I recently got my hands on the Pentax K-3 Mark III Monochrome, a tough-built DSLR with a 26-megapixel APS-C sensor which, as the name suggests, shoots only in B&W. With a gorgeous Sunday afternoon to try it out on, I strolled toward Seattle’s touristy waterfront eager to flex a little creative muscle.
Little did I know that my afternoon with the K-3 III Monochrome would help shake me out of a photographic rut and get me stoked to snap frames again. By the end of the day, I took nearly 400 photos with Pentax’s B&W-only digital camera — and I may never shoot in color again. Here’s why.
Pentax is a historic camera brand with roots that stretch back to the early twentieth century and the dawn of the single-lens reflex camera (SLR). These days, Pentax continues to concentrate on SLR cameras — digital ones — at a time when most other manufacturers are prioritizing newer mirrorless camera technology.
However, for folks like me who prefer composing images with an optical viewfinder rather than an electronic one, Pentax is the only brand focusing on new DSLR models. Fortunately, these bodies — including the full-color Pentax K-3 III — are a delight to shoot with and quite capable image quality-wise.
But, wait, what’s the point of a camera that only shoots in B&W? After all, converting a color image to monochrome is a painless affair, easily accomplished a zillion different ways.
The simple answer is that the Pentax K-3 Mark III’s sensor captures images natively in B&W, including Raw DNG files. With digital photography, more data from a sensor is always better. And because the Monochrome’s sensor isn’t wasting time processing color data, the outputted images have a particularly gorgeous tonal quality, richness and level of detail, unmatched by a color conversion.
There are other advantages to a Monochrome-only sensor, particularly in low light settings. Because there’s no chroma noise to suppress — those ugly speckled multi-colored dots — you can shoot at very high ISOs and still get great-looking images. The grain at high ISOs looks more like “film grain,” aesthetically pleasing at best and acceptable at worst, than gross digital noise.
At lower ISOs, images from this monochrome sensor also look sharper than their color-sensor counterparts due to the lack of a color filter array between the lens and sensor. This is a necessary part of most modern color sensors, but one that has a slightly softening effect on shots.
The Pentax K-3 Mark III Monochrome is best for photographers who enjoy approaching the craft slowly and methodically. It’s not going to fire off 50 frames a second with real-time subject tracking, like some of the best mirrorless models. The autofocus system is also a tad sluggish by 2024 standards and the camera itself is honker to lug around.
However, once you wrap your head around using it — there’s pretty much a direct button for any setting you could ever want to adjust — it quickly becomes a creative extension of your being.
For example, after just one day with the camera, operating it felt like second nature. Plus, the oh-so-satisfying “Kerchunch” of the shutter and mirror mechanism dancing in harmony made me feel downright nostalgic — sadly, my mirrorless cameras don’t produce nearly as enjoyable mechanical sounds.
Pentax engineered the K-3 III so photographers theoretically never need to take their eye away from the larger optical finder: most tasks can be accomplished via the aforementioned direct controls without a trip to the menus — setting changes are reflected via info panels within the viewfinder.
In particular, the K-3 III Monochrome is a solid choice for lowlight photographers, including music and event shooters, landscape lovers, street photographers and even portrait shooters. I enjoy all of the above, which may explain why I so relished my time with Pentax’s monochrome-only camera.
I’ve wanted to check out the K-3 III Monochrome ever since its launch in April 2023. It’s one of the only truly attainable monochrome-only digital cameras on the market and also one of the only new DSLR cameras to launch in the past few years.
The only other camera manufacturer with monochrome-only models is Leica. And you can bet your monocle they cost a pretty penny: The Leica M Monochrom starts at $9,195 with no lens — that’ll be another $5,000 to $10,000 — and the Leica Q2 Monochrom will set you back a cool $6,345 new but thankfully comes with a lens built in.
The Pentax K-3 III Monochrome, meanwhile, starts at a much more reasonable $2,195 for the body, with plenty of lenses available to the tune of several hundred bucks, rather than several thousand.
A lover of affordable glass, I paired the loaner Pentax with a petite, all-metal Pentax 43mm f/1.9 lens, which provides a roughly 65mm equivalent field of view on the K-3 III’s APS-C sensor. At $445, it’s not a bank-breaker, yet it still performs exceptionally well in the sharpness department.
I love shooting with both a 50mm and 85mm lens but wasn’t sure how I’d get on with a focal length that sits smack between the two. However, during my saunter through Seattle’s Pike Place Market, I frankly fell in love with the field of view: It works exceptionally well for candids, street photography and portraits, regardless of the lighting.
While I was far from “spraying and praying,” I did manage to fire off exactly 365 frames during my Sunday adventure, including snaps of incoming ships, vacation revelers, suave pups, city scenes and more.
With so many shots, narrowing down my favorites was no easy assignment. However, you’ll find my top choices scattered throughout, with additional samples below. I chose these images not just because I am fond of the compositions but because the level of detail and tonal quality is superb.
I’m now eager to get back out and shoot more with this black-and-white beast. In fact, I may never shoot in color photography again. Well, not until I have to return the K-3 III Monochrome to Pentax, at which point, I’ll probably dust off my old Nikon FM2 and load it up with some expired Kodak B&W film from the freezer.
Donna Ferrato, “Women’s Advocates St. Paul,” 1986, inkjet print, pigment-based, 20″ x 24″/Photo: Donna Ferrato and Block Museum
We’ve all seen, at yard sales and flea markets, dusty shoeboxes of old family photos. Unknown, unidentifiable faces peer at us, people about whose lives we haven’t a clue. For this thought-provoking exhibition at the Block Museum, vernacular snapshots by nameless photographers are rendered artifacts cleverly paired with pieces of art from the Block’s collection. The snapshots are part of the collection as well, from a 223-image gift of Peter J. Cohen, a New York collector of vernacular photography. The show was curated by Madison Brown, a 2023-24 Block interdisciplinary fellow, in consultation with Academic Curator Corinne Granof.
Jiri Anderle, “Soldier and Bride,” 1980, drypoint and mezzotint with attached photograph, 37 5/8 ” x 25 1/4″/Photo: Jiri Anderle and Block Museum
Like a detective, Brown has put the pieces together, creating stories, unraveling the mystery of images by cleverly pairing series of seemingly idyllic family photos with art that hints at deeper undercurrents. For example, an image from photographer Donna Ferrato’s ten-year series “Living with the Enemy” shows a mother and two children who have been forced to live in a women’s shelter to escape domestic violence. Brown has placed three small snapshots of “happy families” in a row beneath this larger image. Ferrato’s photograph is made all the more poignant as the children hold a family photo they brought with them from their home when they left.
In an etching titled “Soldier and Bride,” by Czech artist Jiri Anderle, a bride and groom stand side by side, the groom/soldier marked as if by war, with what appears to be a bullet hole in his forehead, and scratchy, dripping marks across his nude body, as if to imply disfigurement or death. In the lower right corner is a lovely vintage photograph of a soldier groom in uniform with his elegant bride. In LaToya Ruby Frazier’s image, “Zion Holding a Picture of Her Mother Shea Sipping Water from Her Freshwater Spring at Age Thirteen in 1997, Jasper County, Newton, Mississippi,” two dark hands hold a small photograph of a girl bending to drink from a fresh stream. The image tells the story of Frazier’s mother before she moved to Flint Michigan, where the public health crisis of polluted water occurred. A documentary photographer, Frazier captured the impact of the crisis on the residents of Flint. Brown has paired this image with several snapshots of people of various ages seemingly enjoying life.
LaToya Ruby Frazier, “Zion Holding a Picture of Her Mother Shea Sipping Water from Her Freshwater Spring at Age Thirteen in 1997, Jasper County, Newton, Mississippi,” from the series “Flint Is Family,” 2017-19, printed 2023, gelatin silver print, 10 9/16″ × 13 3/8″/Photo: LaToya Ruby Frazier and Block Museum
In Admire Kamudzengerere and Rachel Monosov’s pointed image, “Lake Chivero, Aug.31, 1972,” a grinning family frolics with balloons. The couple who co-created this image is interracial, something that would not have been possible in Zimbabwe in 1972. The image, a reenactment, was made in 2017 as a reminder of that fact. In the lower right corner, a card is adhered with information about the lake listing some of the wildlife that dwells there, and amenities, like waterslides, to be found there. At the very bottom of the card is the statement “Picture Shows Real Happiness of a Family.” Vernacular photography is a mystery, a puzzle waiting to be solved. This exhibition explores the possibilities of snapshots telling the whole story, or not.
“A Little Truth: Fact and Fiction in Family Photography” is on view at Block Museum, 40 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston, through July 7.
The second annual invitational Maine Photographers Showcase returns to the Boothbay Region Art Foundation Thursday, March 28. The show will be on exhibit through May 3. An opening reception will be held Saturday, April 6, from 3 to 5 p.m.
Showcase coordinator Bruce Burnham invited the following photographers, most of whom, at one time or another, have had work included in the former Maine Photography Show: Hugh Blackmer (Tenants Harbor), Jeff Bazinet (Saco), Allen Cairns (Farmingdale), William Curran (Harpswell), Isaac Crabtree (Monson), Mike Fillyaw (West Bath), Ben Getchell (Orrington), Martin Grassie (Brunswick), Michael Austin Kane (Nobleboro), Burke Long (Brunswick), Jim Nichelson (Camden), Bill Schumaker (Portland), Charles DuFour (Belfast), Jane Davis (Wayne), Meredith Kennedy (Portland), Darylann Leonard (Waterford), Eva McDermott (Southport), Anne Post-Poole (South Berwick), Kim Stone (Brunswick), Francesca Galluccio Steele (Portland), Zoe Theberge (Brunswick), Sandra Wescott (South Portland).
Michael Austin Kane is a landscape/nature photographer who shoots with one of three Fuji cameras and with a Nikon AE1 film camera. He says he’s drawn to exploring scenes to photograph that have contrasting light and color. “I am especially fond of the morning light that we find along the coast of Maine which is why I choose one of the images in this exhibit…an image I captured at Pemaquid Point one spring morning sunrise. The other image represents my love of the winters in Maine with the strong contrast between the fishing shacks and the newly fallen snow on ice at Great Salt Bay.”
Each artist can include up to five images, that are grouped together, like individual shows. All images are for sale unless otherwise noted. Burnham began hanging the show Monday, March 25. The largest piece is one 40” x 30” and a 40” x 20.”
“This work showcases them as individuals as well as photographers,” said Burnham. “All of the photographers have been invited to bring up to 6 matted, unframed work to sell as bin pieces.”
Burnham plans to announce the photographers for the 3rd annual invitational Maine Photographers Showcase at the April 6 reception. For that show he’s interested in inviting photographers who have not shown in the former Maine Photography Show. Those interested in showing their work should contact Burnham at 350-6405 to be considered.
Boothbay Region Art Foundation is located at 1 Townsend Ave. in downtown Boothbay Harbor. The gallery is open Thursday – Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
For more information, visit BRAF on Facebook and its website: www.boothbayartists.org.
There will also be works of non-Indigenous artists that exemplify the influence of Native art on American art as a whole. Then, the exhibit transitions to ceremony, where the works portray Native American ceremony rituals.
Wright said that the various curators involved were very thoughtful in crafting the intimate narratives with color and symbolism.
“Then there’s another section called self identity and it is thinking about the way Native peoples in America in particular have tried to advocate for self rule and the struggles and also the pride that so many artists take in their tribal affiliations and tribal culture,” she said.
The Ackland is presenting various collaborative discussions, artist conversations, guided tours, film screenings and art classes inspired by the exhibit throughout its duration, beginning on Feb. 16 with a guided tour from Nisbet.
On Feb. 25, Ryan Dial, the American Indian health project manager at UNC’s American Indian Center and member of the Lumbee Tribe will lead the “F.A.M. Fun in the Galleries: Exploring ‘Past Forward'” event.
Dial, who has partnered with the Ackland before, said he has spent most of his life practicing Native American art by dancing and playing the flute.
“I think there is a way for museums, like the Ackland and others, to kind of use their platform to break the stereotypes,” he said.
Dial said he hopes to promote the exhibit in a family friendly way and break preconceived ideas about what Indigenous art is through showing its full spectrum, including contemporary works by Native American artists. He said that the arts are very important to Native American culture on both an individual and a tribal level.
“I think one of our focuses for programming for Past Forward has been to make sure that we’re including community voices, and there’s so many great folks on campus, in the area, and other departments who have expertise in Native American art and culture,” Allison Portnow Lathrop, the Ackland’s head of public programming, said.
These events are meant to allow onlookers a moment to slow down and absorb the exhibit. Portnow Lathrop said they encourage audiences to ask questions about the pieces’ meanings and find connections between themselves and the art.
Nisbet said he believes the blend of art, discussions and events will give people a better understanding of the broad variety of Native American art over hundreds of years.
“I’m hoping that people’s responses will range from enthusiasm and engagement with individual works to a much better sense of the variety and complexity and a much greater sensitivity to Native American creativity as it relates to North Carolina,” Nisbet said.
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