I wanted to test the resolving capabilities of the K3 using the Pentax 55-300zoom. This is the Beatrice oil platform(s) sited about 12NM offshore (13 real miles) from Dunbeath in the Highlands. Shot hand held but resting on the car window at 300mm f10 1/125 iso 100. A small amount of sharpening of the DNG before opening and then levels adjust.
The inset is roughly what the platforms look like to the naked eye and the larger image is a 100% crop from the centre of the image.

Lenny what exposure times did you use for the 3 shots?

would a monopod/walking stick not be a better idea there? take the weight while you're standing and help steady up the camera at the same time for shooting.

Yes Steve which kind of doubles the price as well as losing the zoom versatility albeit with a massive gain in image quality I expect.

Mike it's a couple of hundred grams lighter I think, not that much difference and it's part of my worry.

I suppose if I'm talking myself into it I could sell the 55-300 to offset the cost. The weight concerns me a bit though, back in the bad old Canon days I had a bigma and it felt like carrying a rocket launcher round with me.

SRS have the Sigma 150-500 at a good price just now and I'm tempted as I do want a decent long reach lens. I already have the 55-300 though so the question is would that lens with a good TC be a worthwhile combo or would the Sigma be 600 squids better?

I've had mine for just over a week now and am not finding it strange or difficult coming from a K-r. The large amount of options available, some of which I'll never use like the filters will take time to get round but then the K-r had much the same.

The top lcd is very useful when Tripod mounted shooting low down and for sky shots where it saves getting a cricked neck trying to see the main screen.

There's a link from McBrian to a pair of Glass ones in this thread https://www.pentaxuser.com/forum/topic/thank-goodness-for-screen-protectors--470... for about $25 and a good reason to buy them...

Failing that, there are some on eBay and Amazon of the mobile phone type protectors pretty cheap.

The K3 was an upgrade from a K-r for me so the learning curve has been pretty gentle, menus etc being much the same.

I am very impressed with the feel of it, I'm a great fan of good solid engineering, a'la 1950s German cameras. I have have an old Voigtlander Barn Door Vitessa that's basically a steel brick and wonderful to hold and the K3 has much the same feel to it.
It just feels like quality and it's so capable, last night I went out and took a handheld photo of the Pleiades, iso 51200 at the long end of my DA 55-300mm and it's usable (with a bit of fiddling in RAW conversion). OK it's not a 'good' image but I would never have expected a camera to be able to do it in the first place.

The built in level is an excellent idea, it's already become invaluable to me and the options to have it on the top lcd, the rear screen and in the viewfinder so you don't have to take your eye too far away from whatever you're doing is another indication of the thought that's gone into the design of the K3.

360 shots taken, ~15% with flash and the battery has just dropped to 2/3 capacity. I shoot RAW DNG+best quality JPG and can fit 444 shots on a 32gb card and it's fairly quick to save even at that. A DNG file can be anywhere from 24-35mb, JPG 9-13mb.
This is the first camera I've owned that's quicker at transferring images to pc than a separate card reader, mainly because I don't have a usb3 card reader yet. It takes about 35sec to transfer 55 images (55x45mb makes it roughly 90mb? per second).

I really like the bigger size of it, if there was one thing about the K-r that I didn't suit me it was the small size (big hands).
I wasn't too impressed with the battery door closure thinking it was fiddly, until I realised it was necessary for the weather proofing so Pentax are forgiven there.

The K-r was my return to Pentax after a long and unhappy diversion into the Canon world. My enthusiasm for photography has reawakened since and this upgrade to the K3 will do me for many years to come.

Crappy day or not you and the Bigma did well.