Pentax K20D 14.6 Megapixel SLR Digital Camera Body

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Pentax K20D 14.6 Megapixel SLR Digital Camera Body

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not much use yet for the live view feature but many of the features are usable and intuitive. I really like the idea and flexibility of the front and rear e-dials. I can adjust the aperture with the rear dial and the shutter speed with the front dial. If I could change anything I would make the ISO a dedicated button and maybe the white balance. At least they are at the beginning of the Fn(function) menu button and only requires one extra button to push.
I would highly recommend this camera unless you shoot alot of sports which the 3 frames per second burst rate doesn't cut it for you. The picture quality is A-1 and the cropping in on some shots I've taken are just great since I don't have a strong zoom lense yet. They don't pixelate on the computer and that has to be the 14.1 megapixels at work with the CMOS sensor. It is a big difference and I'm glad I have purchased the K20D over the K10D if just for the sensor only.

Pentax K20D 14.6 Megapixel SLR Digital Camera Body

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resulted in higher noise levels than the K10D. Indeed, when I first compared the two cameras, I found them both the same at ISO 1600 for the amount of visible noise. Obviously, this is a shocker when you consider that the K20 uses the new CMOS sensor as opposed to the K10's CCD. Although the detail was higher in the K20, the noise was no better. That is, until I set noise reduction to "weak." What a difference! Comparing shots taken at the same settings between the two cameras (K10 default has noise reduction on) but with the K20 at the full 14.6 mp setting and highest JPEG quality with noise reduction at "weak," and the K20's image is strikingly cleaner and sharper. There's no doubt the resolution of the K20's image is hands-down superior to the K10. But you won't read about this in any review unless they choose to turn on noise reduction. There is a very slight loss of detail with NR on, but the resolution of the K20's sensor is so good anyway that the loss is negligible (especially with the Pentax DA* 50-135 lens). Certainly experienced photographers could argue the Pentax reasoning behind the default setting issue, but from a marketing perspective, subjective reviews and objective lab results based on lesser picture performance of default settings can only hurt potential sales when a buyer sees that the 40D or the D300 has clearly better performance in the noise level competition. When you're going up against the giants, you need to exploit the maximum potential of your product, and I believe Pentax has failed to do that.

Having a K10 and a number of Pentax lenses already, I couldn't quite justify jumping ship for the excellent Canon 40D or Nikon D300. But in the end, the price of the K20 was well-justified. The first feature that sold me on the camera is one that only true professional cameras have and isn't even mentioned in the K20 pitch - the ability to fine-tune the auto focus system so that if a lens is front or back-focusing, you can correct for it. This allows you to change the relationship between the point you focus on to the front-to-back area around that object that is also in focus known as the depth of field. This feature could save you a lot of heartache with poorly calibrated lenses that would otherwise be useless. The second feature of this camera that sold me is the improved sensor with its 14.6 MP rating and increased resolution. ISO 1600 shots are now a non-issue compared to the K10. Overall, the K20's pictures tend to be a tad bit warmer than the K10's, but I've also found them to better handle high-contrast transitions between bright and dark with less blown-out bright areas. This was evident in sunset shots where the brightest areas of the orange clouds went yellow in the K10 but kept their detail and color with the K20 (shooting in JPEG). No longer is there an issue with under-exposed shots as with the K10, and normal settings are set close to sharpness/contrast ideals, I've found. But of course, it's all adjustable to just about any result you could want. Just be prepared to deal with some pretty big file sizes on the highest quality JPEG setting - about 11MB. Shoot in RAW and it's almost twice that size. 4GB SD cards suddenly seem puny.

After several thousand shots with the K20, there are a few things that I would consider a bit of a deficit with this camera's performance. First and foremost is the burst rate of 3 frames per second. This is perfectly fine for just about all shooting situations except sports. If you plan to do sports photography, this is not the camera for you. Way too much action happens between frames at that slow rate. The other area where performance lags a bit is with the auto focus system: it's just too slow at the very times you need it to work faster than it can. The issue remains a nuisance from kit lenses to the DA* SDM lenses in low-light or with moving objects. Live-View was not something I cared much about, but since it's there it has come in handy at times for inconspicuous pointing of the camera at non-moving objects or confirming focus when in manual focus mode. My only complaint is that its not as refined in its operation as I'd prefer, and it makes odd clunky-clattery noises when its in use. Another feature that could use some improvement is the Auto ISO setting where the camera selects the ISO between a range you specify. The problem is that it defaults to the lowest ISO which could result in a shutter speed as low as 1/80. This is too slow for anything moving, and I've lost opportunities to blurred pictures because of this. More expensive cameras have the ability to specify a minimum shutter speed as the secondary setting to this feature. Perhaps Pentax has it somewhere, but I just haven't found it. The last nit pick I have is with the shutter sound. It's a little bit sharper and quieter than the K10, but I really don't care for the sound on either camera - too "squeaky/clangy."

In the balance, however, there are a multitude of plusses to this camera that make it great such as the quality of the photos, the flexibility to custom adjust just about anything connected to the picture image and capture (too many to mention), the RAW file handling, in-camera image stability system, the auto focus adjustment feature, weather sealing, the ergonomics/handling and solid feel of the camera. The dust mapping and removal is nifty, too. The dust mapping lets you see a representation of where exactly the dust is on the sensor rather than having to study pictures and transpose the positioning to what you see when looking straight at the sensor from the front. It's also quite sensitive. It showed the presence of dust when I had a very had time even detecting the dust in photos of blue sky taken with a high f-stop. Interestingly, the dust shake-off feature of the sensor has never worked for me on either the K10 or the K20. What always works is to use a manual blower to shoot a few burst of air at the sensor at the right locations.

If you want a truly fine camera that lets you stand out from the Canon/Nikon masses without feeling second-rate (so long as you stay out of sports arenas), this camera is a worthy purchase that will get you great results. I'm surprised at the looks and questions I get from even professional photographers when they see me shooting with the K20 and a DA* lens attached. If you aspire to professional levels of photography without the typical high accessory costs incurred by Nikon/Canon shooters, this is probably one of the best mid-level cameras going. And Pentax is continuing to introduce more professional lenses on par with those from Canon and Nikkor at significantly lower cost.