunately - Pentax ( Ricoh ) have a very small part of the market.
That being sad - That means - their moves to "cut the ( esential ) features" from
very late DSLR -
which should be the best of all
is not smart.
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Ok, let's say Pop Up Flash, is probably solvable with external.
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but tilt screen is just --- Just... Not forgiveble.
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And when you see the price, and all that coupled with inferior videos...
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I dont know - it just seems - they're doing it - on purpose. Killing good brand,
for what exactly ?
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Birding ? If you're into birding - or any wild life, MicroFourthird - Olympus - is just UNBEATABLE.
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So, in bussines meanings - K3 III will not participate in PRO market area,
nor - wild life.
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Oh,
and their stubornness when we jump to mirrorless sector.
Wow.
@@maxmagnus15 Yep, pretty much spot on. This camera is niche of a niche and I feel they will struggle for an adequate return. I'm sure there are some users that LOVE this camera, and for them it ticks all the boxes for what they want in a camera, but they have to recognise they are a minority of a minority.
Really I think at this point we're just witnessing the a brand with limited resources struggling to keep up with the tech curve. I don't even think its about Pentax not wanting to go MILC but they couldn't afford that change even if they wanted it. Feels like they need investors at this point.
@@SummersSnaps I'm not so sure - for MILC sector - they're helpless, or help investment needed - because they already made K-01 which was mirrorless many yrs before - the market were even thinking about shifting.
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But they abandoned the idea, and camera.
OK,
i get it. They choose another direction.
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But in years that follow - MILC was so unnecceary - everyone was following Oly and Pana - and when Nikon and Canon hit the market with their versions - the Sky was fall !
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And Pentax discovered - what ? New Pentaprism ?
More parts in camera ? LOL
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Their marketing skills are also years behind so poor.
OK, with K3 III - they had a strong push forward in that area.
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Overall - From my perspective - I think they failed - and they will regret that -
for listening someone from their department
to stay with DSLR.
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Smaller part of me - thinking - they will end up in milc - very soon, meybe sooner then we're thinking
@@maxmagnus15 The K-01 is not a MILC, not really. Ok technically it is, it has no mirror and you can interchange lenses, but that doesn't really compete on the level that MILC has meaning in 2022. The K-01 an Q are really acting like DSLR Pentax cameras minus an OVF! They never had EVF and they never had critical upgrades to AF under this system such as simple things like offering AF.C. No... the K-01 failed not because it was a MILC at the wrong time, but because it was basically a DSLR without the mirror and OVF, it was simply not doing anything new, it was stripping away more than making a technological change for the better. It's a cripple camera.
The only way they can entertain mirrorless will be slow, laborious, likely an adapter for existing K mount lenses first before they can start a whole new line... and look at how long they take to make new lenses and camera bodies. They simply lack funding and resources to keep up with production and technology changes.
But its more than that, they seem to have hurdles they have never really overcome. The K3III has questionable AF improvement over the K-1, let alone getting onto a Nikon or Canon DSLR AF performance. I would be ok with them sticking with the mirror but the K3III is still not yet on a 2015 Nikon D500 level... :S
And all this before we look at the FF and MF line they have, if they even have anymore... They have spread themselves paper thin... how long now till we have a K-1 upgrade? It's now 6yrs old!
And now they announce a cessation of mass production and a switch to artisan/workshop model for Japan. I fail to see how this is a positive thing, it is essentially saying they do not sell enough units and will in future make fewer cameras with stupidly high price tags to compensate. Only the super die hard fans will remain, till they die off... and what then... eek!