new pentax dslr

Hi everyone i am looking purchase a new pentax dslr i already own a k10 but would like a backup body maybe a k100 or 100 super(whats the difference?) or k200 or even a pentax km.I would also like a k20 but this would then be my main camera and my k10 would be my backup i dont think my budget would stretch to a k20 i have about £350 to spend.Can enyone recommend a dslr because i've not used any pentax models before the k10.What are the k110 and the 1st DL2 like? I think i've started tieing myself up in knots so i'll leave it at that

I can recommend the K200D. It has the same sensor/resolution as your K10D, and has weather sealing. Handles very nicely, and has the few extra features compared to K100.

According to some, K20D is the only way to go , but it has its price. So my question is - how much better pictures can you really make with a K20 as compared to the K10/K200?

How about a back up body as good as your main? Park Cameras have K10D either new (£279.00) or refurbished (£219.00) last time I looked.

Martin, Your budget would only need to be stretched by £49 to get a new K20D, or less for a second-hand one. It may not take much better pictres than the K200D, but it'll retain the pentaprism viewfinder and two control dials that you are already used to, while adding higher resolution and a few interesting extra bells and whistles too.

A K-m might be a useful "travel" camera though.

The *ist DL and DL2 have fewer features than all the other models, and no Shake Reduction.

Park also do the Samsung GX-10 (same as K10D) for £300 although currently it says out of stock on the site. My sis-in-law got one and its pretty well the same as my k10d, menus differ a bit but thats it.

And the grip is different

And no PEFs.

No pef's that would be a problem for me as i have built up quite a library of pef's.Would that mean then that the software is different aswell.I use the pentax software as a viewer rather than an editor i use elements 6 as the editor.

DNG is support by both software so don't think it would be a problem.

ps. are the DNG's that come out of the Samsung better compressed compared to the Pentax?

I would go with K200 or K20. No KM: in US at least it's more expensive than K200, and worse in almost every regard (besides of the silly ISO 3200); only 3 AF points and the camera doesn't even indicate which one it is using!
A bit off-topic, but still important: DP review states results on K20D are better with DNG rather than PEF, so I am using it. I started to use FastStone (free software) for browsing the JPEG, DNG and TIFF files and it is SOOOO nice! For very fast scrolling thru thousands of pictures Picasa is even better, but when I first upload the pics from camera to the laptop and want to see, one after another, what I got there, FastStone is the best: fast, flexible, one-touch full-res (run the mouse over the image and click the button) for pixel-peeping, lots of other options. I didn't even load the Pentax Browser to my computer.

PEF contains the same RAW data as DNG, so you will get equally good image quality from it.

Where does it say that?

Same question, just readed the whole thing.
It only says that Adobe Camera Raw produce sharper photos then the Pentax software but that's something differend.

I do know that you get a better continues shooting rate with DNG because that's less compressed so handeled quicker then PEF bit since the buffer is much larger compared to the K10D you won't even notice it.

Sorry, you're right.

Adobe Camera Raw applies 25% sharpening by default, not sure if the Pentax Photo Laboratory does.

I only mention that because the original writer may not be aware of that and the comment could be an uninformed one that gains acceptance only by being repeated often enough.

There is no substitute for trying these things out for ourselves.