ON TRIAL PENTAX K-3 III
Sometimes it's been a bit hard to fathom what Ricoh has been doing with Pentax, but as time goes on, it's becoming a little clearer… sort of. Firstly, there's a very good argument for being last man standing in DSLRs and what better brand to do this than Pentax? Then it's pound-to-a-penny that Pentax will be first with a revived and, crucially, affordable 35mm film camera… and wouldn't it be brilliant if that was an SLR? At this stage, it looks like a 35mm SLR will come a little later, but we can still dream, can't we.
And let's not forget that, separately, both Pentax and Ricoh did some pretty interesting things with the mirrorless camera concept. Pentax launched the oh-so-cute Q quite early on in mid-2011 when many thought that mirrorless was going to mostly mean compact cameras with interchangeable lenses (so Nikon did its 1 system). Later came the Pentax K-01 which was a sort of ‘crossover’ mirrorless camera which retained the standard K bayonet mount so it was compatible with a vast array of legacy lenses. Much maligned, the K-01 was a far better camera than it was ever given credit for and there was definitely potential for Pentax to take the concept further, but the criticisms – mostly related to the design and ergonomics – probably gave it cold feet. Ricoh, meanwhile, was on another unconventional course with its GXR system which was launched in late 2009 and mated a compact camera body with a selection of modules which comprised a lens, sensor and processor. This enabled different sensor sizes up to ‘APS-C’ and with different resolutions that were matched to the lenses. The smaller imagers obviously delivered increased telephoto capabilities while the larger chips were combined with fast primes. Again, it was as concept with considerable development potential – towards the end Ricoh introduced a module with the Leica M mount – but the GXR system just quietly disappeared around 2015. By this time, adventurism had gone out of mirrorless camera design and the basic formula had essentially become a DSLR without a reflex mirror.
Pentax – part of Ricoh's operations since late 2011 – concentrated on DSLRs and Ricoh on high-end fixed-lens digital compacts, carrying on the GR model name. Pentax's DSLRs were certainly competitive when Canon and Nikon ruled the roost and, now that both are winding down production, may soon be the only options if you like a digital reflex camera. Pentax devotees are a loyal bunch and they've stuck doggedly with the brand when it was doing very little to keep them interested. There have been a few much-ado-about-very-little model upgrades – the KF from late 2022 being a case in point – but subtly Ricoh has been refining the Pentax DSLR line-up as the ILC world becomes almost entirely mirrorless. Inevitably, there are limited editions – and Pentax's love of different coloured bodies continues – but both the current ‘APS-C’ and full frame flagships represent the state of the DSLR art and there's plenty to make them viable alternatives to the comparable mirrorless models.
The cropped sensor K3 III is a very different camera to the two previous iterations – with the Mark II upgrade again being relatively minor – and it's back in the limelight following the recent introduction of a monochrome version. The K3 III Monochrome gives us a bit of a clue about Ricoh's thinking about DSLRs which is that it's now going to be more about
