Crossroads

There is one snag with the K20D and K-7 that might bug you if you're into shooting action and shoot RAW....

If your SD/SDHC cards are Sandisk Blue Line (cheap ones) or Ultra IIs (or the equivalents from other makers) you'll be very frustrated as images load onto the cards very slowly. It's better with the Extremes. It was never a problem with 16 mB DNGs on the K10D, but the K20Ds 23 mB DNGs take forever....so the jump from 10.2 to 14.6 will manifest itself that way...

it all depends on your style of photography

Get yourself one of the old Pentax straps with the little pockets at the end for the eye piece cover. The Pentax remote fits in those lovely. I still use the basttery grip to hold mine tho'!

I've put grips on my all my front line cameras.

For the K series DSLRs it provides a secure home for a spare card and, K7 excepted, a slot for the wireless remote. Invaluable imho.

The second battery is extremely useful if you are travelling and access to 215/240v for recharging the battery is limited or subject to competition with SWLTBO and her gadgets. But you do have to ensure the grip is off when the camera is off or battery life will be relatively poor compared to expectations.

I like battery grips for the added weight which helps counter balance mid to long DA* zooms which are relatively heavy compared to their FA counter parts.

Finally, they feel better in my hand with the grip - and I'll include my MZ-Ss, ME-Ss and LXs in that. The 'feel' aspect is quite personal and others here hate the grips because they make the camera too heavy or too big to handle comfortably.

Steve

As I said, I tried using one and drifted away from it. It wasn't a particularly conscious decision, I just found myself more often than not leaving the grip at home until now I can barely remember the last time I used it. I have power winders for the MX and ME series, the motordrive A and for my LX and rarely fit them either. I like the "LX Grip B" but that gets left behind because the ever ready case doesn't fit with it on!

Especially since buying axl's katz-eye split screen I find myself taking a selection of manual primes rather than bigger zooms. For example, yesterday I took my S-M-C Takumar 28mm, FA43 Ltd and the M100 f/2.8. The K20D with grip looks mighty daft with the M40/2.8 pancake fitted!

As ever, courses for horses and all that.

K.

Two advantages for the K20D over the K-m/K-X:

Connector for wired remote control (handy for long exposures)
LCD panel on top for the most relevant information

Just another angle - do you intend to keep this body as a second unit when the next Pentax camera comes out or not?

Its difficult to say what effect this will have on the resale values of either, but the significance is if you bought the K7 replacement, you'd be better with the Kx as a second body, so you've got a "big" camera and "small/light" camera, which is a better combination than two bulky non-identical cameras...

Don't forget the pentaxprism viewfinder and weather sealing.

Of course, Stefan, how could I forget the Pentaprism
But I wasn't sure of the K-x/K-m specs apart from the remote and the LCD display.

My choice would be (and is) the K20D. I prefer it even to the K7. I will reconsider my opinion if, and when, the video capabilities of newer models are much improved.

As a still image capturing tool, the K20D does all I ask/need of it.

Thanks for the continued input guys.

I think I'm veering towards the K20D at the moment. It seems that the amount you get for your money (at current used prices) is exceptional, and whilst I was originally aiming for a small body and AA power, the advantages the K20D brings outweigh any of the drawbacks.

Thanks Peter.

Big majority of the guys here use K10D/K20D/K-7. Correct info about K200D and K-x should be looked for somewhere else.

If the K7 is outside your budget, the K20D is the way to go. I prefer small cameras, too, and really liked that aspect of the *ist series, but you soon get used to a slightly bigger camera.

I have never needed to change a charged battery in the field, despite sometimes taking hundreds of pictures, so there is little point in buying a grip for that reason. Also, I seldom shoot while naked, so I can usually find a pocket to put spare cards and things in.

G

Good lord George, that statement implies that you may have, at least once. I do hope it wasn't recently.