K20D purchase

Well, yesterday or the day before I was going to purchase the K20D from SRS online, at £799 - Pentax K20D, 18-55MKII, Grip.
My parent said that they wanted me to wait till a cheque cleared first (I'm very eager to get it, I've just sold my K100D+18-55)
So today I went on the SRS site and the price of the kit lens has shot up £35 so now the deal is £835!!
How come this has happened? Will it drop back down soon?

[edit]
Also, the battery grip does come with a battery? Its not just a grip and they are expecting you to shell out £40 on a battery too are they?

Give Chris a ring, he may take pity on you (as long as you tell him who you are on here).

And, no, the grip comes without the battery. Best to get one from 7dayshop.com or similar, they cost about £7.

Dan

I agree.

It is always worth giving Chris a ring.

He is a very nice chap.

I just wish his shop was not so far away.

This is the battery to get:

www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=777_3&products_id=99219

Camera World are doing K20 with new version 2 kit lens for £749
or body only for £679.

www.cameraworld.co.uk

They have branches in London and Chelmsford or they do mail order on the web.

...but then the grip's £100, pushing the price up to £849 - still better at SRS.

Dan

Sorry Dan, I didn't notice the grip.

679 is a very good price, it translates to: Euro 789. The lowest price I have seen here in the Netherlands is Euro 919 for the body.

And if I look at the kit prices at SRS it looks very good, it might even be cheaper then here in the Netherlands including shipping...

The body is £679 at SRS too, and I know whom I would rather buy from.

G

I went and bought it that night because my mum was going to be away, and i'm impatient it arrived this morning (excellent speed, thanks SRS/Chris ) and had a 4GB SDHC card with reader in the box as well..

So now I have 2x 4GB SDHC cards and 2x 2GB SD cards.

Anyway, first impressions were excellent (upgrading from K100D)
The buttons take alot of getting used to, there are so many
And the grip even more so
but its very comfortable to use
Was impressed with live view, can see that coming in useful for Macro photos.
And i've been playing round with some of the more quirky features (21FPS @ 1.6mp)
High ISO performance is excellent
Didnt see much difference in DR increase, but didnt test much
SR seems the same, but worse because the cameras heavier so my hands shake a bit more.
Yeah, the two minor points about the camera that arent great for me, the weight of it with 2 batteries and grip, and the sound made by the buttons (espcially the OK button) and shutter, they sound plasticy and cheap. of course I'll get used to both of those
Fantastic camera.

The extra weight should reduce rather than increase camera shake, as it should smooth out and slow down any movement. This is the excuse fans of heavy lenses come up with anyway

However, I find the size and weight of the K10D (similar ro K20D) quite enough already without a grip, so I've chosen not to get a grip.

As for the extra buttons, you'll master them within two days, then wonder how you got by without them before.

The good high ISO performance alone must make it a better camera than the K10D. Congratulations on getting it.

Well the weight issue is just a case of getting used to it
2 weeks time, if I pick up a K100D again it will probably fly out my hand

I remember once when my friend had a C*non 350D with 50mm F/1.8 attahced (cheap plastic lens). I picked it up and I couldnt believe how light it was
I hated it.


so I will get used to this in time.

And yeah, the buttons, I'm already loving the extra e-dial, and the metering and AF area dials. Though I do find the AF.S, AF.C, MF switch difficult to use.

Congratulations Rob - judging by the pictures you've posted from the K100D I'm sure you'll make very good use of the K20D.

I'm also in the "no-grip" camp; like Pete says above, I find the K10D just about right as it is. Having said that, all my lenses are relatively small and lightweight (except the 12-24) so they balance nicely on the camera - if I were a Bigma (for example) user then I'd probably want the extra weight at the camera end to level things up a bit. Still, having the grip doesn't mean you always have to have it attached...

...and having the grip doesn't mean you have to have a battery in it. I don't, I just prefer the feel of the camera with the grip on. Of course it still adds to the weight, but without the battery it's not as heavy.

On a slightly different note, I was in Cameraworld in Chrelmsford this morning, and the K20D and 18-55 II was for sale at £699, although it's still showing as £749 on their website.

Dan

Well if anyone wants any tests shots taken to show various ISOs etc, then I will (I know most of you will have seen some already but yeah)

It really is superb
ISO 1600 shots are plenty usable
and 3200 resized are probably fine for web, or print with noise reduction.

One final thought, because I focus with my left eye, Ive always turned the camera the other way that the grip faces, its gonna take getting used to turning it anti clockwise, but it is so much comfier!
And no more losing that damned remote