Camera Labs

Hi everyone, a quick note to let you know we've posted our Pentax K200D review, here:

http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Pentax_K200D/

The video was still being processed by Youtube as I posted this message, but it'll be ready soon, and of course the rest of the review is good to go!

Gordon

Thanks! ive been wating for this review for a long time now =) ill go check it right away

Good review and I think is probably consider the Sony a200 and Nikon D60 as the first like cameras to the K200D.

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Samsung NX100
18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS
iFn 20-50mm f/3.5-5.6 ED
iFn 20mm f/2.8 (coming soon)
30mm f/2
50-200mm f/4-5.6 ED OIS
Sony VAIO CR140F White

I have a few questions regarding the review.

1.sound proof? why would i need that in DSLR
2. DSLR with double A batteries , As it has been mentioned in review it gives 1100 shots. How many do we get from normal Entry level Canon or Nikon's L-ion battery?
3. HDR inside the DSLR? How does the HDR compares with after processed Raw based, HDR made in Adobe or any other software?


Thanks.

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Camera's: Canon 450D - Canon 40D
Lenses: Canon 70-200mm F/4 L, Sigma 10-20mm, Tokina 28-70, Sigma 300mm 2.8, Canon 50mm 1.4, EFS 60mm 2.8 macro
Flashes: 430EXII, 580EX and ST-E2

to help answer #2:

According to the US Nikon dSLR Winter 2008 Guide (got it from a Nikon rep Paul Van Allen), Nikon D80 = 2700 shots/charge, D60 = 500 shots/charge, D40/D40x = 470/520 shots/charge, respectively.

Hope that helps!

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Nikon D80 || AF-S DX 18-135mm
Nikon N75 || AF 28-80mm G , AF 70-300mm G, AF 50mm f1.8D, AF 35mm f2.0 (all Nikkor)

Wildlife?

But the word you heard was actually "sand-proof". I doubt that even it's most devoted admirers would call the K200D soundproof.

Bob.

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OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

Bonjour Gordon,

Congratulations for the K200D review

The K200D plus the 18-250mm lens seems a great combination in a crowded dSLR market.

With so many great products, being a customer is not an easy job today

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

Very informative as always.

I noticed the sound on this video tour was rather over modulated though. You might want to look into this Gordon.

I get the impression from its features that this camera may be targeted towards the film SLR people who haven't yet made the transition to digital. Although the people who use compacts will almost entirely have made the switch to digital I can imagine that there might be a group of people with long experience of film SLR and perhaps a considerable investment in that technology who up till now have been wary to make the switch. Perhaps because of the quality of their current photos and perhaps because they are not very computer minded and don't have much desire to have to learn how to use this new fangled image manipulation software.

This camera seems to deliver an output without PP comparable to a film SLR with immediately good looking JPG-images that get noisier/grainier with increasing ISO but keep a lot of the detail. This will be familiar to the film SLR user and won't make them feel the immediate need to concern themselves to deeply with the whole PP scene.

I'm afraid I can't help wondering whether it was a bit too convenient that the kit lens wasn't available. If I were a manufacturer/distributor who wanted to boost the review results the easiest way to do it would be to have it tested with a better lens since that can make a considerable difference. I get the feeling this was partially a lens review.

Or am I being too cynical here?

Ben

Great review as usual.

I wonder if anybody uses the in camera raw development options. Seems pretty cumbersome to me compared to working with a PC or Mac

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Olympus E-30, ZD 9-18mm 4.0-5.6, ZD 50mm Makro 2.0, ZD 14-54mm 2.8-3.5, ZD 70-300 4.0-5.6

Light travel equipment:
Olympus EP-2, µZD 14-42mm , Panasonic 20mm 1.7 pancake.

Cullmann Trento IT Daypack

1- Sand-proof, as in dust

2- doube AA batteries is one of this cameras advantages against rivals, its a huge plus, i mean, more charge and more versatile, what more could we want?

3- HDR simulator not HDR maker.


@cam-am-i

the kit lens comes with a DA 18-55 mm wich is concidered by most reviews the best kit lens around in terms of quality, the same so of the 18-250mm, only less focal range

Sorry i heard it being Sound proof.. Thanks for correcting me!

_________________
Camera's: Canon 450D - Canon 40D
Lenses: Canon 70-200mm F/4 L, Sigma 10-20mm, Tokina 28-70, Sigma 300mm 2.8, Canon 50mm 1.4, EFS 60mm 2.8 macro
Flashes: 430EXII, 580EX and ST-E2

=P no problem

"If you want weatherproofing (...) semi-pro model like the Canon EOS 40D."

Note that EOS 40D is NOT weatherproofed. While it uses foam in a few areas the main body junctions, switches and knobs are not sealed. Current Pentax models, Nikon D300 or Sony A700 prevent dust and moisture ingress to much, much higher extend -- EOS 40D is not even close.

This is not to say that EOS 40D is poorly assembled, but it very far from being weatherproofed.

This is my first post to Camera Labs.

I just got a K200D in May, and have enjoyed it thoroughly so far. I do come from a more film background (as Ben suggested might be the case), but I have also played around with a Canon Point'n'shoot for a number of years, too, so I am not new to digital work.

Gordon, I really liked your review of my new camera. It is great to have one's opinions (and decisions) backed up by knowledgeable people!

Just a point of clarification:


While it is true that the in-camera RAW development is fairly rudimentary, it might be quite useful while on holiday, for example. You might not have a laptop with you do to the heavy lifting, but you want to give some friends copies of the photos you took. Photo kiosks do NOT handle RAW files. This is where the in-camera feature is useful.

A lot of what this camera does seems aimed at travellers: tough build, ability to develop in camera. That is part of the reason I like it so much.

Cheers,

David

Hi David, welcome to the Cameralabs forums, and it's great to hear from a K200D owner - please do tell us more about what you think of it in practice - have you had any situations where the build or weatherproofing came in handy, or its use of AA batteries for example? And how do you find it weight wise etc...

Cam-I-Am, I hear what you're saying, but the Pentax distributor over here really did have limited lens options at the time of testing and the 18-55mm wasn't one of them. Strange I know, but I believe them!

Gordon

PS - I've also just received some more info from Pentax, so have updated the features page with more info on the internal processing and AF sensor compared to the K10D and K20D.