Pentax K200D Digital Camera

By Terry S  May 29, 2009

Best entry-level DSLR

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Jan 29, 2009 | 2 out of 2 found this Pentax K200D review helpful

Pros: Weather-proof body, image stablilizer, automatic dust removing

Cons: not too clear viewfinder, noisy at high ISO level, not too many controls on the body

I've had this DSLR for 6 months and I'm pretty satisfied with it.

This is value for your money, it has features you can rarely find in entry-level DSLRs (weather-proof sealing, built-in image stabilizer, 11-point auto focus, continuous focus mode). It has the same sensor as the K10D, it has good image quality on ISO-s less than 400, above that, it's pretty noisy.

It definitely knows more than it's competitiors, but one of the drawbacks of it being and entry-level camera is that despite the many functions, it's having a lot less on-body controls than the K20D. ISO, white balance, AF mode, flash mode.. they are all accessable through the menu, it takes some time to modify them.

The kit lens is not the greatest, though. Barrel distoriton on 18 mm, pinch distortion on 55 mm, serios vignetting on 18 at low apertures. I suggest buying it without a lens, and purchase a 16-45 to use with it.

real camera

By Zakaria  Jan 4, 2009 | 1 out of 2 found this Pentax K200D review helpful

Pros: BODY QUALITY.AA BATTRY

Cons: NO LIVE VIEW

its areal DSLR .BODY QUALITY IS THE BEST AMONG COMPTITORS.VALUE FOR MONEY.VERY SHARP PICTURERS.AA BATTRY..AN ECXLENT CHOIC.

By Brian  Aug 25, 2008

By Todorov  Aug 17, 2008

Great camera to transition from point-and-shoot

By Kevin  Aug 10, 2008 | 3 out of 3 found this Pentax K200D review helpful

Pros: Tons of features, great value

Cons: A bit bulky, but it's a DSLR, many features to learn to fully appreciate

I have had this camera for almost one month and am really enjoying it. Years ago I used a Canon Ftb camera *with film,* and caught the photography bug. Prior to the Pentax K200D I had only used "point & shoots," which were usually adequate but quite limited.

I am still learning all of the things this camera can do. Beyond a "full auto" picture mode, there are various scene modes from macro to landscape as well as the usual aperture-priority and shutter-priority modes. Pentax has one additional mode apparently unique to it, which is sensitivity mode. This means you set the ISO you want, as opposed to the aperture or shutter speed, and the camera does the rest. I've used it a few times and it works well.

This camera also allows you to go "full manual" and adjust anything you want. A lot of the manual settings are in the menus, so learning these will take a bit of time, though the big settings like aperture, shutter speed, and exposure are accessible via a scroll wheel beneath your thumb on the back in conjunction with a secondary function button.

This camera will capture RAW images in both the proprietary PEF Pentax format and the Adobe DNG format. A dedicated RAW button is present to the left of the lens mount.

I left the "Support" review above blank because I have not had the need to use it yet. The Pentax web site seems pretty comprehensive and Pentax appears to have passionate users, so I don't think support should be a problem.

This camera uses AA batteries, which I consider an advantage due to their wide availability. You will want to buy rechargeables, however, since you will burn through disposables. That's not to say the battery life is bad (it's not), but practically and environmentally you will not want to always be buying batteries.

I would definitely recommend this camera to someone considering a move up from a point & shoot

By Thoms62  Aug 7, 2008