Leak on the "New" FA 50mm F1.4 Lenses

 

Ned Bunnell's Take on the K-3 III Mono

See his latest posted samples at Flickr:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ned_bunnell/sets/72177720307495920/

via his DPR post here.

Whilst the photos are nice, they do lack a bit contrast and sharpness. I would expect (much) better IQ for a dedicated B&W machine, honestly speaking. 

Btw, it seems that Ned does not update his blog anymore.

More K-3 III Monochrome Samples at the "Pentax Official" Site

https://pentaxofficial.com/18527/

https://pentaxofficial.com/18482/

https://pentaxofficial.com/18512/

All in Japanese, but the pictures speak for themselves. Various Pentax original lenses were used for the tests.

K-3 III Monochrome First Review (with Sample Photos and Video)

https://www.yaotomi.co.jp/blog/walk/2023/04/pentaxk3iii,monochrome-kyoto,sakura.html

(in Japanese)

My impression is that while the B&W photos do have more contrasts and better tonal representation than normal digital cameras' ones, they are yet not as solid as those images produced with better B&W films, even after they are digitalised via professional-grade film scanners.

Besides, there is a side-by-side comparison against the original K-3 III, look this:

(Credit: Yaotomi Camera at Twitter)

The difference is obvious. However, it is just that the B&W IQ of the K-3 III photo is just too low, IMHO.

Lastly, DC Watch reports that the Ricoh has stopped to receive pre-orders of the K-3 III Mono as the tailor-made sensors have already been out-of-stock owing to the overwhelming demand. Besides, Ricoh also said that their production capacity on the Mono units was indeed rather limited.

“Pentax Information” on April 13

https://www.youtube.com/live/ovA100SWIRQ

What will be announced?

DPR is Doomed

I received this message from the Dpreview Admin yesterday and thought that was a hoax at the first glance but it is actually true:

https://www.dpreview.com/news/5901145460/dpreview-com-to-close

So, the DPR is really doomed, even earlier than Pentax. :-o

More "Harubeni" Samples

https://pentaxofficial.com/18197/

(in Japanese)

"Harubeni" Samples

See:  https://twitter.com/ricohimaging_jp/status/1633634970702061568?s=20

for the newly released firmwares of K-1/II, K-3 III and KF.

Btw, "Harubeni" means the red colours of Spring.

KF Full Review at DC Watch

https://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/review/newproduct/1482066.html

In Japanese, Google translated page here.

K-r Hidden Function of Photo Challenger

According to a latest Japanese IT news report, it is revealed that the Pentax K-r actually had a hidden function of "Photo Challenger" mode which could be activated via an advanced (at its time ;-)) IR data communication mode with another compatible camera,.

(Credit: Japanese Cameota blog)

After linking up with the other camera, two photos can be selected for comparison and the computer will give marks to the photos in three aspects. The loser will have his photo displayed in a cracked glass window at the end.

A demo YouTube video could be found below: