Pentax K3-Hidden Gem

I have always had a soft spot for Pentax. Mainly through using the manual lenses from the film era where Pentax were a really big name in professional photography, the days before Sony, Panasonic Lumix, Fujifilm (as a mainstream camera company). Pentax made cameras professional photographers used, they made superb lenses for all tiers of photography. I got into using Pentax lenses when I shot with Fujifilm mirrorless cameras.

Their cameras in the early days of digital were sometimes quirky, always different to the big two of Canon and Nikon. They gradually lost their top three ranking with the advent of Sony. Ricoh acquired all the shares in Pentax in 2011 before changing the company’s name to Ricoh Imagining in 2013.

Ricoh Pentax started to make really good, feature packed APSC DSLRs and the advent of the K5 marked the step up to a pro grade cropped DSLR. It was rugged, feature packed and enabled the user to create beautiful images with depth and vibrant colours. My model was the successor to the K5 series, upping the megapixels from 16 to 24, increased weather sealing and even more features. It was and possibly still is the nicest camera to hold of all models.

My journey with Pentax is not a constant one, more occasional. I have kept my vintage lenses and a couple of more modern weather sealed autofocus lenses, just in case I decide to use a Pentax body. I got my K3 a while back and sort of forgot about it. My work has been on full frame now for a few years and Pentax didn’t really feature.

We are in the process of moving house and I was sorting through my camera equipment. I came across , dusted off the K3 and started using it last week. It’s a joy to handle, performs flawlessly and is considerably lighter than my Canon gear. It does render images differently than my 5D Mark IV and 6D. It shows its limitations against those full frame classics but you just have to work around them. In reality, it is a prosumer / professional grade bit of kit that delivers the goods at a fraction of the weight and price. If you’re on a long hike and want to take a camera and a couple of lenses, it won’t let you down. Every time I use it, I wonder whether I could just have it on its own and think ‘ probably not’.

I love my Canon gear and don’t really mind the extra weight. They are so reliable , with brilliant autofocus and a certain something that only Canon can do. Pentax also has its own ‘look’ which is enjoyable to edit. Pentax doggedly sticks with DSLRs, believing that making really good, tough spec heavy mirrored digital cameras has a niche in the vast camera market. The company takes years to bring out new models and don’t follow the other makers. They plough their own furrows

In 2025, Pentax is a camera brand that many people that are new to photography, will not be aware of. They don’t always follow the crowd in terms of design, specs and the overwhelming shift to mirrorless but they are serious about photography. Their cameras are built to last, often out perform their peers and rarely shout about the fact that they do. They are made to be used in the harshest environments and are really nice to hold and operate. You can pick up many classic K series digital cameras for a steal on the used camera market. Go on, try one, you will be surprised if not sold on Pentax. Who knows, you might even end up a full blown Pentaxian!