3rd part K-3 grip received

My Kingma K-3 grip arrived today from Deal Extreme and as it's probably the first one in the country, I thought I would give my initial impressions. I have not used a genuine grip before, but do have a 3rd party grip on my K-5 to compare it against.

Arrived in a generic grip box, as they make grips for lots of other companies, but reasonably well packaged in bubble wrap inside the box. Instruction sheet was well written and in perfect English. It does state dust and water resistant, but I can see no rubber seals on the battery compartment or elsewhere, so would not put too much faith in this claim.

Fit and finish is very good, with both the rubber grip, and mottled look plastic, matching the K-3 well. All buttons, control wheels and shutter have a good positive action, and only the on/off switch has a less positive feel, which is also the case with my K-5 grip. The on/off wording on the switch is also not quite aligned correctly, but for under £40 I am certainly not complaining. I would say that the build quality is a step up from the K-5 grip, so it looks like the factory machining has improved over time.

I have tested all the features, which all work as they should, with the second battery also being recognised straight away. Overall very impressed, and it will suit my needs just fine. I know it's not a genuine accesory but then it is a quarter of the price.

Hope my thoughts are of some benefit to other members

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Pentax K-3, Pentax K-5.
Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6, Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8
Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 WR, Pentax DA 55-300mm f/4.0-5.8
Pentax-A 50mm f/1.7, Pentax DA 50mm f/1.8, Pentax D-FA 100MM f/2.8 Macro WR, Pentax DA*300mm f/4.0

I wish this had been available a month ago.

The only bad thing about the original grip (other than the price) is the poor quality plastic used for the battery insert trays.

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Pentax hybrid user - Digital K3, film 645 and 35mm SLR and Pentax (&other) lenses adapted to Fuji X and Panasonic L digital
Fan of DA limited and old manual lenses

You say the buttons / wheels have a good action. How do they compare to the buttons and wheels on the k3 itself? Are they similar?

Id love to see some pics of its attached if youve got some?

Ive never had a grip and would like to give one a go.

Hi, sorry for the delay, been busy recently.

The buttons feel as good as the ones on the body, perhaps a slightly more audible click when pressed is the only difference. The wheels don't have that rubbery feel as on the body, but do have a positive action.

Pictures below. New 3rd party K-3 grip on the left, 3rd party K-5 grip on the right.

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Pentax K-3, Pentax K-5.
Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6, Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8
Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 WR, Pentax DA 55-300mm f/4.0-5.8
Pentax-A 50mm f/1.7, Pentax DA 50mm f/1.8, Pentax D-FA 100MM f/2.8 Macro WR, Pentax DA*300mm f/4.0

They're great thank you.