.PEF · 2013 · 24 MP APS-C

Pentax K-3 RAW Files: Open, Cull & Edit .PEF Free

A rugged, weather-sealed enthusiast DSLR popular with outdoor and landscape photographers who valued Pentax's build quality. An 8.3 fps burst suited casual action work alongside its usual landscape use. Outdoor trips with this camera tend to mix deliberate landscape frames with occasional bursts worth sorting separately.

Pentax K-3 RAW at a glance

RAW formatPEF — Pentax Electronic Format (.PEF)
Sensor24 MP APS-C
Resolution24 megapixels
Typical RAW sizeabout 24-30 MB
Released2013
RAW options14-bit PEF RAW with lossless compression; Pentax also offers Adobe DNG as an in-camera alternative format.

Editing K-3 files with imagic

imagic opens .PEF files from the Pentax K-3 natively on Windows and macOS. Point it at a card or shoot folder and it builds previews, scores every frame for sharpness, closed eyes, and composition, and groups near-duplicate bursts — so a full shoot collapses to its keepers before you edit anything.

Processing runs through the bundled RawTherapee engine, entirely on your machine: batch-apply one look across the keepers and export JPEGs in a single pass. Nothing uploads, which matters at about 24-30 MB per frame. The 7-day trial is full-featured and needs no card; licenses are one-time, from €19.

Frequently asked questions

What RAW format does the Pentax K-3 use?

The Pentax K-3 writes PEF files with the .PEF extension. 14-bit PEF RAW with lossless compression; Pentax also offers Adobe DNG as an in-camera alternative format.

How big are Pentax K-3 RAW files?

Expect about 24-30 MB per frame from the 24 MP APS-C sensor, depending on compression settings and scene detail. A full shoot adds up quickly, which is why culling before editing matters on this body.

How can I open Pentax K-3 .PEF files for free?

imagic opens PEF files from the Pentax K-3 natively on Windows and macOS — the 7-day trial needs no card. It culls the shoot with AI quality scoring, groups duplicates, and batch-processes keepers locally through its RawTherapee engine.

More about PEF

The K-3's .PEF files share their structure with every Pentax (Ricoh Imaging) body using PEF — the full PEF guide covers compression variants, free openers, and conversion options in depth.

Other Pentax bodies

Pentax K-3 Mark III Pentax K-S2 Pentax K-3 II Pentax K-70 Pentax K-1 Pentax KP Pentax K-1 Mark II

Cull a K-3 shoot before your coffee cools

AI quality scoring, duplicate grouping, and local batch processing for .PEF — free for 7 days, no card required.

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