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Earning top marks with a 4.8 out of 5 stars in our review, the Pentax K3 was (and is) an exciting camera that could easily be called one of the most versatile and rugged APS-C DSLR cameras on the market. Ricoh has just taken things a step further with their announcement today of the 24.35 megapixel Pentax K-3 II, a camera that improves upon the K-3, incorporating new technology while lowering the initial list price.
Outwardly, the Pentax K-3 and Pentax K-3 II look virtually identical — Like the K-3 the K-3 II is also constructed with a magnesium alloy casing with a stainless stell chassis. 92 sealing parts render the camera dustproof, cold-resistant, and weather-resistant — the expected rugged qualifications that have helped to earn Ricoh/Pentax a great reputation for building tough cameras. The camera’s internal workings are built tough as well, with a shutter that’s rated for 200,000 releases.
One of the more evident changes is the omission of the pop-up flash — in its place is a GPS receiver, a feature that many outdoor and travel photographers were hoping for. The in-body shake reduction is improved in the new Pentax K-3 II, with the newer system promising a very impressive 4.5 stops of shake reduction compensation.
For astrophotographers, the Pentax K-3 II features Astrotracer, which uses the camera’s GPS and orientation data along with sensors to synchronize the sensor with the star’s motion, to photograph stars without any trailing caused by the rotation of the earth. Perhaps the most exciting addition to the Pentax K-3 II is the Pixel Shift Resolution, a technology that makes use of the camera’s shake reduction to adjust the sensor’s position by tiny increments, taking 4 individual images that are combined into a single image with improved color and quality.