Possible New Pentax User

Chris, I came from Oly to Pentax via the K20D and now I have the K-7.

One of my main criteria was also weather resistance together with image quality.

You will not be disappointed with either the K20D or K-7, I can testify

Chris - I used to have the Olympus E-1 plus 14-54 lens (amongst others) which was a wonderful weather resistant kit. The high grade Zuiko lenses are fantastic, and the E-1 is that rare thing: a "classic" digital camera. In my view, in terms of sheer handling the E-1 is the best camera I ever owned. Shame it is rather slow and a little lacking in resolution though, not to mention noisy.

Taking the bodies first:

K20D is very well made and specified, and in terms of IQ probably at least equals or outperforms anything so far from Olympus. Build quality of the E3 and E-1 probably a little better, but the K20D is still pretty bomb-proof. If you are interested Jacobs in London (Oxford St) have a Samsung GX20 in the back which is I think brand new, on special offer, and essentially the same camera.

K-7 is as close to the spiritual successor to the E-1 that you are going to get. Wonderfully made, great handling and very little need to dig into menus. 100% VF and nice quiet shutter. It does offer some advantages for landscape shooters too (horizon correction, ability to tilt sensor for image composition, better live view implementation, better sensor clean (similar to SSW on Oly). I suspect if you picked up a K20D and K-7 you'd find it hard not to buy the latter!

If you are used to fantastic Olympus JPEGs, you may find that Pentax ones need to be adjusted to taste (softer and Oly have colour cornered). But, especially with K-7, if you venture into RAW, the Pentax files are superb.

For lenses you'd be hard pushed to find Pentax zooms that do better than the pro spec Zuikos, but good zooms are definitely there (DA* in particular). Where the system really shines is with primes: in that regard it is without rival. And there is a lot of fun to be had in tracking down and buying some secondhand glass - esp if you don't mind manual focus.

Does this help? Good luck whatever you decide!

Jon

That's a pretty good summing up, Jon.

G

I have 2 K20's that I was selling last week but decided to keep them as you won't get much better, a couple of nice lenses and you'll be sorted.

Jack.

Thanks folks, I shoot in RAW or RAW+JPEG so JPEG quality isn't a massive issue for me, also I'm not a big user of Zooms so having that not a massive issue for me either, I may buy something like a 70-300 for taking some shots of airliners at some point but thats it.
I've been in touch with Jacobs and they say they also have a Samsung 16-45mm lens is this a good one?

People rate the 16-45 very highly - but I don't think it is weather sealed, so that may be an issue for you?

One option to supplement it would be to get the 18-55 WR kit lens which weighs nothing and is a great option for grot weather (should be able to get one for less than £100 now).

Another non weather-sealed lens you may wish to consider is the Pentax 17-70 - very highly rated by owners and possibly the most versatile of the standard zooms. The same focal range can also be had at less cost with the Sigma 17-70 (I have this one), which is very nicely made and gives great results at a reasonable price. People who have compared the two tend to be happier with the colours and contrast from the Pentax lens, but the Sigma is still a great performer and mine produces incredibly sharp results (but sharpness isn't everything).

For the telephoto zoom, probably the best compromise between price and quality is the Pentax 55-300 - which out-performs Sigma's 70-300 at the longer lengths and has less purple fringing than the Tamron 70-300. Quality wise, it is built to a decent standard (similar to the kit lens), but the image quality is probably better than you would expect at the price.

Good sites for lens reviews include SLRgear.com and Photozone.de.

Hope this helps!

Hi Chris,
You could also look out for a Samsung GX20 which is exactly the same as the K20, albeit with slightly different internal processing. Should be a bit cheaper than a K20 too.
They really are very nice handling cameras - much better than Sony imho. Compared to Canon you get a lot more for your money too (having tried a 450D recently). The 450D had much quicker AF, but the K20/GX20 feels like a pro model in comparison.
Regards,
Matt

Chris - one more suggestion. If you want to have a look for yourself at what these cameras and lenses are capable of doing, take a look a the pentaxphotogallery.com website, which allows you to search eg by image genre, camera type and lens type.

The main conclusion - good photographers will be able to make great photographs whatever kit they use (at least within reason). Look for the results using the old 6MP bodies and kit lens to see what I mean.

So to me, unless you have specific requirements such as fast AF and frame rate for sport photography, that means buy the camera that feels right to you when you pick it up - because you'll want to use it more. They're nearly all capable of good photographs nowadays!

Weathersealing probably isn't the be all and end all if the 16-45 is a cracking lens then I would opt for it just now and as you've said maybe add an 18-55 WR also to my kit.
How much does a GX20 and a 16-45 usually go for, is the Samsung 16-45 really just a rebadged Pentax lens?

I am considering the GX20/K20 as it would then give me some space for an upgrade to maybe the K7 or (K8 maybe?) sometime next year.

I had the Sigma 17-70 for my Sony and was very impressed so I may well opt for that again at some point or the Pentax.

Saving some cash just now would be great and also give me spare to pickup some lenses and I want to get some filters also.

Others will be able to confirm but I believe the Samsung lenses are all rebadged Pentax. There may be claims about different lens coatings, but I would be surprised if they were substantiated.

The one thing I would caution against is buying the Samsung 18-55 kit lens, as I don't beleive they upgraded it to the same standard as Pentax's DA AL II version (a significant improvement, carried into the WR lens too).

From a quick look just now, the cheapest way you could get the combination you want is:

(1) buy the Samsung GX20 plus 18-55 (ignore what I said above!) from Park Cameras for £549
(2) buy the Pentax 16-45 from SRS Microsystems for stunning price of £229
(3) try selling the 18-55 on this forum - you might get around £25-£30 for it

If the Pentax brand and appeals more (and I think the general view is that K20D JPEGs were slightly better than GX20), Park are selling them body only for £579.

I'd try and negotiate... K20D from Park plus 16-45 from SRS would cost £808. Why not see if Park can match or better that price and avoid buying from separate suppliers? I'd recommend SRS but they appear to be out of stock of K20Ds at present.

I've only played with a K7 in the shop since buying my K20D earlier in the year but tend to think that with the K7 you are paying for 'extras' like the video capability that don't add anything to its basic function as an SLR. Particularly so now that there are some good deals on K20s. It all depends what you want - having grown up on a manual film SLR, most of the time I set the in-camera options to neutral and use manual settings and focus. I did notice that on 'green' or 'P' setting the K20 can underexpose slightly (I'm told that's been corrected in the K7), but strangely it's not a problem I've ever had on manual or aperture priority.

Incidentally I bought a good used Pentax FA 24-90 that's now my preferred general walkabout lens, though the extra width on the 18-55 comes in handy now and then.

Well I have a Samsung GX20 along with the Samsung 16-45 lens both brand new reserved for £550.
Good deal?
Chris

sounds very good!

Fantastic deal. Now you can move on to lots of angst about which lenses to buy next

Talking of which - do yourself a favour and buy the DA Ltd 70mm to stick in your pocket when you go out with your new kit - it'll complement the 16-45 beautifully for occasions when you need a longer focal length!

Wear your Samsung strap with pride in the face of CaNikon snobs everywhere

Seriously, that's a great deal. Now you get on Ebay and pour over all the old k-mount primes