Pentax fans finally have something to smile about. Ricoh, the parent company that owns the Pentax brand, just announced it is launching the long-awaited Pentax K-3 Mark III, which the company is calling its “new flagship model in its APS-C format digital SLR camera series.”
The Pentax K-3 III features a 25-megapixel BSI CMOS APS-C (crop) sensor without an anti-aliasing filter, which is designed to capture images with optimized resolution. It also has a PRIME V image processor and a “new-generation accelerator unit” designed to capture images with minimal noise at high ISOs. Considering that the Pentax K-3 III will be capable of shooting images at up to ISO 1,600,000, it’s going to need all the help it can get.
Like the previous models in the Pentax K-3 line, the Mark III has a compact, rugged camera body that is dustproof and weather resistant, and dual SD card slots. Unlike previous iterations, the K-3 III will be the first in the Pentax K series line to offer a rear touchscreen. Ricoh says the Pentax K-3 III will go on sale in April 2021 for just under $2000.
Here’s a rundown of the key specifications of the Pentax K-3 III:
- 25-megapixel BSI CMOS (APS-C) sensor with high data readout
- Pentax SR (Shake Reduction System): 5.5 Stops of camera shake correction on 5 Axis [ Dedicated SR Button: Auto, Panning, Off ]
- ISO range: 100 to 1,600,000
- SAFOX 13: 101 Auto Focus Points with 25 Cross Type and improved AF-C subject tracking
- Flash X Sync Speed 1/200 sec
- Viewfinder Magnification 1.05x with improved Diopter Adjustment (-4.0m to +1.0m)
- Accelerator Unit II with increased Signal-to-Noise Ratio
- 3.2-inch touchscreen LCD with af, af + select, af + select + shoot
- 12 frames per second continuous shooting
- Dual SD card Slots with (Slot 1 with UHS-2 Compatibility)
- 800-Shot Battery Life (According to CIPA Standards)
- Built-in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
As background, Ricoh has been teasing the launch of this new Pentax DSLR for a number of years. I first wrote about a Ricoh announcement that it would be displaying a new Pentax flagship APS-C DSLR at a special event in Tokyo, Japan in 2019. Since then, news of the impending release of the elusive Pentax DSLR has popped up on photography websites only to be scuttled later. Now, however, the Pentax K-3 III finally seems to be coming.
According to Ricoh, the Pentax K-3 Mark III will go on sale on Ricoh’s website in late April 2021 for $1999.95. Ricoh is also producing two limited-edition camera kits: the Pentax K-3 Mark III Black Premium Kit and Pentax K-3 Mark III Silver Premium Kit. These include a camera body and battery grip (the Silver Premium Kit comes with a silver camera body and a silver battery grip that is exclusive to this package), plus an exclusive leather strap and a spare battery. The specifications of the limited-edition models are identical to those of the Pentax K-3 Mark III. The Pentax K-3 Mark III Premium Kits will be available in late April for $2,299.95.
“The development of the PENTAX K-3 Mark III has been a longtime labor of love,” Kaz Eguchi, president, Ricoh Imaging Americas Corporation, said in a press announcement today.
Indeed.
