Pentax K-3 Monochrome

I have owned numerous cameras over the years, but my current primary camera is the Olympus OMD5II, which I purchased from B&H in November 2019. Although there is a newer version of the camera available, the image quality improvement seems rather limited. In fact, the trend of increasing pixel counts in image sensors has stopped as they have hit the limit of possible sensor size. Nowadays, most full-frame sensors have 24-50 megapixels, APS-C format cameras have 20-40 megapixels, and Micro Four Thirds cameras have around 20 megapixels. While some state-of-the-art full-size sensors have 60MP or 45MP counts, many so-called professional cameras still use 20MP sensors because they have much better low-light sensitivity.

As you can see from the list of digital camera sensors I have owned, in practice, the pixel count of consumer cameras hit its ceiling around 2013. While some high-end cameras may have higher pixel counts, there is usually no compelling reason to switch or upgrade as the pictures you can take with new cameras won’t be so different from the ones you can take with older ones. However, the new Pentax K-3 digital SLR in Monochrome edition caught my attention. While I will likely sleep on it before making a purchase, this is something new and quite exciting. I have always loved Pentax cameras, and there is something special about a monochrome-only camera that provides more pixel counts than Bayer sensor cameras. By giving up some elements such as color, you have a chance to hone in on other elements of photography, such as composition, exposure, and interaction with objects and models.