Camera Labs

Hi all,

I'll note first of all that I no longer own this camera. It didn't do some things that I needed that 99% of you will never encounter, so I had to sell it and go a different route (nikon).

Quick summary - If you don't own any equipment already and are considering the 50D or the Nikon D90, I'd probably encourage you to quit considering them and go buy the Pentax K20D. Here's why:

-Image quality is exceptional (although admittedly not as good at really high ISO's - good noise reduction software can help though)

-Image stabilization IN THE BODY. This is huge. It is effective and it means all your lenses are image stabilized. And because Pentax has kept the same mount for a long time, that means you can pop a 30 year old lens on the body and it will be image stabilized. You can even use screw mount and 6x7 lenses with adapters!

-Dust cleaning sensor. Enough said.

-Build quality. Holy crap - this thing is a tank. Weather and dust sealed. Someone told me Pentax actually fully submerged a K20 body in water for 20 seconds or so and it was fine. Don't know that for a fact, but I'd believe it. Build quality might be as good OR BETTER than my D700, which is amazing for a body that is less than $1000 US.

-Price. You can get the body for what $800 or so? As a package, if you consider all the features, this camera does things or has features the much more expensive competition doesn't do, which is why I'd consider this camera the front runner at this level if you don't have any legacy equipment.

some sample images:



with Sigma 10-20mm. love this lens:

That's pretty epic. Good to see an "underdog" turn out so well

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I take pictures so quickly, my highschool was "Continuous High".

I just bought it, $900 Canadian

So, you went digital?

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I take pictures so quickly, my highschool was "Continuous High".

Well it was about the time, I had very bad experience in the past when I bought istDL so I returned it back to the store since nobody could explain to me how to use old lenses. So i continued with film until now, I did use some point and shoot in the meantime (never owned one). I was waiting for something better to come out and there was the K20D. I just got the body for now since I am still unemployed (can't really spend much money when you don't have a job), but I have my wish list of lenses that I want.

Great news! (not your unemployment of course). Looking forward to see new pictures

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I take pictures so quickly, my highschool was "Continuous High".

Too bad I went with a D90 then, considered the k20D but somehow I couldn't really fall for it.
Most impressive of all is maybe that Pentax produces a camera for such a competitive price, leads me to think most other brands are overpriced.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts

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Nikon D90 | Nikkor 18-105 AF-S f/3.5-5.6 VR | Nikkor AF 50mm f/1.8D | Nikon MB - D80 battery grip | Lowepro Flipside 200

Nokia 6220 5mp - Carl Zeiss optics



Flickr

I kind of wonder if Pentax is pricing so aggressively to make inroads into the market. The K20D is VERY close to being a pro caliber body. It even has an x-sync flash terminal on the body for hooking up studio flash. It can bracket in 5 steps instead of just 3. Just a wonderfully rich feature set. If they keep this up I wouldn't be surprised to see them take a lot of ground from Nikon and Canon.

yes, it seems that the D90 only beats it in ergonomics (subjective), and lack of noise. And don't say that's never used, I've been happily shooting skaters at ISO 1600 so I could get a 1/3200 shutter speed.

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I take pictures so quickly, my highschool was "Continuous High".

experienced the same thing as you. with the D90 you don't have to worry about noise that much, you can easily pull up the ISO to about 1600 for a shorter shutter speed and be able to freeze action better. Thats a point where the k20D can't measure up with the D90.

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Nikon D90 | Nikkor 18-105 AF-S f/3.5-5.6 VR | Nikkor AF 50mm f/1.8D | Nikon MB - D80 battery grip | Lowepro Flipside 200

Nokia 6220 5mp - Carl Zeiss optics



Flickr