What upgrades would make you preorder a K-1 III?
Best of Pentax Forums Newsletter November 19, 2025
Editor’s Note: No newsletter next week because of the Thanksgiving holiday in the US.
What upgrades would make you preorder a K-1 III?
At some point in every conversation about the new gear coming from Ricoh Imaging over the last two years — the K-3 III Monochrome, the Pentax 17, the Ricoh GR IV, the Ricoh GR IV Monochrome — a Pentaxian will say “But where’s the K-1 III?”
So what would make you hit that preorder button immediately? Moar megapixels? The autofocus from the K-3 III? AI powered bird, plane and train recognition? Vote in this week’s poll, and share your thoughts in the comments!
Elsewhere in this week’s newsletter, Loyal Site Supporter BertieK shares images accepted by the Ricoh/Pentax Photo Gallery; Site Supporter marcusBMG is unimpressed by the SMC Pentax 30mm F2.8; and Pentaxian Ducatigaz goes tunneling with the Sigma DC HSM 8-16mm F4.5-5.6.
If you’ve been forwarded this newsletter, please take a moment to join the more than 1,500 Pentaxians who have subscribed to our free curated compendium of the hundreds of great images and post shared each week in our Pentax community. Please let us know your thoughts here in the comments and on our Pentax Forums, and have a perfect Pentaxian week!
Threads of the Week:
Pictures Accepted in Ricoh/Pentax Photo Gallery
November 16, 2025 • General Photography • 16 replies • 499 views
BertieK said — I had 2 of my pictures accepted in the Ricoh/Pentax Photo Gallery & it’s really an honor. These cameras are unique & amazing & I am very grateful to all of my friends here for all the helpful info, nice conversation, & sharing of pictures. Read more »
Best Film Stocks for Half-Frame Travel.
November 13, 2025 • Pentax 17 • 5 replies • 236 views
mkt3000 said — I’ll be spending Christmas in Puerto Rico - and after initially considering buying a small SLR like an ME or an MX, I decided to keep things simple, use what I have, and will be taking my Pentax 17 with me on the trip. I’m trying to decide which films to pack. My first instinct is to stick with 100–200 ISO for the bright daytime shooting, but that obviously limits me once I’m indoors or the light drops. The alternative is to just bring a few rolls of Cinestill 400D or Portra 400 and use that for everything, relying on exposure compensation for evening shots. Read more »
November 12, 2025 • Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras • 16 replies • 422 views
Baard-Einar said — Dear forum I came across an odd item. A third party manufacturer is selling FF-1 finders from China. Even with the AOC logo and prism look, black and even chrome. Image is screenshot from eBay. Is it cool? Read more »
Pentaxian User Reviews
Pentax Lenses
SMC Pentax 30mm F2.8
Reviewed by Site Supporter marcusBMG
Review Date: November 18, 2025 Recommended | Price: $80.00 | Rating: 8
Pros: Classy and distinctive member of the K/M family
Cons:Actually an unexceptional performer for me.
Sharpness: 8 Aberrations: 8 Bokeh: 7 Handling: 9 Value: 7 Camera Used: K3-ii, K30
I finally saw an opportunity to acquire the vaunted 30mm f2.8 and took it. WOuld this lens match the hype? In a nutshell - not really.
Don’t get me wrong its a nice lens, a classic and classy member of the K/M line up. But the test images tell the story, at least of my example. I should mention the reason it was relatively cheap is because it does have some fungus in the rear group (not bad just a smudge), and it’s clear there have been attempts to open the lens to clean. I haven’t got round yet to making my own cleaning efforts. So: head to head against the K-28mm f3.5, there is only one winner. The latter is sharper and contrastier at all f stops and across the frame. The K - 30 is a decent to good performer but in truth little better than the good 28’s I have looked at.
Third-Party Pentax Lenses
Sigma DC HSM 8-16mm F4.5-5.6
Reviewed by Pentaxian Ducatigaz
Review Date: November 17, 2025 Recommended | Price: $250.00 | Rating: 10
Pros: Easy to handhold even at extremely slow shutter speeds, very sharp
Cons: Front cap arrangement not very good. New Or Used: Used
I bought this lens secondhand to use underground in tunnels, mines and quarries.
I’ve been using the SMC Pentax-DA 10-17mm F3.5-4.5 Fish-Eye ED [IF] up until now [Which I still have] Overall I’m very happy with the results it produces.
Jupiter 11 135mm F4
Reviewed by New Member VintageLensKid
Review Date: November 17, 2025 Recommended | Price: $29.00 | Rating: 9
Pros: Cheap, sharp from F/4.0, Circular aperture
Cons: It’s 50-60 years old Needs relubing, focusing helicoid in mine is stiff probably needs readjusting, aperture preset mechanism is clunky and likes to adjust on itself.
Sharpness: 9 Aberrations: 8 Bokeh: 9 Handling: 7 Value: 9 Camera Used: Canon 5D Mark II
It’s good but considering you can get Jupiter 37A M42 at a similar price i would highly recommend getting the jupiter 37 over the 11, it’s just newer design and focusing is smoother and probably better coatings.
At a price of $30 recommend to play with.
Comment of the Week:
Pentaxian Dartmoor Dave on Would you buy subscription camera features? The Best of Pentax Forums Nov 12 Poll: No. Nope. Naah. Nein. No. No. No no no no no no no no no no no. . .
In case I haven’t made myself clear:
NO!
Edit: Although, come to think of it, every time I buy a roll of film aren’t I just doing a sort of subscription-based photography? Hmm. . .
What upgrades would make you preorder a K-1 III?
The Best of Pentax Forums November 19 Poll
At some point in every conversation about the new gear coming from Ricoh Imaging over the last two years — the K-3 III Monochrome, the Pentax 17, the Ricoh GR IV, the Ricoh GR IV Monochrome — a Pentaxian will say “But where’s the K-1 III?”
So what would make you hit that preorder button immediately? Moar megapixels? The autofocus from the K-3 III? Better autofocus than the K-3 III? AI powered bird, plane and train recognition? A K-1 Monochrome? Vote in this week’s poll, and share your thoughts in the comments!
This poll closes November 25
And here are the results of last week’s poll:
Weekly Photo Challenges
Project 52-13-47: Motion Blur, 11/16 - 11/23 (Sunday)
This week, we’re letting the world smear, streak, and swoosh its way across the frame. Motion Blur turns movement into art—lights become ribbons, people become ghosts, and ordinary scenes suddenly feel alive. Slow that shutter, chase the motion, embrace a little chaos… and most of all, have fun!
And here’s Loyal Site Supporter BertieK’s entry: The Usual-K-3iii Mono DFA 21/2.4 Trichrome Hoya 25A Tiffen 58 Tiffen 47
A Walk Down Memory Lane
Pentax HD Limiteds: First Impressions Review
The new HD Pentax-DA 15mm, 21mm, 35mm, 40mm, and 70mm
By PF Staff in Hands-On Tests on Nov 27, 2013
All five of the recently-launched Pentax-DA HD Limited Primes have been in our hands for a number of weeks now, and in addition to using them in the field with the Pentax K-3, we’ve completed our preliminary tests of these new lenses side-by-side with their SMC Limited predecessors.
PentaxForum Front page stories Nov 12-18:
The Pentax 17 is creating new generations of Pentaxians
Hundreds of Millennials and Gen Z’rs jammed the Dallas Film Meetup
By cjfeola in Photography on Nov 13, 2025
Two things were obvious when hundreds of film aficionados jammed the Odd Muse Brewary for the Dallas Film Photography Meetup:
There were hundreds of Millennial and Gen Z film fanatics there, and roughly a dozen folk with graying hair: 11 vendors, and one entirely gray Pentax Forums staff writer
The Pentax 17 was the belle of the ball
Everyone had a film camera. There was a wild variety of gear: classic SLRs, massive medium format rigs, Twin Lens Reflex cameras with their waist-level viewfinders.
And dozens and dozens of Pentax 17s.
October “Panorama” Contest Finalists Announced
Vote for the overall winner!
By PF Staff in Photo Contests on Nov 15, 2025
After the end of the nomination phase of last month’s official Panorama photo contest, we’re now ready to announce our top 15 finalists! Click on the link below to view the photos in full size and cast your vote in the poll: Vote for your favorite photo in the poll