Pros:High quality (sturdy feeling)
Well designed
Superb Image quality
No pattern noise at high ISOs (looks more like film grain)
In body image stabilization
Cons:
No image orientation sensor (if you hold portrait style have to manually rotate)
No red focus confirmation dot (still has green dot in viewfinder at bottom)
Who should buy the K2000? Anyone also considering entry level Nikon or Canon DSLRs. This is fully competitive, but offers in body image stabilization that works with any lens (old and new). Nice feature set at a great value.
The auto focus of this camera is improved, focusing more precisely in low light than previous Pentax models, and also works with the new SDM lenses. Auto white balance is also improved. It does much better under tungsten light than some previous Pentax cameras.
The shake reduction is highly effective, as much so as most in lens systems. About 3 f-stops for me. This is a handy feature because it works with ALL lenses. You don't have to keep buying the same feature for $100 to $500 every time you buy a lens for which you want stabilization. Not to mention, when a new body comes out you get an improved stabilizer. With an in lens system, you have to replace your lenses to get improved stabilizers.
Even though this is a no frills system, it is very capable for those advanced amateurs or pro's looking for a compact body to use with the Pentax Limited prime lenses (compact lenses offering outstanding image quality). The big two haven't invested many resources in prime lenses suitable for APS-C sensors (by far the best selling dSLRs), Pentax has bucked the industry trend with their superb DA Limited series lenses.
Image quality is outstanding. I used it at a studio shoot recently, and had no issue. My only complaints were the lack of user selectable focus points (besides all or center only) and lack of orientation sensor. For the most part these were easy to work around. The picture results were stunning, even up to ISO 800. By 1600 there starts to be a fair amount of noise, but there is no pattern to it (my K20d has awful horizontal pattern noise). These photos are highly suitable for B&W conversion, and they resemble high speed film better than many digital cameras.
In conclusion, you get a lot of bang for you buck with this camera. The bundled AF200FG flash is very good compared to any built in flash offering much better range, better fill, and being off camera helps reduce red eye and shadowing from lenses. The kit lens is excellent at apertures 5.6 and up at any focal length (it is a tad soft at the corners at wide angles at apertures larger (smaller number) than f/5.6. I mounted it to the K20d and it had no problems resolving for the higher resolution sensor. I recommend this without many reservations (see my cons), and for a starter or enthusiast it is a great little camera. With my review title, it is the first time I can feel comfortable to recommend a Pentax to a non-DSLR user (previously they have been better enthusiast, non-beginner models).
Update One: First set of batteries that came with the camera have more than 1000 shots on them, many of these with the flash. This has truly amazing battery life, especially considering how much the back LCD is illuminated (no top information display). This would last many users a year!
The only other little things I have noticed is there is no slot for a cable remote and the back LCD can be bright. This camera wouldn't be the best for star trails for example, but this will only impact a small percentage of users.
I still love it!
The camera is very intuitive to use; I was able to use it right out of the box and have then progressed to use more and more powerful features by reading the manual. The features are all well thought out; this camera clearly implements many lessons learned from previous DSLR's because so many things are done so well. It is simply very well engineered.
I have had a series of point and shoot digital cameras over the last several years including a Fuji, a Sony and a couple of Canons. Before that I used a 35mm Pentax SLR and am therefore familiar with SLR operation. I also have a number of good lenses from the film SLR.
Part of my enthusiasm is this is my first DSLR and it offers so much more than the point-and-shoots and my old 35mm SLR. For example, I have been using its RAW feature and can save photos in both a Pentax and a standard Adobe RAW format, the latter I was able to use with Photoshop Elements 6 and have found all kinds of useful adjustments that were never available to me before.
I also like the fact that this camera uses regular AA batteries available anywhere.
The AF200 flash works well in my group photo shots and is a great value bundled with the camera. It has a nice diffuser cover for the flash to support wide angle shots. On the negative side, the AF200 is not extremely powerful-I was used to a more powerful one with my old 35mm's external flash and the AF200 can not be swiveled to bounce the flash off the ceiling--another feature I miss. However, it is much more powerful than the pop-up on the camera and it too uses AA's.
Another feature I like about this camera is its low light performance. The pictures I took at night making use of high ISO and image stabilization were simply amazing.
The camera does not have live display on the LCD on the back; you have to look through the viewfinder. Despite my recent experience with the point-and-shoots which all have live view, I have not missed that feature-looking through the viewfinder works well for me under all lighting conditions.
Overall, this has proven to be the perfect camera for me. I STRONGLY recommend it for folk coming from the point-and-shoot world and if you happen to have some old Pentax lenses (or buy some on e-bay) it makes an even more compelling purchase. Five stars!
Buy Pentax K2000 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 DA L Lens and AF200FG Flash Now
I own a Pentax K100D which was my first DSLR. Enjoyed for 2 years shooting sports photos (runners) and landscapes. Main issues were somewhat slow focus and having to clean sensor (30 minutes and test photos) with almost every lens change.The new 2008 cameras almost all have built in sensor cleaners which are worth their weight in gold. I wanted faster autofocus and the "cleaner" so I looked at many reviews for all entry or middle level SLR brands. It came down to the Canon XSI, Sony A300 and the Pentax K2000. The Pentax 200D and 20D used existing autofocus and reviews all said they were slow.
With built in image stabilization, the flash included, and the 5 point auto focus (faster than the 11 point K100D) I decided on the Pentax. The Canon and Sony have live view, but if you haven't used it for awhile you won't miss it. I had also invested in a couple of lenses (Pentax 18-250) and a lesser priced Quantaray 70-300 zoom for the K100D, so I didn't need to spend any additional dollars.
Waiting for the spring track season and the faster continuous shooting speed, but I'm happy with everything I've taken so far. Slightly smaller than the K100 body, but sturdy and controls well placed. Help button is new and works very well, especially for the new SLR user.
I'm used to AA's for power and always keep an extra set charged.This is my first DSLR, upgrading from a 10x point and shoot, although I was a film SLR owner for several years. I looked at the following cameras closely before deciding on the Pentax K2000: Nikon D60, Canon Rebel SXi and the Olympus E-420. Although I'm sure that all of these cameras are good, I chose the Pentax for the following reasons:
size: it's smaller then all of them except the Olympus and I liked the feel of it compared to the Olympus. I wanted a camera that's good for travel.
lenses: although I'm starting fresh with no lenses, I liked the fact that you can use Pentax lenses even from the 1970s gives me more options to pick up some good lens deals. Also, I read that Pentax has good lenses for cheaper than the others. Along with this purchase, I got a pancake Pentax 40mm lens love it and when it's on the camera, it's really not much bigger than a point and shoot.
good for beginners: it's very easy to use and makes it easy for people who are new to DSLR to learn.
I also like that it uses AA batteries good for travelers.
I like that there's not a bright red light that beams out to help focus in low-light situations. Some cameras have that and it's very annoying when you're trying to discreetly take photos in a church or someplace.
There are some things that could be improved, like the 5-point focus system, but for the price, this is a good camera.
Overall, I just like the camera and I'm loving some of the photos I'm taking. I also like the support you can get online at the Pentax forums. I would definitely recommend the Pentax K2000.My K100D still works great, but it's starting to feel a bit dated with its slower autofocus system and lack of SDM lens support. Since K2000s are getting so inexpensive, I decided to pick one up for a minor upgrade.
My initial impression was that the K2000 is heavy. It actually weighs slightly less than the K100D, but the smaller hand grip makes it feel heavier to me. The hand grip is less bulbous so it doesn't fill into my hand nearly as well, but I suppose that the hand grip was the only part that could be drastically reduced in size without making the camera feel unbalanced.
I also immediately noticed the missing LED screen at the top. Fortunately, all of the information is clearly and brightly displayed on the back LCD screen now. The new interface is actually very, very well designed. It's familiar enough that I could jump right in, and intuitive enough that I quickly figured out the new shortcuts and features. I'm finding the autofocus to be pretty quick and camera operation a bit quieter. Overall, I find the K2000 to be extremely usable.
The switch to the 10MP sensor finally gives me ISO 100 and smaller ISO increments for more control, but I'm also noticing much more noise than with the wonderful 6MP sensor in my K100D. With my K100D, I found ISO 800 to be very usable, but I'm afraid of pushing beyond ISO 400 with the K2000. I think this is something that I'll just have to get used to when I'm framing and exposing scenes.
The DA L kit lens seems to be about the same as my old DA 18-55mm, except for the plastic mount and sticker badge. You also don't get a lens hood. I haven't really tried the AF200FG flash because I have the AF360FGZ, but it seems appropriate for an entry level kit flash.
Pros (relative to the K100D):
+ Smaller and slightly lighter than the K100D.
+ 10MP sensor that gives more control over ISO.
+ Incredibly intuitive interface.
+ Sv (sensitivity) mode! I didn't have this before on the K100D.
+ Excellent mix of pro and non-pro features like the Help button, which can also be changed to be the RAW button.
+ Despite the cheaper construction, the kit lens still feels solid and comparable to my old 18-55mm that has a metal mount.
Cons (Relative to the K100D):
The 10MP sensor is noisier than what I'm used to. I've seen some amazing pictures taken with this sensor though so I'll have to learn the limits of this camera.
The ergonomics of the body aren't quite as good as the K100D. It's probably perfect for people with smaller hands though.
The DA L kit lens has a plastic mount, a sticker badge, and no lens hood.
UPDATE 7/28/09: I took my K2000 to San Diego Comic-Con and I must say that it performed admirably at ISO 800. I found that as long as I expose properly (preposterous!), the noise levels are totally acceptable. It's a bit more fussy than the K100D when underexposing at the same sensitivity, but I'm no longer afraid of using this sensor at ISO 800.
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