27+ Must change settings for the Pentax K3

[@ElwoodPDowd-nz2si]

I used the K20d until 2018. Then i picked up a barely used (987 shutter count) K3 for $300. I have never messed with any functions other than what i needed to shoot with manual lenses. That being said, i appreciate this video for two reasons: 1. It was clear, concise and useful. 2. You still treat the K3 like a valuable tool despite its age. It is nice to see a real photographer using what a hobbiest like myself can afford. I wish you the best!

[@GODSPEEDseven]

Totally agree! This is what I like most about this channel. The K-3 is still a camera that has so many functions and tools, and the image quality is nowhere near being outdated. Quite the opposite.. I like posting and looking through Flickr, and to be VERY honest, I never feel like the K-3 is lagging behind, even compared to the most recent releases. If there are differences, they are so subtle, and you would really have to pixel peep at 100% to tell the difference. In print, a 20 year old camera is still perfectly relevant!

[@xmeda]

K3 is still powerhouse. Just the AF is not on par with modern cameras released in recent years. But that depends on your photography. If you know what you are doing and most of your shots are in AF-S, then it works well. In fact it is pretty hard to justify spending money for K3III if you have K3, because there are improvements, but not €1850 worth of improvements.

[@GODSPEEDseven]

@@xmeda Exactly! Sure, I know Pentax isn't great at AF, but it's always been the case anyways. I've always managed to work with that flaw. Did I miss some shots I may have gotten with a faster AF system? Most likely, but in the grand scheme of things, when going through 10 000+ photos.. ehh... I've got so many to print as is. The last year or so, been experimenting with AF-C and 27 zone Sel autofocus and been getting many great bird-in-flight shots as well. So it isn't like it can't do it.. it's just not as geared towards that than other cameras.

[@LeeIveson]

Thanks mate that's very much appreciated. And what a great deal you got on a basically new K3!

[@scrptwic]

@@xmeda That's why I waited and bought a used K3-3 for $1275.00 I could not justify the higher price for better autofocus as that's the main advantage the K3-3 has over the K-11 as far as landscapes and general photography I can't tell the difference in pictures. As far as the brighter viewfinder I never found the K3-11 lacking. I shot 4,000 pictures in Europe on a trip last year either camera would have worked fine I didn't need great autofocus for the trip just a reliable camera and the build quality on the K3-11 and K3-3 both are quality

[@Needacreate]

Ultimately, every photographer needs to find the settings that work for their specific needs and preferences, but it's always great to see what other capable users are doing with the same camera. Thanks indeed for sharing yours, Lee. You wouldn't have needed to give away your own personal "recipes", but you did anyway, and this is appreciated. That said, I have a hunch that especially beginners tend to overestimate the value of knowing the settings for particular shots that someone else has taken. Quite often, they will find themselves in situations that will require markedly different settings from the ones they have picked up from other people.

[@LeeIveson]

Yes it's always interesting to see how other photographers operate. I agree 100% that these settings won't work for everyone or in certain scenarios, conditions. That's the thing with photography, there's so many different variables that it's almost pointless giving the exact shutter speeds or apatures even the camera itself to a point.

[@richardrizzo_photography]

Time to get my K3 off the shelf and try these settings.. thank you Lee.

[@LeeIveson]

Yes! Give them a try Rich, for the most part my settings are geared towards shooting moving subjects but work for other subjects too. Let me know how you get on! Cheers

[@l.nauwelaerts195]

Always useful to see someone else’s use of their camera settings. Very insightful, Lee.

[@LeeIveson]

Exactly, I've learnt a lot by seeing how other photographers operate. Cheers

[@kentheis105]

This is exactly what I was looking for! Thank you for putting this together. It will give me a good starting point from someone who has put some good photos out there, that would be you. Now I need to tighten the screw behind the camera (Me) and get better at taking/composing better photos. Thanks Lee!

[@LeeIveson]

No problem Ken! I probably should have made this video a while back, but it's here now haha. Cheers

[@GODSPEEDseven]

Look, I mean NO disrespect to other Pentaxians (or ANY other brand user).. but I find the market for Cameras is very much like the smartphone market. Everyone seems to HAVE to have the latest and "greatest" and make out the previous model to be "old" and WAY surpassed.. when honestly, I can still take photos with a K-7 and have them in 13" x 19" and not see or feel any difference with a more modern camera. Sure, I get it, the K-3iii has a better autofocus system, better noise control, etc.. but seriously, I've never looked at my photos from the K-7, K-70 and K-3 and ever felt like the image quality was lacking. EVER! Anyways, enough with that rant. Glad you made a video with a camera that is EXTREMELY relevant to this day! Btw, on a grey day (because you get many of those.. 😂 sorry, couldn't help myself).. try the neutral colour profile; and set the white balance to "Cool Daylight Fluorescent". Been experimenting with that and it gives images a very nice subtle magenta hue. Especially on overcast cloudy days...

[@xmeda]

There was rapid evolution in 2002-2010ish era but since then we saw much less dramatic improvements. Mainly AF with subject recognition and tracking, increasing resolution of hi-end cameras, some HI-ISO image improvements and of course video improvements. Only recently introduced stacked sensors are opening new era. But if you are mostly shooting stills with AF-S in ISO100-1600 range in RAW and you are sending or posting images resized to 3000x2000 or even smaller, then even K5 does the job well. K7 like K20D is lacking a bit in HI-ISO dynamic range, K5 was significant step forward in that field. But again, if I grab my K20D and just go out on sunny day, it does well in that 100-800(1600) range and I like to use that camera when I take some M42 lenses or old K mount lenses, because that 14.6Mpix sensor is not as demanding for fine detail like K3 is with AA-less 24Mpix hi-res CMOS and with that 2008 era pixelated live-view it is surprisingly easy to see where the frame is focused.

[@GODSPEEDseven]

@@xmeda Same here, my K-7 sees regular use. I know to stay away from long exposures at night due to pixels overheating on the sensor, but as you say, knowing the limitations and working with that is part of the fun in my opinion. Anyways, I always go with the thought that the glass counts way more than the body.

[@MichaelRusso]

I have shots that look great and print fine on my old *isDS 6.1 mega pixel, so yes, any camera can be pressed into service, even a point N shoot. It all depends on where you jump on and where you want to jump off. I agree with why people feel a need to upgrade to the latest and greatest, or as I like to call it, the shiny object syndrome. Lol.. Most of the time it is for status but hey, it is nice to get someones hand-me-down with little mileage on it.

[@LeeIveson]

Yep these older generation cameras still produce quality images. Granted we have all the bells & whistles that go with the new mirrorless cameras, which is great & something I look forward to trying myself further down the line, but for now I'm still more than happy to grab any of my "old" DSLR's to shoot with. Ah I will have to try your recommended "grey day" setting, I'll not be short of days to play with it that's for sure! 😂

[@scrptwic]

Lee Interesting video on how you have your cameras set up the level of customization on Pentax cameras gives us so many options I now have my K3-11 set for general photography and my K3-3 setup for wildlife of course I can use the cameras for either by changing the settings.

[@LeeIveson]

That's why I really like the user modes, it gives us the option to have drastically different setups for different situations at the flick of a switch. One way I've often thought they could improve this is by have a dedicated button to switch between say 10 or more user modes, instead of the user modes being on the main dial taking up space.

[@stuartcarden1371]

This should be interesting - It will be good to see what you use

[@jibmyster1]

Great video, thinking about buying this camera. Would love to see what you can do with those colour profiles

[@LeeIveson]

Cheers Jack, it's a great camera, there's some very clean examples with low shutter counts pop up on the used market from time to time. Yes I'm working on some profiles atm, video pending 😀

[@DC-sy9uz]

Just as an add 👍 . The Landscape settings in my previous comment or try on Bright custom image on -2 Saturation , +2 Hue , 0 high/low , -1 contrast and -3 Extra fine sharpness .You end up with a near exact image but just a tiny touch more red . Cheers

[@LeeIveson]

Hey D C, I'll definitely give those settings a try. Cheers

[@MichaelRusso]

The user settings are a great idea. The User settings on the K5 are a little awkward but the k3 and newer models are a breeze. The only thing I would suggest to anyone, if you don't use the on board flash, put a small piece of gaffer tape on it, so it won't pop open by mistake. I am always afraid I am going to break off the pop up flash at some point.

[@xmeda]

Having K20D, K5 and K3 I barely can see any difference between menu structure. Especially K5 and K3 are almost same. Flash cannot pop by mistake, it does not have that disgusting functionality of electronic auto po-up flash like some other entry level cameras have.

[@MichaelRusso]

@@xmeda My *stDS, you had to turn on the camera before it would let you pop up the flash. The K5IIs and k3, KP you can push the button at anytime, even by mistake and it will pop up.

[@GODSPEEDseven]

For menu structure, the only think the K-70 has over the K-3, apart from Pixel Shift, is the fact the menu can be customized completely. So you can get only the options you want when pressing info.

[@LeeIveson]

That's something that I found when making this video, I thought that it was the same as the K-70 but I couldn't hide the options I didn't use in the "info" menu/quick menu on the K3.

[@yungsookevinhong7943]

In K3 iii, If they can combine the Green button and joystick together will be good, and the green button is the play back button it will operate like the K1 but improve now is kind of wired, and the new video select dial should be with the variation dial on k1, not what it is now. It should be a easy fix on framewirez , because now the e dial be very limited by that option provided.

[@LeeIveson]

I've not had any hands on experience with either the K1 or K3iii yet so I couldn't comment on this.

[@DC-sy9uz]

Great work with your videos 👌 . Lee how do Yamaha Blues look with your Natural custom image ?? Off 😉 .. Shoot Jpgs everyone when set right they will look better than your RAW's !! .. As a tip try set to Landscape custom image on -3 saturation , +1 hue , 0 high/low , -1 contrast and the little know Pentax secret use only -3 Extra fine Sharpness !!Yes !! .. Give it a try 👌 . Regards Damian Motorsport Photographer from Australia

[@LeeIveson]

I hadn't actually tried any of the custom image settings out at the track yet so I couldn't tell you. But I'll be sure to give those settings you've listed a try. Cheers mate

[@DC-sy9uz]

@@LeeIveson no worries at all, hope they work well for you ... Another few tips while im here 😁 . Not sure if your on AF-C and on High Continous shooting with your K3 . But if you are , in custom settings C1 no.1 put EV steps to 1/2 and on no.2 put Sensitivity steps on As EV steps .. You will find that Pentax cameras shooting a sequence will have a more reliable consitent exposure when on 1/2 and not 1/3 EV .. Also Custom settings C2 _ 10 WB Ajustable range needs to be on Auto Adjustment . On K3 default is on fixed but K5iis is default Auto .. On fixed setting both camera models will completely blow the exposure in one or more frames in a sequence ... Cheers . Hope these tips help someone trackside 👍

[@LeeIveson]

@@DC-sy9uz That's great, I'll give those a whirl. Although I must admit I don't shoot in burst mode very often, even though I do have the K3 set up that way AF.C & High continuous frame rate. Thanks again mate, cheers!

[@krustysurfer]

Awesomeness

[@xmeda]

Auto ISO100-6400, ISO NR OFF, NR OFF, lens correction OFF, SR ON, AWB means nothing in RAW, Similar to color profile. 8bit JPGs are only for preview, 14bit RAW contains much more image details. CM 22-2, 24-2, 27 definitely 2 on every Pentax DSLR otherwise you are not able to use M42 lenses, various converters etc.

[@GODSPEEDseven]

Auto ISO does have an effect in RAW though, as ISO can't be changed once your picture is taken.

[@LeeIveson]

That's why I like to shoot in AWB & adjust the colour profiles as both can be changed in RAW but they are baked into the JPEG files that are being written to the second SD card. It's nice to compare a finished edit from the RAW file to the JPEG image from the second card. Interesting about the menu settings in order to shoot adapted lenses, I've never actually shot with an M42 lens yet only K-mount Pentax & third party glass.

[@xmeda]

@@LeeIveson Manual lenses sometimes have interesting bokeh or image character. And Pentax has same registration distance like M42, so simple adaptor works well. It is even stabilised and AF can confirm focused area (although I rather use live-view and enlarged pic there for MF). Probably not for shooting motorbikes, but try some portraits for example with cheap 58/2 KMZ Helios or Pentacon 50/1.8 or Pentacon 135/2.8 with 15 aperture blades.. those are all less than €70, but offer specific image output :) Another use is if you use extension rings for macro or some older MF teleconverters without contacts. In fact I have no idea why this option even exist in menu and can be turned off. It gives no advantage, so whatever Pentax camera lands in my hands, I set this to ON :)

[@takuan650]

Anybody shooting jpg's? My K3 is over 9 years old but never shot a jpg. and I wouldn't know why.

[@LeeIveson]

I sometimes shoot JPEG + RAW so that I get the colour profile baked into the JPEG file.