Is this still available??

It looks good, but will it actually be any good??

I just wish Pentax would put a half decent sensor in their compacts i.e. one that is useable at iso 400 and above.

I guess my Fuji F30 has spoilt me a bit in that respect.

Yes, I'll expect to see a load of these in the "for sale" section soon

Thats a good point, but isnt the extra noise on the K7 caused by the fact there is more circuitry in and around the sensor to handle the increase in FPS and the video offered by the K7. I beleive that the Nikon D300s is also slightly worse than the D300 for similar reasons.

Mind you, I think both the K20 and K7 get an unfair press about high iso noise. The K20 is better than its competitors and the K7 is equal to its competitors yet they are both percieved as being poor at high iso's, whereas, for example, the Nikon D300 is percieved as being good at high isos:

I was one of those people who bought a GX-20 for £299 from Jacobs earlier in the year and I thought I'd share my thoughts on it after about 6 months use.

Firstly, I think i got a complete bargain at that price, I mean Park were selling Gx-10's for that price at the time and some places were selling K10D's for for than that also!

After a couple of thousand shots in some vastly differant locations / light etc i think i can now compare this camera to my trusty K100D.

Firstly, I love the layout of the camera, the 2 e-dials and all of the other things that make it easier to use compared to the K100D.

The other things i like about the camera are:

I find that the dynamic range is vastly improved, there are far fewer occasions when I lose highlight detail than there was on the K100D.

Samsungs JPEG engine is really very good, if you get the exposure spot on there is no benefit in shooting RAW (although I still do!).

The version of Silypix you get with Samsung is far better than any versions you get with Pentax.

The metering seems much better compared to the K100D.

The high iso performance is very good - iso 3200 is printable at A4 (with a little help from Neat image), providing your exposure is spot on (see cons).

The build quality is impressive and I was pleased that the heat of Egypt (50degC) didnt kill it!

The things it dont like:

The shadow noise is horrendous, even at iso 100. If you try to boost the shadows in RAW you find out just how much noise there is there. If you shoot high iso you have to make sure you have ETTR because otherwise the noise can be ruin the shot.

The RAW files are massive compared to the K100D.

And thats about it really for the negatives.

Anyone agree with me?

I've used them for quite a few prints and I'm sure I got the recommendation from someone on here.

For the price I'd say they are great value for money. I've found the print quality to be fine and have had no complaints. I'll definitely use them again.

I wouldnt worry too much about that. They said the same thing to me over 2 weeks ago. They probably say that to stop people buying multiple cameras and flogging them on ebay for a decent profit.

I ordered over the phone too.

I just said that I noticed that they had the GX20 for £299 and then said i wanted one at that price.

I got one from Jacobs too and i have to admit that at first I was a bit underwhelmed by the picture quality. But, once i had a play with the options and got used to the camera I was suitably impressed.

Shooting side by side compared to my K100D and a friends K10D the metering is, in my opinion better and the camera seems to have a much larger dynamic range than either the K10D or K100D.

I haven't shot anything in RAW yet, so i cant comment on that but i am impressed with the quality of the JPEGS and I believe the Samsung RAW software is better than the Pentax software.

Your best bet is for someone who had a K10D and upgraded to a K20D to comment on the differences as to all intents and purposes the GX20 and K20D are the same camera.

Oh, and if the rumors of a hefty price hike on the K20D are true then at £299 i got a bargain

I've ordered one too. Although they did tell me they now have no more body onlys left and if anyone else wants one they'll have to buy it with the kit lens for £350.

I phoned my local store first (Newcastle) and they said if i wanted one I'd have to part with £500