K200D - is it me or is it a lemon?

suzanne pollard · 11-26-2008, 11:54 PM

Have recently purchased a k200d with a sigma 18-55 standard lens and am VERY disillusioned with it. I have owned a pentax IST DL for about 5 years and have snapped some brilliant shots with it. Never had to fiddle with a button or setting since I've had it, except for turning on the RER. Have always worked in jpeg format and never had any probs.
Was very excited with my new purchase a couple of months ago (k200) but my excitement turned to disappointment when I took my first shots. i took both cameras with me and shot the same shots at the same times with both to do a comparison as I couldn't believe my eyes with the difference in colour, light and 'guts' in the photos. I shoot mainly in the northwest of western australia, where the beauty of the land lies in the blue, blue skies and the red, red dirt. No probs with the ist dl, everything is taken as I see it with the naked eye. The k200 is a different kettle of fish! On the same setting, sky is a washed out blue and the dirt a washed out brown, with the whole shot having no 'guts' in the colours. Same with sunsets, which are so beautiful up there.
I'm not denying the clarity is better, but so it should be as one camera is 6.2 and the other 10.2 mpixels. I have tried fiddling between all the metering selections and find centre weighted is best for most of my shots. Have changed the iso to 200 (which is what the ist dl is set on), and have fiddled with the magenta, blue, green, contrast, saturation etc. to boost them. Also tried adjusting the white balance to 'daylight' from auto but doesn't seem to make a lot of difference.
I'm very disappointed in this camera and when I see a 'click moment', I straight away reach for my IST as I have no trust that the k200 will capture what I'm seeing.
I've had suggestions that 'you can change it to what you want in Photoshop' but I figure that if you've paid good money for a camera, it should do what a lesser camera does and more, without having to get on Photoshop for an hour to produce the same results!
So much for upgrading to a better camera! Any feedback from anyone who has had the same experience or has any answers to my dilemma will be most appreciated. At the moment I just feel like selling this camera and cutting my losses. Have always been a 'Pentax' girl, but have almost lost my faith with this one..........

brumby · 11-27-2008, 12:04 AM

That's a bit of a worry, suzanne. I'm new to this forum and to Pentax DSLRs. I'm contemplating purchase and I was leaning towards getting a K200D to ease myself back into it and then waiting to see what the K30D brings.

I must admit that I've not heard too many complaints about the K200d, either on here or on other photography forum. I've had a play with the camera in store but not really had a chance to take photos with it.

I'll be watching with interest to see how this thread develops.

drewdlephone · 11-27-2008, 12:24 AM

I think part of the issue at play here is the PRIME engine. It's been noted on dpreview.com and other camera review sites that the JPEG engine in the K200 can bungle the raw information the camera is recording. What I would recommend is trying some test shots in DNG raw format, with everything set to automatic, and see what you get out of it. Then compare those shots with the same exercise on the ist*D. You mentioned that you toyed with the ISO and white balance. Did you also check your image formats? You said you're shooting in JPEG, which is fine, but is your color space set to SRGB and not AdobeRGB? This can make a world of difference, depending on what software you're using to view/manipulate the shots.

As to actual performance, I can't say my camera has had the same issues. It has some trouble with incandescent lighting, but then again, I've yet to see a camera that doesn't. Most of the time, what I see is what I get. And sometimes, what I get turns out even better. I always shoot with the lowest practical ISO for the conditions, in full manual mode in Auto White Balance, in DNG with the SRGB color space, and then I adjust the white balance if necessary with Aperture, but typically, I don't need to do much.

I hope that helps a little. Perhaps you got a lemon after all? Or perhaps the glass on the Sigma lens isn't as good as the glass in the DA18-55II? I'm not familliar with that lens, but I know that the little Pentax number is one of the best kit lenses out there.

jeffkrol · 11-27-2008, 02:02 AM

Originally Posted by suzanne pollard

Have recently purchased a k200d with a sigma 18-55 standard lens and am VERY disillusioned with it. I have owned a pentax IST DL for about 5 years and have snapped some brilliant shots with it. Never had to fiddle with a button or setting since I've had it, except for turning on the RER. Have always worked in jpeg format and never had any probs.
Was very excited with my new purchase a couple of months ago (k200) but my excitement turned to disappointment when I took my first shots. i took both cameras with me and shot the same shots at the same times with both to do a comparison as I couldn't believe my eyes with the difference in colour, light and 'guts' in the photos. I shoot mainly in the northwest of western australia, where the beauty of the land lies in the blue, blue skies and the red, red dirt. No probs with the ist dl, everything is taken as I see it with the naked eye. The k200 is a different kettle of fish! On the same setting, sky is a washed out blue and the dirt a washed out brown, with the whole shot having no 'guts' in the colours. Same with sunsets, which are so beautiful up there.
I'm not denying the clarity is better, but so it should be as one camera is 6.2 and the other 10.2 mpixels. I have tried fiddling between all the metering selections and find centre weighted is best for most of my shots. Have changed the iso to 200 (which is what the ist dl is set on), and have fiddled with the magenta, blue, green, contrast, saturation etc. to boost them. Also tried adjusting the white balance to 'daylight' from auto but doesn't seem to make a lot of difference.
I'm very disappointed in this camera and when I see a 'click moment', I straight away reach for my IST as I have no trust that the k200 will capture what I'm seeing.
I've had suggestions that 'you can change it to what you want in Photoshop' but I figure that if you've paid good money for a camera, it should do what a lesser camera does and more, without having to get on Photoshop for an hour to produce the same results!
So much for upgrading to a better camera! Any feedback from anyone who has had the same experience or has any answers to my dilemma will be most appreciated. At the moment I just feel like selling this camera and cutting my losses. Have always been a 'Pentax' girl, but have almost lost my faith with this one..........

Are you shooting jpg's and is the camera set to use aRGB??? Longshot is you have a color profile mismatch....
DIWA Labs

MoiVous · 11-27-2008, 02:30 AM

I've been using the K200D for over 2 months now, and fiddled with both JPEG and DNG (using the Adobe colour space). Out of the box, I've found the JPEG images in the default Bright mode to be just that, whilst the ones set to Natural to be a little faded (not overly so).

However, in DNG RAW processed in CS3 my images look quite good, with saturation as I'd expect it. I had a problem at one stage with my monitor settings, but a bit of calibration sorted that out.

I have read however that the Adobe colour space is a bit less saturated than the default.

Could you tell us what your default settings are? We can then do a comparison with other K200D owners around the world.

Alfisti · 11-27-2008, 09:42 AM

We really, really need sample images and setting please.

beequick · 11-27-2008, 10:15 AM

I am in the works of buying my first DSLR and I am leaning towards the K200D for budget reasons more than anything. Costco has the body with a 200m and 55mm for 699.99. Is this a good deal?

Also, I am wondering about the image quality so more information on the color saturation issue would be nice.

Stratman · 11-27-2008, 10:42 AM

I would suggest going into the menu and changing a few settings. Bump the saturation, and sharpness up 1 notch, and make sure you are on the "bright" setting instead of "natural" Then see how your photos look....

UnknownVT · 11-27-2008, 10:48 AM

Originally Posted by Alfisti

We really, really need sample images and setting please.

ditto.....

However Pentax dSLRs have a reputation that their default "Bright" setting is somewhat over-saturated and if my K100D is any indication there is a tendency to toward a sunny/yellow cast - this sounds almost "ideal" for your usage - and explains why you are happy with the color balance of your *ist.

dpReview on the K200D page 19 has a Macbeth chart where one can compare with other settings and other dSLRs - they said -
" The K200D's color response was very similar to that of previous Pentax digital SLR's. The image output in the default 'Bright' image tone is quite highly saturated (vivid), as can also be seen earlier in this review. Switching to the Natural tone calms color saturation to more typical levels (compared to other digital SLRs). "

This was similar to dpReview take on K100D where they said:
" The K100D's color response was quite similar to that of previous Pentax digital SLR's, that is quite highly saturated (vivid) in the default 'Bright' image tone, as can also be seen earlier in this review, it can lead to color clipping in certain situations (such as red flowers in direct sunlight). Switching to the Natural tone calms color saturation to more typical levels (compared to other digital SLRs). "

Some direct comparisons of my K100D -

K100D - Landscape Mode (close to Bright)

K100D Natural setting

Canon PowerShot S80 (p&s) Landscape mode -

filmamigo · 11-27-2008, 11:00 AM

Choice of lens has a huge impact on colour and contrast too. I hear great things about Pentax' 18-55, but not so good things about the Sigma 18-50.

What lens do you use on your *ist DL?

I know my favourite pictures were almost all taken with a used Pentax 28-90 DA, which renders the brightest colours with strong contrast, and has a lovely warmth to the image. Other lenses in my stable produce far less satisfying snap to the pictures (I'm thinking of my Sigma 70-210 UCII...)

**Ole** · 11-27-2008, 12:43 PM

Your next step should be to try the *istDL lens on the K200D so as to rule out the lens as being the culprit.

And perhaps you could post some sample shots with the EXIF information intact?

*Mallee Boy* · 11-27-2008, 02:48 PM

To Suzanne: pictures please, it is impossible to make any comment otherwise. Trying a different lens (if you have one) mandatory.

To Vincent: ...but what was there mate...which one of the three represents accurately what you saw? That is the real test.

Cheers.

UnknownVT · 11-27-2008, 07:19 PM

Originally Posted by Mallee Boy

To Vincent: ...but what was there mate...which one of the three represents accurately what you saw? That is the real test.

All shots taken early afternoon - almost exactly a year ago -

I thought the Canon p&s was the most accurate -
both the K100D shots seemed too sunny/yellow to me -
- of the 2 K100D shots my preference is for the natural setting.

dosdan · 11-28-2008, 01:55 AM

Originally Posted by suzanne pollard

Have recently purchased a k200d with a sigma 18-55 standard lens and am VERY disillusioned with it.

Suzanne, the Sigma AF 18-55mm/F3.5-5.6 is a particularly weak performer. One came with my Pentax K100D Super. I have hardly ever used it.

2 user reviews: avg. score 3.5/10
http://www.pentaxforums.com/userreviews/showproduct.php?product=334&cat=74

patrickt · 11-28-2008, 06:10 AM

Question #1: Is the K200 as a model defective? I went to PBase and looked at their photos taken with a K200. They looked quite normal to me. There were over 400 photos posted so there was a wide variety of subject matter, color, lighting, and so forth.

Question #2: Is my particular camera defective? With samples of shots with EXIF info it's impossible to say.

Question 3: Am I doing something wrong? Again, without samples there is no way to know. Personally, I find the quality control in producing me was probably not as good as the quality control in producing cameras.