Pentax K20D

The K20D is one of the most fully featured DSLRs on the market, let alone for its class and price range. It offers exceptional build quality with industry leading sealing from moisture and dust, class leading resolution, and a fully customizable menu system. It also has an excellent viewfinder- 95% coverage @ .95x magnification. It has live view for composing your shots at 100%. The rest of the features of the K20D are too long to list, I recommend seriously considering this camera if you are the type of photographer who likes to control nearly every aspect of a camera's features.

The K20D is a relatively small camera by dimension, yet remains a somewhat dense DSLR that gives you a feel of a higher than average quality product. In use I find the auto focus reliably accurate, and the layout and ergonomics very well designed and pretty intuitive. Exposure metering can be a bit hit and miss at times, yet it is most accurate to say that it reliably underexposes often by about .3 to .7 ev. which tends to protect your highlights.

When the white balance is set to natural, colors are very accurate for outdoor use, and some of the most pleasing I have seen to date. Battery life is excellent, CIPA rated at 720 shots per charge yet I could easily get 900 shots out of it with some basic power management.

The resolution is at a sweet spot for just about all photographers' needs, yet pushes the performance of the APS-C sized CMOS sensor to just about the maximum. Noise looks nice through ISO 1600 (where the shots are all usable) but starts to interfere with details and color at ISO 3200 and degrades image quality. ISO 100 is very clean (a nitpick and requirement of mine). At ISO 6400 (available through an expanded menu change), jpeg images are unusable for anything over 4"x6" in my opinion, although it is nice to have and processing the raw files helps matters a little.

The K20D is a joy to use. From its spirited (yet pretty loud) auto focus to its awesome menu system and custom features, the K20D leaves very little for a professional to be desired. The live view system is lack luster though if you plan on using it for any accuracy in metering or checking your focus. You aren't able to view a live histogram while live view is enabled (what?), and the images when viewed at 4x or 8x magnification during focus check are pixelated and quite difficult to make out. I find that 4x is best when using focus check by basically watching the edge contrast for accurate focus. With some practice it can help some, but it stands room for improvement (firmware upgrade anyone?).

I recommend using the fastest SD card you can find and also with the most capacity (they fill up quick using raw, especially when using raw + jpeg). Perhaps a Sandisk III 8GB SD card.

Armed with one of the many pro sealed lenses (identified with an *) this DSLR and lens combo is one of the best cameras to use for foul weather (rain, sandstorms, smoke etc). One of the biggest reasons for my purchase of it.

Pentax offers many prime lenses for this camera of extremely high optical quality for relatively little cost for performance. For a one brand user, Pentax's only gap would be the big telephoto zooms (over 400mm). Otherwise a smart investment choice with this camera system now owned by Hoya (for financial stability).

In closing, it turns out that even though I purchased this camera for a specific niche, I wouldn't be sacrificing much by making it my every day camera. It has impressed me much more than irritated me and for that, makes a very solid design.

Carl

Build
Price
Resolution
Features
Fast Autofocus

Quirky Metering
LiveView substandard
Loud Autofocus

Sony Alpha A700
Canon Rebel XSI
Nikon D90

N/A

I also got my K10D stolen (must be popular monist thieves) otherwise I had no plans to upgrade. I was perfectly satisfied with the K10D. But now I must say that the K20D is a much better camera in most aspects.
Realy not suited for the first time DSLR buyer, It´s rather advanced.

The build quality, the color rendition, the details in the pictures, the custom settings, the list could go on and on.
I can use all my old Pentax lenses.

3 frames/sec. may be a put of to some users but not to me. ´The live view is very basic, but on the other hand, I´ve used SLR´s for almost 40 years and never missed live view. The monitor could have had better resolution.
Price 13 000 sek with the 18-55 mkII lens, almost 1900 $

Pentax K10D

Not needed

I had a K 10 D that was stolen, so I caught the moment for un upgrade.
I think K 20 D repesent what I wanted to K 10 D and didn't find.
More precisely a very good Jpg, that, unless I quite alwais use Raw, represent the standard for every camera.
In every case you'll find a quality of image very impressive.
Because the need to buy another camera, I, at this moment, use only my old lenses I bought wih the LX, I have a lot and let me say that, for what I can say, they don't have nothing to blame with the normal zoom I could prove before.
I alwais thought single lens are superior to zoom and even if I have no Af or Automatic Exposure ( at the moment ) for a pkotographer like I am, for the most of cases they don't matter too much, specially considering the correction possibility of shooting raw.

Today there are a lot of beautiful camera that I'm sure can give more than necessary for the most, but surely K 20 D has something more of the others, for a better price..
There is a lot of detail and colours are splendid.
The anty vibration system with all lenses is a point of force, even if you can't consider it a panacee for all, cause ther's none else that have this possibility without the need of other rings.

Surely the who that wants ten frames per second doesn't find this very intersting, but are the few, of corse there are.
What I really think, for my today experience, is the noise at very high Iso, perhaps not the best, but certainly better than the most.
With K 10 D I found the cleaning system of bad quality, this seams to promise somethimg better, I hope it'll be.

Some old Pentax, Mx and Lx, and K 10 D

No experienced


Excuse my Englhish.