Jumping from K20D to K3

Hello there, hope everyone has had/is having a good Christmas.

I've been looking into buying a new camera. Got my K20D back in 2008 and had a lot of fun with it but fancy an upgrade. I'm happy with the quality of the pictures but certain aspects of the camera have always felt a bit slow and clunky - these are becoming more obvious as the technology has improved in more recent Pentaxes.

My Dad got a K30 last year and I've had a bit of a play with it - just to see how some of the Pentax features have changed.

Pros:
Much better screen - I've found with mine that it will often present a picture I've just taken as only being worthy of the delete button, but when I put it onto the computer it's actually much better than I'd expected. The newer screen on K30 seems much better.
Better metering? - Pictures seemed to be a more accurate reflection of the lighting conditions, whereas 90% of my pictures on K20D are underexposed, sometimes by quite a large amount. I know that's better than overexposing but I don't like having to faff around with every single picture in post processing. Wouldn't be so much of an issue if the underexposure was at least consistent but it isn't so can't just leave Exposure compensation on.
Much less noise at high ISO and higher ISO options
Live view much quicker and responsive.
Movie mode
Menu interface - although I found it confusing for the first 5 minutes - it is quite quick and more modern looking
AF seems faster
Distortion and Aberration correction in camera

Cons:
It Didn't feel as good to hold - felt nasty, plastic and angular in comparison to the K20D - which I think is wonderful to hold
No top LCD screen


SO considering the improvements, and that the K3 is meant to improve on those areas further PLUS seems to be a similar size and construction to the K20D - I'm thinking that would be the best upgrade option.
Main areas I want to improve are high ISO noise, metering, dynamic range, Auto focus speed, but without losing the good ergonomics and feel of the K20D.

Has anyone moved directly from K20D to K3? Or can remember the K20D well enough to compare with the K3?

I know the difference in the technical specs but I'd like the views of people that have had hands on experience with the cameras. Thank you

I'll be waiting until there's a drop in price though! As much as I'd love to just run out and buy one now OH wouldn't be too pleased.

Give it till Easter......

WE still use the K20D for studio shots of small products, but apart from that we use the K-5. I tested the K-5 II, K-5 IIs and K-3 for EPZ and as things stand at the moment would upgrade straight to the K-3. It's a spectacular jump from the K20D, which is excellent but things have moved on.

If I had to upgrade (perhaps because of camera failure/loss) and I couldn't afford the K-3 then it would be the K-5 IIs. That would go very nicely with my Ricoh GR, which has similar characteristics.

A friends dad still uses the K20D and K200, both bought from new and both have never ever failed him, there's a lot to be said for old tech..

I still have a K20D and a K-7. I also have a K-3.

The K-7 and K-3 ergonomics are about the same. Moving from the K20D to the K-7, the transition was rather easy for me. It might be different for other people having used only the K10D/K20D for a long period.

That said, every camera was an improvement on it's predecessor. In terms of performance, the step was minimal between the K20D and the K-7, but the ergonomics of the K-7 are way ahead of the K10D/K20D.

Then came the "mighty" K5/K5II/K5IIs. The improvement in performance was like night and day.

The step between the 5 and the 3 is another big step, but it is more subtle. It's all mainly in the application of the features, although image quality at ISO up to 6400 is better. Above that, it is more or less a toss.

If money is a concern, you could look at the K5II or K5IIs, and the improvement would still be enormous, but the cash outlay would be more bearable.

Why didn't I go for the 5? Doing mainly studio work for third party, the step between the 7 and the 5 was marginal for me. If I had been doing mainly available light, I would have gone for the 5 in a heartbeat.

As it is, instead of the 5, I invested in a different Pentax system that has a larger sensor for studio work, but high ISO is not it's "forte".

Saying all that, I have had a quick look around and still see the K20D is still fetching good money for an oldish camera.

Having handled the K3, I like a lot but:-
1) It is still currently a bit too pricy in comparison with the K5i / K5iis
2) It is a tad too heavy at 800 gms with card and battery. My K5ii at 740 gms makes its weight noticeable at times
3) Although the reported weaknesses with high ISO and lowlight are begining to be considered to minor in real life normal use, particularly for those with good post taking processing skills, they are still very important to me as I take a lot pictures in lowlight.

If I had to buy new today, I would be very tempted by the K50 which although it has lesser specification and dynamic range than the K5ii, it is many ways just as good a camera, but lighter in both weight and cost.

I loved the feel of my K20D so when I jumped over to the K-7 (basically still the same body as a K-3) I have to admit I hated it to begin with, it just felt too small.

Having since gone through the K-5 and currently the K-5II (no plans at present to move on to the K-3 as I can't see it's worth more than twice the value of my 5II) I don't think I could go back to the K10D/20D full time now. Adding a grip made them much better if you are happier with a more substantial body.

Ergonomics are really down to the individual, what they are used to and physical things like the size of their hands. My K3 looks like beating my K30 in all areas to do with image quality. But I loved the K30 handling wise and am finding the K3 taking some getting used to especially the strange position of the AF back button focus which is recessed and just out of reach of my thumb, leaving me searching for it. I will get used to it though and I'm sure in a years time I will be used to the weight and the button positions. With the deal I got from SRS I paid £885 for my K3 plus a 50mm lens worth £120 for £50 so you could argue the real cost was even less.

FWIW, I went from the K10D (same body shape as the K20D) to the K-5. For about a day, I didn't like the K-5 feel as much.

After that, it was fine, and I soon much preferred it to the K10D. I haven't handled the K-3 yet, but I wouldn't be surprised, based on the reviews, if it feels much the same, albeit a little heavier.

I just did; go from the K-10 to the K-3. I bought the silver addition with the battery grip. The deal made sense to me, for just a $130 more(Canadian dollars) your got the battery grip, two batteries, leather strap, and bragging right of "this is a limited edition".(no one seems to care..LOL)

I find the difference astounding. It is faster...oh so muchy, much faster. The difference in low lighting, is like the difference between candles and track lights.

I find the feel every bit as solid as the K-10. It is easy to get use to as Pentax has followed similar menus. It has fine tuned my photos details, it has produced images sharper then I have ever owned! It is true to colour, and I can see the difference in each and every image...it really is an upgrade. I did not expect it to be this fantastic at all.

I was somewhat forced into the decision as the lighting meter in my K-10 was suffering and cause me so much grief...I bought the K-10 for under $300 dollars (Canadian), second hand from our largest national camera company, Henry's Stores...the cost(for repairs to the k-10) to ship and pay a basic check-up fee started at about $200...not worth it for the street value left on my camera. Since I felt that whatever I invested in next would well be on a five+ year plan for me, I decided that the price divided over 5 years was less then I would have spent on film and developing per year not so long ago!

The camera feels like a $1500 camera, it produces photos like a pro camera should. It is a wonderful jump, and yes a thousand times yes, I see and feel the advancement in the technology in the K-3.

I might have been feeling a wee bit of guilt for spending so much as we are building ourselves a new home for retirement, but once I started snapping photos and seeing the results, I knew I had nothing to feel guilty about, this beauty would be capturing a photo journal of our senior years, and doing it with such precision and high quality photos, it is a gift to the whole, of our family. Oh ya, photography...it is also my hobby.

Here are some "lets try it out for fun shots" you will see portraits, action, landscape, close-ups, all hand held, no flash, just using what is there.....I haven't even done anything professional or for hire with it yet...it is only three weeks old, or so!

Hope this was of some help to you!
Regards

JA

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Well done Judith.

Best regards

Lost a few images when uploading them....here is a few more:










JA