 A Lot of Camera in a Small Light Package |
| Review Date: April 7, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Lawson Stone, Wilmore, KY United States |
I have owned and used both the Pentax K10D and K20D, not to mention the old Pentax film bodies. I've also played around with Nikon D40, D50, and D300 (family members owned these). Great cameras all.
But the Pentax KM/K2000 is an amazing package. Slimmed down from the K20D size, it still have a solid feel despite the light weight. The interface has been redesigned to make good use of a bright, clear rear display giving immediate access to 12 vital features of the camera's operation as well as exposure information. If you want, you can just set it to "Green Mode" and shoot automatically. Or you can venture a bit into scene modes, but the easy availability of Program Auto Mode, Shutter, Aperture, and and Manual exposure modes is appealing. Stepping up from point-and-shoot is easy, with gentle steps leading you to full control over the shot. Stepping "down" from the K20D gives you the same solid camera, same beautiful Pentax color, same availability of great Pentax glass from as far back as the 1960's, in a smaller, lighter package. To top it off, the new kit lens, the DA 18-55 MkII, is repackaged here in an even lighter form as the DAL 18-55. Same great optics in a lighter weight. This is the best kit lens I've ever used. The DAL 50-200 zoom is also a very fine lens, and this outfit will be all that many photographers ever need. Add a prime or two and you are well equipped.
Limitations exist: if you insist on selecting your own focus point, the KM/K2000 is not your camera. You can choose center point or let the camera select, but you can't select from the focus points as you can with the K10D and K20D. Auto orientation detection is missing, but I don't find that an issue. Some will welcome AA batteries, others prefer the proprietary battery. If you do not buy the kit with both lenses, I have not seen where you could purchase the DAL 50-200 separately, though the optically identical DA 50-200 (slightly heavier) is available. The DAL's are bundled and hard to find separately.
Overall, as a Pentax K20D user, I find the K2000 a wonderful back-up body, or a great body to take when the kit needs to be light and compact, but still have all the functionality of a solid DSLR.
Oh yes....this specific one is white. Storm-trooper white. It's an acquired taste, but a lot of fun. The regular, black KM/K2000 is optically and mechanically identical. I have played with both, though the black one is what I have. |
Great camera
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| Review Date: May 30, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Marc, |
| I bought both the Pentax K2000 and the Nikon D60 to do a true "side-by-side" comparison and after a couple of days taking a bunch of different pictures with both, I determined that the pictures were a little crisper with the Pentax. I used the exact settings on both cameras and took pictures of the same thing at the same distance and if you look at the final product closely, you will probably come to the same conclusion I did. Don't get me wrong, the Nikon took really good pictures. If I would have not bought the Pentax and just bought the Nikon, I would say the Nikon takes fantastic pictures, but when you compare the two side-by-side the Pentax takes a little better picture. The Nikon went back to the store and I'm now a proud owner of the K2000. |
Pentax K2000
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| Review Date: June 23, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Red Dog, Utah |
| This is exactly the camera I've been waiting for. I was Pentax fan when I used 35mm film and switched to digital several years and several cameras ago. My last camera was a Nikon Coolpix 8700. Great camera but I missed the versatility and speed of an SLR. I wanted a Pentax so I could use some of my old lenses. As it turned out, that wasn't all that important. The kit lenses are adequate for my hobbyist purposes and the guaranteed match of features to the DSLR camera body made it a great package. I have taken over a hundred pictures just to get the feel of the camera and I'm very pleased with the results. It is an easy camera to get to know, at least on an adequate beginning mode and then to expand as your picture taking demands get more sophisticated. I recommend it highly for any beginning to intermediate digital camera user. Unbeatable combination of capability and price. |
A Great Buy
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| Review Date: September 11, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Paul Boerger, |
| I upgraded from the K10D to the K2000. Some would think this is a downgrade. It just ain't so. I needed ISO 3200 for my work as a newspaper reporter and photojournalism, but simply didn't have the serious money for the high end cameras. With a prime lens and a little post processing, I get very nice (sometimes outstanding) low light shots that get published. Focus speed is way faster that the K10D in all situations. The camera is small and light, and very user friendly. There are many in-camera options for creating the kind of picture you enjoy. I have used similar (and higher) level Canons and Nikons and for the money this camera can't be beat. |
Can't beat the value
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| Review Date: July 28, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Michael K. Scherzer, Fairfax, VA United States |
I will be honest, this is not the best camera I own (that title goes to my Nikon D300), that being said the Nikon was triple the price (body only). Pentax as a sure winner here. Yes, this camera is a great starter camera for anyone moving up from a point and shoot.
However, this camera is also great for an experienced DSLR user who wants something a little more compact from time to time. Big cameras like the Nikon D300 and Sony Alpha series get heavy if carrying around for 8-10 hours while sight seeing
I recommend getting the kit with two lenses.
What is great about this camera
- Size
- Ease of use
- AA batteries if you are traveling and forget to charge
- SDHD card (more and more laptops have card readers and these are often on sale)
- Construction
- In camera editing for basic stuff
What isn't so great about this camera
- Color in the default setting is a little to saturated (think too bold), change to natural setting for digital filter
- No LCD on top (doesn't matter to me)
- No Live View (I think that feature is over rated and ONLY Sony does it right -- I have a Sony Alpha 300 as well)
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