Camera Labs

Nice summary Rei.

I'd say if you have a K10D and are perfectly happy with its features but just want bigger images, then the K20D would be a great upgrade.

If the K20D were cheaper, then it would have earned our Highly Recommended award, but as it stands, it's directly competing against models like the EOS 40D - and that's a tough place to be.

Greetings!
Well, I ended up with 2 K100d bodies (the second is the Super).
At this time I see little reason to upgrade to a K20d.
Past experience upgrading from my first 2MP digicam to a 4MP model tells me, that one needs to at least quadruple resolution to really see a difference worthwhile a hefty investment.
So going from 6MP to to 14 MP is simply not worth the 1300 US Dolllars to me.

I miss the simply neat colors and crisp appearance of photos I got from my old 2MP Fuji 2600, a simple point and shoot - believe it or not
BUT shooting RAW I can get anything I want from my K100d pair.
Speed performance of the K20d has not improved past the K10d, which was a meager step up from the K100d.

I read mixed opinions about AF, so there is no reason there either.

Live View? I am going to buy a ZigView some time this year! Works on any camera, is as good for AF performance as the Sony implementation, because it is simply a viewfinder monitor, and I can use my K Mount glass, which I can not with a Sony (at least not without losing AF)

Now, if that rumor about a full frame K(x)d holds up, I may pounce - if my credit cards are paid down by then

I DO expect Pentax to finally listen to its user forums and reviewers and do something about shooting performance as well.

With the exception of full frame sensor bodies, the APS-C Picture quality is already there, so what we need with K-Mount glass, is better AF and frame speed!

Until then, my K100d and K100d-Super will be just fine, thank you
Unless of course Pentax really delivers a full frame body, then I will salivate, because that would make a really noticeable difference for us low light 'vampire lighting' shooters

To see what I mean:
For low light samples of K100 series bodies with the old Sony 6MP sensors take a peek here and look at the lead image for the Norwescon 2008 gallery, which is a 1-1 pixel crop (due to my lack of an exotic fast 200mm or longer f/2.8 piece of glass, this was with a Tammy 28-75 f/2.8 at 75mm). I have to say I was quite happy with the way they turned out - and I got a view shots NOBODY else made amongst the 3000 visitors:

www.pbase.com/lapratho

and Gordon:
THANK YOU for the great review work!

_________________
Owen - born late and still not catching up

"Why is a big piece of glass for a camera called fast? I've never seen any of my lenses run away!"

K100d Super, K100d, lots of "fast" glassy stuff

Bonjour bornlate,

The nice thing about upgrading from a K100D to a K20D is you could re-use your lenses

However, expect the K20D to be more demanding in terms of lens quality, as I experienced it with my K10D. So I made the big jump and went for DA* lenses.

They are truly amazing I really thing both the K10D and the K20D deserve the DA* lenses.

Best regards,

_________________
--- rei_vilo
Pentax K-5 + BG4 + DA* 16-50 + DA* 50-135 + DA* 60-250 + AF-540FGZ
reivilophotography.weebly.com

Well, I had a K10d that worked for 4 months, so I was able to compare that with my K100d - and the K100d was crisper even in RAW, due to better metering.

I have an F50mm-f/1.7 prime, which has a killer reputation for being a sharp beasty. From what I have seen, it is on par with the FA50mm f/1.4, just a hair slower, is all.
Shots between the K10 and the K100 were a toss of the coin. Color performance on the K100d was also better than with my K10d, even in Raw, as it required less tweaking to get what I want - BUT that can be a matter of taste!

Between the K20's 4672x3104 and my K100's 3008x2008 pickles in the photo jar ... well, I just consider that one a slight precrop, but nothing dramatic for any major difference in "blowing up" images.
I do see a slight improvement in sharpness, contrast, and definition over the K10 in the K20, but nothing dramatic enough to justify another 1300 US Dollar expense.
For the price, even starting over, I would still rather have 2 simpler bodies, because I can have two lenses mounted and don't need to switch lenses to switch focal length, just grab the other body and I don't miss the shot!

Take the price down to the Alpha 350 level though, and it would be more tempting to give up coffee and cigarettes and jeopardize my car insurance payment every month

_________________
Owen - born late and still not catching up

"Why is a big piece of glass for a camera called fast? I've never seen any of my lenses run away!"

K100d Super, K100d, lots of "fast" glassy stuff