Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 44
 Pentax K20D 14.6MP Review May 6, 2008
Frank (Clinton, MO USA)
16 out of 16 found this review helpful
Pentax K20D 14.6MP Digital SLR Camera with Shake Reduction (Body Only)
We are amateur photo shooters and have a 5 year old digital Kodak - which was okay for snap shooting -
Now for the PENTAX K20D 14.6MP Digital Camera we offer this review.
It is the TRUE amateur's friend. It is in a completely different class to the old technology, including 35mm film format. It is way ahead in the performance field for its class of digital camera. We are glad to be back in the SLR type of camera too.
Right after arrival of our new K20D camera we did a PROM photo session on our patio with 5 couples - what a pleasure to shoot when you have the time right - what is the right time? - a series of shots 2, 3, 4 or 5 with each setting and this camera is so fast you can outshoot the point and shoots by a mile - and great results too - Our daughter was assisting with her PENTAX K10D and both of these DIGITAL CAMERA'S are recommended highly by us. We experienced a number of comments from others sharing in this event, what kind of camera is that? It must be nice to be able to take so many shots and capture all of these special moments! They are right - we have over 300 perfect shots to brag about from this session, and two cameras captured those images.
The camera settings are easy to study and learn. You can adjust so many different ways in just seconds and get the perfect results you desire, snap a test shot, view - then capture images of one of a kind, ones that you can truly enjoy viewing plus brag on after a shooting session.
We use the SanDisk 4 GB Extreme III SDHC Card and the write speed is awesome for this camera. We bought a Metz 58 AF-1 TTL Shoe Mount Flash for Pentax & Samsung SLR Cameras for our camera and makes a great match with the Pentax DA 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 ED AL IF Lens.
This K20D is the camera for the money as we see it, study the features, it's loaded with them and you will see this is a fine camera that will deliver what you want in the photographic world - We highly recommended this product from PENTAX.
Jeff Walters June 7, 2008
J. A. Walters (Modesto, CA)
15 out of 15 found this review helpful
I've just had the K20D for about 2 weeks and have really enjoyed it. Having to decide between Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Olympus, and Sony was difficult after reading so many reviews. I took a chance on the Pentax based on forums & reviews. I couldn't find the camera in any stores around my home other than the other brands mentioned. The Pentax does feel the best in my hands and when I first held it, it is definitely better built than the others. I bought the 18-55mm AL II kit lens and it does excellent and will purchase the 18-250mm in the future. I have taken the same type shots with my Minolta film camera from the early 80's and this camera surpasses it in quality. I was stubborn for a long time to switch to digital after having the money invested in the Minolta lenses and other equipment.
I personally think all the major cameras are good and I picked Pentax on a leap of faith. It was the best camera for the money and future lenses and accessories won't break the bank. I have 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.
A real gem! Just buy it! September 3, 2008
Bruno Passigatti (Chicago, Illinois United States)
15 out of 15 found this review helpful
You will not find a better camera in terms of image quality unless you're willing to spend $7000+ for a Canon Mark III or a medium format outfit. Just don't tell the guy who just wasted thousands on a ripoff like the D3 ;-).
This is THE perfect camera for portraiture, studio still and landscapes on a budget. Make sure you get top (prime) lenses (forget the 18-250). Don't even think about it if you're into sports and high speed action (get the D300). And don't get me started if you're one of those "experts" who needs a "noise free" shot at ISO 3000-25000 (who needs that, really!)
I can't say enough good things about this camera April 22, 2008
David C. Reed (Earth)
14 out of 17 found this review helpful
Finally Pentax got it right. Not only does it have shake reduction built into the body, a great sensor, but it also has native DNG Raw format, a Sync port every other Pentax camera has been missing, 100 ISO, great colors, compatible with the BG2 grip, added Dynamic Range in the ISO200 and up, and great battery life. Oh, and it's a 14+ megapixel camera, which is what a lot will be looking at, but that was just a bonus for me.
Glad I Switched July 27, 2008
Matt Antonio (San Antonio, TX United States)
13 out of 13 found this review helpful
I have been really happy with this Pentax K20d, and I am impressed with the 16-45 f.4 lens that I bought to go with it. I initially upgraded from a Canon Rebel 300D to a Canon 40D, it was a nice upgrade but the new Canon wasn't bringing me enough enjoyment to be worth the near thousand dollars I paid for it, and I knew it would lead me to buying lenses that would be too heavy and expensive. I sent it back and a moth later decided to buy the K20d. I was impressed with the low price and low weight of Pentax's mid-range lenses. I honestly thought that the camera itself wouldn't be as good as the 40D but I decided to follow the mantra that lenses are what matter and thought I could sell my Canon lenses and get some great Pentax prime lenses, and a wide zoom lens.
I have had the K20d for a over a month, and it is a great camera. It takes the pictures that I want it to take. This is the first digital camera I've been really excited about using and I think it is because it allows me to get the exact exposure I want. The metering won't produce as many decent pictures on full auto as a Canon, because it will always preserve bright highlights. The reviews say that it underexposes, because if you take a picture of a person with the sky behind them, it will consistently keep the sky from blowing out - making the person too dark. At first this means more missed and underexposed shots, but it exposes the same way all the time, and after a week with the camera I found that I always knew how the camera was metering and I now get the exact exposure I want on the first shot far more often than I used to.
The camera also makes manual mode far more useable. I like finding a good exposure for the light and then sticking to that as long as I know I am in similar light. If my photos are looking a little bright or a little dark on the histogram, I change the shutter speed or aperture a click. With the green button, I can be in manual mode but have an automatic resetting any time the light changes, from full sun to shade. Anytime I know that there is a big change in light I hit the green button and get the automatic exposure setting, instead of having to spin the dials.
I like the ability to change what the dials and buttons do in many of the modes. I can customize what the control wheels do in each picture mode. Also note that many reviews say the K20d does not show ISO in the viewfinder (which was a big detractor for me since it was one feature I really liked about the 40D upgrade) but actually you can customize this and show ISO in the viewfinder instead of the number of remaining shots. You can also change ISO in any mode by holding OK while turning the finger wheel.
Negatives: The K20d does produce more noise over ISO 800 than the Canon, but I like that it keeps more detail and I like the grain of the noise far better. However sometimes in very high ISO shots there can be too much chroma noise (colored noise) to do anything but convert to BW, and in two or three pictures I have seen banding in high ISO pictures when I try to push them a stop in my raw converter. Also the auto-focus sometimes hunts in single shot mode in light that the 40D would handle, although I have found that if I put it on AF-Continuous (AI Servo in Canon) it usually finds focus. My understanding is that the Pentax AF system attempts to be more exact, and I think I have noticed that when I am in good light I have less missed pictures due to focus than with the Canon.
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