Pentax K20D

[pez]

I just got a K20D body to replace my old K10D, and for only about $700, shipped! It comes with a special offer 3-year warranty 'till Dec. 31. The controls are exactly the same as the K10 so everything is familiar. In fact, the only give aways other than the K20 badge are a flash synch socket and the larger LCD. But ahh, the guts are tremendously improved! I tried out the Live View for one of it's few real uses- macro- worked great (this shot as a JPEG):

The in-camera JPEGs are vastly superior to those from the K10 (which you may as well use as a RAW only camera), producing 10mp images on best quality- nice (14.6mp CMOS sensor). A lot of post processing is available in-camera, to include RAW-conversion, some interesting filter effects and fairly completely adjustable monochrome, although most of the filters are more amusing than actually useful. One I do like is the "extract color" feature, which renders a monochrome with a selected color remaining- neat. The fake HDR feature may be useful on the lowest setting, but doesn't look so great on the other two settings- fail. I haven't even been outside with it yet. Noise reduction is OFF by default on this camera, and some reviewers completely missed this, unfairly trashing the high ISO performance and giving it a bad rap, IMO. Here, I have set noise reduction to "weak", a mid-level setting (these were hand-held and look it- what did you expect, a professional review? ):

ISO 3200:

Detail, ISO 3200:

Detail, ISO 1600:

Detail, ISO 800:

Overall, I love this camera so far, and I think it's an absolute steal for the money! :thumbup:

 

[JerryPH]

Pentax has been putting out a lot of nice models for a very long time and are ever the underdog of the camera industry.

Glad you enjoy your camera.

 

[Iron Flatline]

Yeah, Pentax has got the be the most underrated manufacturer out there. LiveView, weather-sealed body, good sensor... and great little lenses (pancakes from Pentax, or Zeiss lenses). The small form-factor is also wonderful, very good for street photography.

 

[elemental]

Wow.

As a K100D owner probably looking at an upgrade pretty soon, that's encouraging to see. $700 for that body is an absolute steal. I just wish they'd finally let out a full-frame body or the 645D or something to prove to me that they're serious about getting into the top end of the marketplace and staying there. I know it's silly, but I'd still feel a lot better about investing in their nice glass.

If the K20s are $700 new, what can a used K10 be going for these days? After checking KEH, I am now really tempted.

 

[pez]

BTW, I mentioned that the "HDR" filter is not too useful, but not to be confused with the Expanded Dynamic Range feature- this feature (turned on by the function menu) works GREAT, basically giving you an extra stop of dynamic range with no penalty other than 200 ISO minimum sensitivity.

 

[Early]

In fact, the only give aways other than the K20 badge are a flash synch socket...

:thumbdown::thumbdown::thumbdown:

 

[Don Simon]

Thanks for this. I was assuming noise would be pretty bad simply because of the high pixel count, but this is very reassuring. I've been determined not to replace my K100d until it dies, but now I have a fairly comprehensive lens collection and it looks like the K20d will get a lot more out of them without the drawbacks of the K10 (noise and poor Jpegs). At the price it's selling now after cashback, I'll have trouble talking myself out of getting one.

:thumbdown::thumbdown::thumbdown:

Er... what's wrong with it having a sync socket?

 

[Early]

Thanks for this. I was assuming noise would be pretty bad simply because of the high pixel count, but this is very reassuring. I've been determined not to replace my K100d until it dies, but now I have a fairly comprehensive lens collection and it looks like the K20d will get a lot more out of them without the drawbacks of the K10 (noise and poor Jpegs). At the price it's selling now after cashback, I'll have trouble talking myself out of getting one.



Er... what's wrong with it having a sync socket?

Nothing! I'm reading it as the K20 not having any.

 

[Don Simon]

Ahh... tis the other way around (the K10d didn't have one)

 

[Early]

Ahh... tis the other way around (the K10d didn't have one)

Okay then,:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

 

[Johnboy2978]

I've been rather happy with the k10d except with noise with higher ISO. It looks like the 20d has made some improvements in this area. I'll probably look closer at this after it drops a bit more. I like the fact that they finally put a pc sync connection on it, though I bought a wireless trigger for my alien bees and much prefer untethered. Overall I'm a pretty happy Pentaxian. They are very under-rated and have some beautiful lenses like the 77mm limited I just received.

 

[Pure]

I still love my Pentax Super ME film camera, all it needs is a good cleaning...damn these dust bunnies!