K20D & GX20

I've been offered the chance to buy a used Samsung GX20 and would use it as my second body if I were to purchase it. Apart from the differences in the menu set-up and layout of the buttons, etc what other differences if any are there in comparison to the K20? Has anyone on here got one? What do you think of it?
I've got a couple of SDM lenses and have read they will work but will the battery grip for the K20 work on the Samsung?

Rob

Well I now for a fact that ewen_r has one and recently won one of our camera clubs yearly competitions with a panel of 4 monochrome prints, all taken with the GX20 of course. It was most gratifying to see a Samsung owner and a relative newcomer to photography beating all the "competition" (thats forum speak for Canikons)

Having seen Ewens GX20 is what spured me on to buy the K20D (i'm a snob and wanted the Pentax :blush

I must confess I did find the menus a little confusing, but who needs menus unless your forever changing your settings?

Dont know about the grip.

The K20D shoots DNG or PEF RAW files, the GX20 shoots DNG RAW files only. Other than cosmetic differences that's about it really.

The battery grip for the K10D/K20D is a slightly different shape to the GX10/GX20 one so you won't be able to use it on both. Other accessories (batteries, flash, etc) are completely interchangeable.

A friend of mine has a GX20 and is very pleased with it. I've had a play with it and found it very intuitive, coming from my K10D. Nice to have all the buttons in the same places (even if the Samsung ones are square rather than the round ones on the Pentax).

Several magazine reviews that I've read prefer the JPEG output of the Samsung to that of the Pentax, but it's a personal thing and if you're shooting RAW then there shouldn't be any noticeable difference anyway.

I'm 99.999% certain that the grips are different and are not interchangeable.

I looked at the Samsung GX20 and like Spider a bit of a snob the battery grips are different but you will only have to buy it once, everything else is the same. It would make a good secound body..

Funny, yesterday I wrote a long email to a photography magazine just about this, and their wrong rating of the 2 cameras.... THis is what i wrote!

" Dear Digital SLR Editor

I have been an avid reader since early 2007, and I still find your magazine a very interesting read, and source of information and inspiration for my photography.

I was reading your latest issue, and fell upon a very disturbing fact:

in the Digital SLR buyers guide, on page 141 you present a review of the Samsung GX-20 and give it an overall rating of 89 with the sequent break-out
Handling 22/25 Features 22/25 Performance 22/25 Value 23/25

In the next page, you list the Pentax K20d, which is (as you surely know) the exact same camera as the Samsung, with the overall rating is 87:
Handling 22/25 Features 23/25 Performance 22/25 Value 20/25.

Now I think that various considerations should be made here.

- The actual cost (both RRP and Street Price) of the 2 cameras is exactly the same, both in your review, and in real life. You should consider though that the Pentax camera has a £100 cash back, and (as you know) better value for the used market (bringing it to £499 with kit lens...). I therefore struggle to understand the 2 points difference in VALUE for Money, as they are listed with the same price. And are the same camera indeed.

- The two cameras are exactly the same in every component, apart from the fact that the Pentax can save RAW files also in PEF format, which is slightly compressed RAW format unique to Pentax. (I presume that this is why the features have 1 point difference)

- I understand that you couldn't possibly rate a Pentax product as a "best buy" or "Highly rated" product, because of market issues, and the fact that obviously, the 3 big guns (Nikon Canon and Sony), invest much more than other brands in advertising in magazines like yours, and this needs to be reflected in the 'supposedly non-biased' buyer's guide rating. Yet, this example is a really frustrating one, because instead of giving the real value of a camera, your review represents it in a wrong way, not allowing readers to make an informed decision when buying the product.


I have been really happy with your magazine for a long time, but I find this issue very upsetting, and would be mostly interested in the reasons behind such facts.

Thank you very much, "

Interested in what there answer will be..

Excellent stuff.

Well done for taking the time to do it.