I got a Pentax K-3!

[RScottie125 39]

I found a new old stock Pentax K-3 on EBay for a good price.

It came with a battery, the Pentax D-BG5 Battery Grip, a Pentax DA 50mm F/1.8 lens, and a Hoya UV[0] filter, and hood.

The Battery Grip only came with the AA Battery drawer.

It also lacked a battery charger for the D-Li90 battery.

I am looking at chargers and extra batteries on Amazon.

Debating if the aftermarket batteries are worth the risk or if I should bite the bullet and get the original Pentax Charger and Battery.

The firmware version is 1.11, so it will need to be brought up to date. I was leery of doing the update with the 80% charged battery even though I have the Battery Grip installed with 6 Alkaline AA Batteries installed as I was not sure if the Battery Grip is recognized during the firmware upgrade process.

I cannot wait to get to shooting with this!

I want to take some portraits and am willing to give the 50mm that came with it a shot. Been looking at a 70mm Limited too.

Anyone here use the Pentax HD DA 70mm Limited for Portraits?

 

[Dale H. Cook121 15]

I am looking at chargers and extra batteries on Amazon.

Debating if the aftermarket batteries are worth the risk or if I should bite the bullet and get the original Pentax Charger and Battery.

The firmware version is 1.11, so it will need to be brought up to date. I was leery of doing the update with the 80% charged battery even though I have the Battery Grip installed with 6 Alkaline AA Batteries installed as I was not sure if the Battery Grip is recognized during the firmware upgrade process.

Since nobody has responded to you I thought that I would. I would advise buying the Pentax battery and charger. Buy them from a reputable dealer as, especially for the battery, there are many counterfieits. For important or expensive items for my K-70 I deal with only reIiable dealers including B&H, Adorama, and KEH. I don't think it likely that any of the aftermarket batteries have all of the features which the Pentax batteries have, and they certainly do not have the quality. I have read of counterfeit and aftermarket Pentax batteries swelling, making them difficult to remove. I have not had the problem, because my batteries abd charger are Pentax. I have, however, seen that swelling in batteries for other types of electronics.

Uprgrading the firmware does not take long, and 80% charge should be more than enough.

 

[RScottie125 39]

Since nobody has responded to you I thought that I would. I would advise buying the Pentax battery and charger. Buy them from a reputable dealer as, especially for the battery, there are many counterfieits. For important or expensive items for my K-70 I deal with only reIiable dealers including B&H, Adorama, and KEH. I don't think it likely that any of the aftermarket batteries have all of the features which the Pentax batteries have, and they certainly do not have the quality. I have read of counterfeit and aftermarket Pentax batteries swelling, making them difficult to remove. I have not had the problem, because my batteries abd charger are Pentax. I have, however, seen that swelling in batteries for other types of electronics.

Uprgrading the firmware does not take long, and 80% charge should be more than enough.

I purchased a 2 pack of Wasabi batteries with charger. They seemed to have good reviews. Have you dealt with them?

The camera came with another off-brand, battery.

I ordered EBL rechargeable batteries for the battery grip. I only have the AA Tray for it.

I will get a couple of the actual Pentax Batteries for in the camera just to be safe.

 

[Dale H. Cook121 15]

I purchased a 2 pack of Wasabi batteries with charger. They seemed to have good reviews. Have you dealt with them?

I do not buy anything but original Pentax batteries for my camera, and I do not charge them with anything but the original Pentax charger. As someone who has been a professional in electronics for more than 50 years (primarily as a chief engineer for AM, FM, and TV stations) I know the damage that aftermarket batteries can do to electronic equipment, and the damage that aftermarket chargers can do to rechargaeable batteries.

 

[Tartness909410 3]

Great find, well done

 

[RScottie125 39]

I finally got a chance to really get to know this camera last week in Florida.

I still have to figure out a few settings that perhaps need changing, but they are for the JPeg output shots.

I have all the Raws and will also embark on learning how to edit shots soon.

Issues I need to learn to deal with are how to set the camera to expose for the extreme contrast areas such as a bald headed guys dome shining and being overexposed while the rest of the shot is not. Also, white egrets can be a challenge.

I also realized that I the lens I chose, a Sigma 70-300 zoom lens, was great for most of the shots but wish I had something more along the lines of a 17-70 or the 16-85.

I have not decided how I wish to deal with needing such a focal range, whether to get another lens for the Pentax or instead get one for my Canon T7 and just carry two camera's instead of having to change lenses during my walks.

If you are interested, I have posted a couple of my shots on other threads, linked below. Shots are all straight out of camera, no edits.

And the next shot is...

Pain Next Shot: old tech.

www.thephotoforum.com

Alligator Smiles

Alligator smiling at his girl ;)...

www.thephotoforum.com

Great Egret

Great Egret

www.thephotoforum.com

Snowy Egret

Snowy Egret

www.thephotoforum.com

 

[Dale H. Cook121 15]

Issues I need to learn to deal with are how to set the camera to expose for the extreme contrast areas such as a bald headed guys dome shining and being overexposed while the rest of the shot is not. Also, white egrets can be a challenge.

Have you tried using spot metering?

 

[petrochemist127 152]

Most of the batteries I've used in my K7 & K5ii over the last 12+ years have been third party ones (as have the chargers) I've never had a problems with them, if they don't hold as much charge as the original batteries it's not been by so much as I've found it noticable, If I were to now have a issue I'm pretty sure I could replace either of my bodies for the amount I've saved

When it comes to lenses the DA 55-300 has remained a favorite for moderately long focal lengths. If I'm expecting to want longer lenses I'll add either a mirror lens or my Sigma 150-500, but I don't carry those routinely.
For the wider end I usually carry the DA 18-55 kit, a Tamron 10-20 & the DA 10-17 fisheye all of which normally live in my DSLR bag.
I have multiple 50's - FA 50/1.7, A50/1.7, several M50/1.7 & a M50/1.4 (and loads of M42 lenses too) The FA is the only one of these with AF so is now the one I default to sometimes replacing it with the f/1.4. when I'm expecting low light.

I've never used the K3, I'm not convinced the extra resolution would be a big gain, & I've switched mainly over to mirrorless cameras now. The faster AF of the K3 over the K5ii would be a benefit & if I were to play with one it might change my mind.

 

[RScottie125 39]

Have you tried using spot metering?

Not yet. I kept it on "Evaluative".

 

[RScottie125 39]

Most of the batteries I've used in my K7 & K5ii over the last 12+ years have been third party ones (as have the chargers) I've never had a problems with them, if they don't hold as much charge as the original batteries it's not been by so much as I've found it noticable, If I were to now have a issue I'm pretty sure I could replace either of my bodies for the amount I've saved

When it comes to lenses the DA 55-300 has remained a favorite for moderately long focal lengths. If I'm expecting to want longer lenses I'll add either a mirror lens or my Sigma 150-500, but I don't carry those routinely.
For the wider end I usually carry the DA 18-55 kit, a Tamron 10-20 & the DA 10-17 fisheye all of which normally live in my DSLR bag.
I have multiple 50's - FA 50/1.7, A50/1.7, several M50/1.7 & a M50/1.4 (and loads of M42 lenses too) The FA is the only one of these with AF so is now the one I default to sometimes replacing it with the f/1.4. when I'm expecting low light.

I've never used the K3, I'm not convinced the extra resolution would be a big gain, & I've switched mainly over to mirrorless cameras now. The faster AF of the K3 over the K5ii would be a benefit & if I were to play with one it might change my mind.

I was looking at all the used Pentax's that I could find. I then got the K-3 barely used and for a decent price. It was more than I had intended to spend but only the accountant (my wife), made mention of the "cost over-run."

I had good luck with the Wasabi Power batteries, I have two of them. They seem to last quite awhile.

I will keep an eye on them for issues such as others have mentioned, but am not really worried that much. The Wasabi brand has great reviews everywhere I've checked.

I have a Sigma 70-300, a Pentax F1.8 50mm, and a F2.8 135mm Manual Focus Prime. I am looking at a Sigma 17-70 F2.8-4 zoom but may just use my Canon for the wide end.

 

[pez]

I purchased a 2 pack of Wasabi batteries with charger. They seemed to have good reviews. Have you dealt with them?

The camera came with another off-brand, battery.

I ordered EBL rechargeable batteries for the battery grip. I only have the AA Tray for it.

I will get a couple of the actual Pentax Batteries for in the camera just to be safe.

Those are good batteries. I have a bunch of them.