As Sony exits the DSLR business with the discontinuation of their A-mount cameras, the new K-3 Mark III DSLR from Pentax has started to reach Australian shores.
I’ve had a few months with a pre-production unit, and a few weeks with the final firmware. How does a DSLR released in 2021 hold up to practical shooting and compare to its mirrorless contemporaries?
Portrait Shooting
With my portfolio predominantly focused on portraiture and having used a Sony mirrorless in the past few years, I was intrigued to see how a DSLR would hold up on a usual “Malificent Images” shoot. You would think that a DSLR would no longer be as relevant or as streamlined as shooting with a mirrorless camera, but as I’ve come to discover, my practical shooting experience and workflow was not even impacted. At all.
My shooting workflow is one that mixes continuous and strobe lighting, and as luck would have it, my primarily flash brand Godox also has Pentax support.
When shooting with a flash/ strobe lighting, the use of mirrorless or DSLR is negligible, with no real true output preview until after the shot whereby the flash has been fired and recorded. The availability of Pentax support via the Godox transmitter means that I can still access features such as HSS or TTL should I require it.
When reviewing the experience of such a shoot through the Pentax, the larger almost full-frame equivalent viewfinder gives a sense of connection to the scene, one that I didn’t realise I had missed in the past few years. I don’t believe mirrorless EVF’s have come close just yet in terms of resolution and refresh rate to the true to life feel of an optical viewfinder. The ability to navigate image review with the touchscreen was quick and responsive, allowing me to check focus and small details at a quick pinch and swipe of the screen, gestures native to mobile phone users and inherited from the Ricoh GR III.
Events and Changing Light
I hadn’t shot a live performance since before the pandemic. Recently, I was asked by a friend and fellow photographer if I could cover the full dress rehearsal of Yellow Line Theatre‘s production Bakery Hill, a play/ musical about the Eureka Rebellion. What better chance to put the new Pentax K-3 Mark III through its paces with constantly changing stage lighting and moving subjects.
I suppose the question on everyone’s mind is… how does the autofocus compare when mirrorless cameras have excelled in on-sensor PDAF tracking, especially with Sony and Canon leading the charge with their eye-AF tracking.
Paired with the trusty Pentax D FA 24-70mm f/2.8 ED WR and the camera set to: aperture priority, expanded area AF and continuous autofocus, I found the new K-3 Mark III able to keep up with the task at hand. No doubt this is due to the increase to 101 AF points and the newly developed high-capacity RGBIr image sensor. The new addition of the rear joystick allowed for quickly moving the cluster of AF points to their desired position before engaging in tracking. All of these, I consider being pleasant upgrades compared to the performance of my Pentax K-70.
Perhaps one luxury that I had missed from a mirrorless camera for shooting stage events is the live preview in the EVF whereby I can monitor exposure changes in real-time. In practice, however, I found the highlight-weighted AE setting to be extremely competent, and the DNG files had more than enough latitude for exposure adjustment in post-production. After shooting approximately 450 photos to cover the 2-hour performance, I didn’t find the battery life lacking either, with the indicator only dropping one bar.
The Everyday Carry Shooter
I can’t remember when I compulsively started carrying a camera with me everywhere, and for a while, the K-3 Mark III was in my EDC kit. I can honestly say that the size of the camera was not a concern, the overall footprint is “slimmed” down with the omission of an articulating screen and my main preference being prime lenses, all of which are quite compact by nature. The largest lens in my kit by far may be the Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 EX DC HSM Lens… certainly still very portable.
Perhaps one takeaway from extended shooting is the appreciation of the new viewfinder, despite the APSC sensor size. I was able to accurately focus with a Lensbaby Composer Pro II with Edge 35 optic with no issue through the optical viewfinder itself, historically, I relied on focus peaking via an EVF on a Sony. It was only until I held my K-70 to my eye again when I realised how much of an improvement the larger magnification optical viewfinder was, with information such as the horizontal and vertical levels overlayed as a practical convenience.
FINAL MUSINGS… FOR NOW
Shooting with the Pentax K-3 Mark III allowed me to reflect on my camera choices and shooting style. Despite also using a Sony A7R III mirrorless camera as an all-around workhorse, I still value the “experience” of taking photos. In practical usage, I found the new Pentax to be just as capable as any mirrorless camera… there is an inherent, almost intangible connection to the picture-taking process when looking through an optical viewfinder, a little nostalgia perhaps to the days of shooting film SLR’s and DSLRs.
Pentax’s new K-3 Mark III is a love letter to fans, sticking firm to their pentaprism and principles. Specifications are often compared against competitors and price point with each new camera release, however, the value instilled here is the engagement of senses, from the ergonomics to the optical. If the camera is the extension of a photographer’s arm and eye, then surely there must be some merit to the connection one makes to the tool, and to the craft?
What are your thoughts?