Ricoh has just officially announced the new Pentax K-3 Mark III Monochrome camera. It is a black-and-white only version of the company’s mid-sized enthusiast DSLR, featuring a 25.7MP BSI-CMOS sensor, in-body image stabilization, and an all-new optical viewfinde and a fixed 3.2″ touchscreen with 1.62 million dots.
This new camera costs $2,199.95, first available for Pre-Order at B&H/ Adorama.
Ricoh announces PENTAX K-3 Mark III Monochrome digital SLR camera
DSLR with exclusively-designed image sensor delivers the ultimate in black-and-white photography
PARSIPPANY, NJ, April 12, 2023 — Ricoh Imaging Americas Corporation today announced the PENTAX K-3 Mark III Monochrome camera, exclusively designed to capture black-and-white images. The only monochrome-specific digital SLR camera currently on the market, it captures high-resolution images rich in gradation, enabling users to express a distinct view of the color-rich world in high-quality black-and-white images.
“The concept of a monochrome-specific digital SLR camera attracted a great deal of attention and interest from photographers who participated in an online fan event held in November 2021,” said Ken Curry, president, Ricoh Imaging Americas. “PENTAX has since conducted extensive research on the development of a commercial product based on this concept and we’re excited to announce it today.”
The new model’s design is based on the PENTAX K-3 Mark III — the flagship model of PENTAX’s APS-C-format series that integrates remarkable imaging performance and a host of advanced features in a compact, durable body — while totally redesigning and optimizing the imaging characteristics by adding a new, monochrome-specific image sensor with approximately 25.73 effective megapixels. A typical color image sensor composes a black-and-white image by converting the color data to monochrome. This new custom sensor does not have to convert the any data because it can reflect the brightness obtained by each pixel in the image, thus producing extra-fine sharpness in images that only the monochrome-specific sensor can deliver.
The PENTAX K-3 Mark III Monochrome features three Custom Image modes exclusively designed for black-and-white photography to provide distinctive finishing touches. In addition to Standard mode, it offers Hard mode to produce high-contrast images and Soft mode to create high-key, low- contrast images. Each mode allows minute adjustment of parameters such as tone, key, contrast and sharpness so that users can personalize their images with the desired finishing touch.
The exterior design of the camera has also been customized to reflect its monochrome capabilities. Design features include white backlight illumination on the LCD data panel, “Monochrome” lettering printed on the upper-left shoulder of the back panel, a menu screen featuring a black-and-white visual scheme as default, and icons printed on buttons and switches across the camera’s exterior finished in three shades of gray.
