Reckon its time we all moved on from this little tit a tat.

DXO returns a number, it may help some but probably confuses more.

If you are of the technically influenced nature then more that likely a Pentax will not press your buttons, you will be chasing after some FF DSLR that you will decide based on some number published on some site somewhere on the interweb. More than likely you will use the kit lens that comes with said FF camera and be happy in the knowledge that this camera is the best that you can possibly buy and will happily tell all your family, friends and colleagues. You may then decide that you need another lens or two and will spend another month or so researching which lens you think you need and then pay big money for a lens which you think you need but will hardly ever use because it is too big, too heavy and needs a modicum of skill to return the quality that you have researched so carefully.

A Pentax user is of a slightly different nature, by in large we are more discrete creatures, we prefer ergonomics over button count, primes over zooms. We look for character in our lenses and will pay a premium for extra tactile feel. We get extra satisfaction from turning up at an event and creating images without flash that the subject actually likes, we are nerds but of a higher class. We can be quite disdainful of the other brands but sometimes will feel a teeny bit envious due to the extra advertising and word count in magazines that they get. We get annoyed when someone from Nikon wonders why we pay £799 for a 77mm f/1.8 that is screw driven when they can have a 85 f/1.8 with a built in motor for under half the price and it is sharper to boot!

Fact of the matter is that in this instance, the K-3 is not the same wunderkind that the K-5 was at the time it came out. As I have posted earlier, look deeper into the actual ISO of both cameras, the D7100 is misrepresenting its ISO by a 1/3 to 2/3s of a stop ISO wise. The K-3 is slightly behind the K-5 but this is not Pentax's fault but by Sony and their manufacturing / design capability. So Pentax did the next best thing and upgraded everything around the sensor, VF, Buffer, Internal processing, AF... list goes on and on. If you absolutely have to have the highest ISO in APS-C then the K5II-S is by a smidgen the best out there right now, if not the K-3 will be a better camera for 95% of the time and it is probably the best high end APS-C camera available on the market right now.

Its a marketing victory for Nikon with the D7100 vs K-3.

Actual ISO wise, the D7100 is nearly a stop behind the K-3 i.e. @ 12,800 the K-3 is actually 11836 verses an actual 8660 on the D7100. Go one higher @ 25,600 and the K-3 is actually 23529 verses 16665 of the Nikon.

So for equivalent light, focal length and aperture, the D7100 will be a stop higher (roughly) than the K-3 with the Canon 70D somewhere in between when it comes to reporting ISO.

Vintage Grand Prix re-enactment - June 2013, Cork City, Ireland

K-5 TaV mode and FA77 @f/8, 1/250s, ISO variable

K-5II S arrived this afternoon. Wanted to have a play so listened to a few tunes and tried out the AF.

31, ISO1600, f/2.2, 1/6s



I will dust the base tomorrow, promise and get the base in the shot at the bottom left. Other than that I kinda like it.

Sold!
Thanks for looking.

Probably right Smeggy

They are about the same size, A50 has a way bigger front element though whereas the 55 has the bigger hood!
Focussing wise, its not as slow as I have been led to believe, its quick enough, no more but no less. Interesting little lens none the less.

On a side note, the new Carl Zeiss 55 f/1.4 Otus has been treated to some tests at Lenstip, monster of a thing. Still vignettes madly at f/1.4 despite its bulk. I am thinking that the DA*55 will give you 95% of the performance for 25% of the price

There is great value out there no matter which way you look at it.

I was dithering a bit, sold off a few bits and pieces and was about to buy the K-3 when I took a step back and asked myself did I really need it and or want it. If I have any issue with my K-5 it is AF, specifically low light AF and the K-5II(S) resolves that. I'm not really a landscape photographer, or a wildlife enthusiast so the tracking AF while interesting was not a motivator for me. High ISO is though and for me the K-5II S still has the slight edge.

Sooo for the same money as a new K-3, I picked up a K-5II S (ex-demo, 2yr warranty), couple of batteries, an O-ME53 magnifying piece, D-BG4 grip and the icing on the cake is that this bundle also includes a DA*55.

For my photography a K5II S with a DA*55 beats a K-3 with a 18-55WR

Bump!
Nice little Christmas pressie for someone

Still have an A50 f/1.2 in my lens arsenal