Pentax K20D 14.6MP Digital SLR Camera with Shake Reduction (Body Only) by Pentax
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Digital camera reviews of Pentax K20D 14.6MP Digital SLR Camera with Shake Reduction (Body Only)
Digital camera Review: A nice upgrade from the K10D
Summary: 4 Stars
I highly recommend this camera. After a year with the K10D, I recently upgraded to the K20D. The K10D was fabulous and I loved it. But I really wanted the LiveView mode and the higher resolution of the K20D. I was disappointed with LiveView though. It is mostly useless. It is nothing like a typical LiveView on most new compact digital cameras. On the K20D, you flip a lever to activate it, at which point auto-focus no longer works (without pressing the AF button and waiting several seconds while the screen goes black and it refocuses... on "something"). You can manually focus, but that can be a challenge based on the LiveView screen, especially in bright light (and the viewfinder is blank when LiveView is active). After taking a shot, there is a several second "blackout" period where the screen goes black. This is the #1 annoyance in my opinion, and it's the main reason I never use it. You can continue shooting while it's black, but you won't really know what you're shooting. So my use of LiveView is limited to the occasional self-portrait shot where I need to set the camera on the ground. It is sometimes "slightly" useful to frame a shot in that situation. (A flip-out screen would make it much more useful.) So aside from my complaints about LiveView, I do love everything else about this camera. The higher resolution and better quality image sensor is definitely an improvement over the K10D. At the highest resolution, pictures are much larger, of course. (I shoot in RAW, so I bought a 16GB SDHC card, which holds about 600 RAW images.) There are a few other "cool" new features (like a 21 fps low-res shooting mode), but I really haven't found any practical use for them. The picture processing engine on this K20D is faster than the K10D. In summary, if you want the higher resolution, buy the K20D. If 10MP is enough for you and you don't care about novelty features, buy the K10D. But you will be happy with either of these great new Pentax cameras. For the next model, I'm hoping for "real" always-on LiveView and a flip-out screen!Digital camera Review: A great camera, but not perfect.
Summary: 5 Stars
In March of 2008 I bought a K200D, my first DSLR. Loved the camera, but wanted more control and more options. So, I then bought a K20D.
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****CONTROLS :: The controls on the K20D are incredibly awesome. Everything is just *right*. Changes from the basic K200D layout:
A) External Metering dial
B) External bracketing button
C) External focal point mode dial
D) A second e-dial, which is great.
I absolutely love, love, love K20D ergonomics and menu system.. I can operate the camera and all its functions without looking at it. I never press a button I don't intent to press, and I never confuse buttons. Things just "make sense". It's so hard to describe. This is worlds different coming from Canon and Nikon comparisons -- Perhaps it was my unfamiliarity with those cameras, but their menu systems, while flashy, were downright confusing.
You also have a "Green Button" mode and a "User Mode" on the K20D which is very interesting -- You can set up a custom "profile" on the K20D in User mode which sounds cool, but truthfully I haven't used it yet.
****PERFORMANCE:
The K20D performs admirably, just like the K200D. There are a few differences, though:
1) The K20D has a MUCH improved buffer - I can shoot 15 RAW files at 3.0FPS (still low), compared to 4 RAW at 2.8 FPS on the K200D. Unfotunately the FPS on the K20D remains incredibly slow at full resolution.
2) The K20D has a "burst" mode of 21 FPS at around 1.4MP. Neat to play around with but nothing special.
3) ISO goes up to 3200 standard (K200D is maxed at 1600) with 6400 available. However, IQ drops severely after ISO 1600. ISO 3200 is OKAY if you have a picture with non-dark areas, but there is visible banding at ISO3200 and for the most part I avoid it. I use NoiseNinja on my ISO3200 images and they're acceptable if you're not going to crop.
4) A noticeably improved viewfinder -- I can tell the difference immediately over the K200D. Brighter, nicer. Lovely.
**** IMAGE QUALITY
Great, just like the K200D. As a matter of fact, I really couldn't tell you the difference in IQ between two 100% crops of the cameras, except that the K20D's crop is going to be slightly larger from the added MP.
I've tested this extensively with three lenses (DA 16-45, DA 55-300, DA* 50-135) and there is really no IQ difference between the cameras. I may need to get a high quality prime to tell the difference, and even then, you'll be pixel peeping.
However, the K20D *DOES* allow you to get slightly larger prints before you start interpolating pixels, which is something to consider.
****OTHER:
Live view - Almost worthless. I get hot pixels on the image when I use live view for any extended period of time. I've refused to upgrade to the 1.01 firmware for fear of it breaking some software compatibility. Nothing really important to me, though, because the Pentax implimentation of Liveview isn't that great.
Sealing - Better than the K200D, but by how much I don't know. The battery and SD card doors are latch opened instead of slide opened like the K200D.
Battery Performance -- Pretty good. Pentax has retained their rather uninformative battery meter, unfortunately. I really wish they'd get with the times and introduce a %-estimate for their battery meter.
Autofocus Speed-- Absolutely zero difference between the K200D and the K20D -- I have tested this extensively with two lenses using a video camera for frame-accurate timing.
Autofocus Performance -- Decent. Low light it suffers (EV5/6 or lower), but tries for accuracy, so I'm not sure what to say. I wish it were faster.
OVERALL --- A highly recommended camera. Pentax makes some great glass. Match them up with a K20D and ENJOY shooting photos. The camera is an absolute ergonomic and control-layout pleasure to use. Menus make sense. Performance is good with just a few small things to gripe about.
I really like the camera and it's recommended for those people not needing very fast FPS or first-party lenses past 300mm.
Digital camera Review: Almost Perfect
Summary: 5 Stars
A much bigger jump from K10D than I expected; wonderful color and contrast; A little on the heavy side but very good balance.Digital camera Review: Great value!
Summary: 5 Stars
Some great features for the $. Super images. I recommend the 18-250 lens. I moved over from a Nikon D50 and, after the learning curve, really appreciate what this camera offers. Digital camera Review: I enjoy the K20D
Summary: 5 Stars
I previously owned the Pentax istDl and liked the pictures it produced. The K20D has been a fantastic camera so far. I personally really like having the shake reduction in the body because now all my lenses can take advantage of this. The dust removal has already saved me once where I was shooting and was able to get the dust off immediately without getting out the blower and brush :)
One problem I had was on my Mac Leopard Mac Book Pro I could not get the software that comes with the camera to install. For me this is not a major problem because I use other software that I prefer. I did notice the previous Mac Software update had some patches for the K20D as well as several other cameras.
Here are some examples photos I have taken with the K20D and the older istDL. [...]