| Author: | | New Member Registered: July, 2013 Posts: 2
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: September 11, 2023 | Recommended | Price: $119.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Ultra reliable, AA battery capable, weather sealed | | Cons: | ISO limitations, button locations, only 10MP | | Years Owned: 14
Ergonomics: 9
Build Quality: 10
User Interface: 6
Autofocus: 7
Features: 6
Value: 9
Image Quality: 8
Noise: 6
New or Used: New
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I've owned my K200D since it was a current production model. It was an upgrade over the K100, my first digital SLR. The build quality of the K200D is phenomenal - mine isn't showing any signs of degradation after 14+ years. I fitted the battery grip right away, which makes it feel that much more solid, and when I picked up a second grip a few years ago, new in the obsolete bin for next to nothing, I'm now able to swap them in seconds. Despite being only 10 megapixels it takes very pleasing images, and I still use it fairly frequently, because it's one of those cameras that is like that. It lacks features that reside in more capable bodies (GPS, high ISO, HSS flash, Live View) but I notice that a good condition K200D fetches a higher price than similar condition later Pentax consumer models with higher resolution sensors. A vote of confidence for its reliability, no doubt. Probably the best summation I can give is that the K200D comes close to behaving like a high-end film camera while giving you the advantage of digital images. You feel like you're creating the photo, rather than just triggering the shutter on a supercomputer.
Pentax changed a lot of the button locations, so after using the K-70 and K-50, coming back the K200D results in some erroneous inputs. The menus are somewhat different as well. The newer cameras are much easier to use in low light or at night, but they also chew through the power cells to do it.
If I had to use a camera in rough conditions for an extended period, I'd probably choose the K200D over my newer bodies. In fact, I just bought a second used K200D body ($119, shutter count 4,000) to keep my legacy glass working far into the future.
| | | | | | | New Member Registered: August, 2017 Location: Ronneburg Posts: 1 | | Review Date: April 29, 2022 | Recommended | Price: $100.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | build quality,Intuitive menus and displays, WR,CCD Sensor | | Cons: | AF in low light, continuous shooting capability, high iso noise | | Years Owned: 1
Ergonomics: 10
Build Quality: 10
User Interface: 9
Autofocus: 9
Features: 9
Value: 10
Image Quality: 9
Noise: 7
New or Used: Used
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Positiv:
Superb build quality for the class, weather-sealed body
Excellent, sharp and clean image results when shooting RAW
Larges and bright viewfinder althoug only pentamirror
Intuitive menus and displays
can be operated with AA batteries
Negativ:
Limited continuous shooting capability, slow and small buffer
AF in Low light
Conclusion: at the time of publication and still today a good camera
if you don't need the latest technology try to buy a good copy with less shutter counts
| | | | | Pentaxian Registered: June, 2011 Posts: 485 | | Review Date: December 20, 2019 | Recommended | Price: $280.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | price, images, ergonomics, controls | | Cons: | high noise, slow AF | | Years Owned: 4
Ergonomics: 10
Build Quality: 10
User Interface: 9
Autofocus: 7
Features: 7
Value: 8
Image Quality: 9
Noise: 6
New or Used: Used
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This was my first DSLR, so excuse me if I get emotional 
I produced a lot of images I am fond of with this lens and the provided kit lens. It is well built (I abused it for years), reliable (never once failed me) and gave me solid images with a few exceptions. I felt in awe to own such a piece of photographic machinery and learned a lot about photography from it. For someone getting into photography, and if you can pick it up for cheap today, then I would recommend it.
Now for the exceptions. I remember quite a few times I was frustrated by the unreliable and slow AF and the high noise levels. 400 ISO was as high as I would venture at anytime. I know that's subjective mostly, but in most situations 800 or above was just too ruined to be fun. The AF would be consistently too slow to capture subjects with accuracy, and when it did lock on it wasn't always on. This isn't so much a diss on the camera as it was the year the camera was released and the price point. By the time I got it (remember, my first DSLR) it was a few years after release.
But, I just love photography. So I tinkered and I learned with it. I think having a camera with some limitations helped me learn even more. And the build quality kept it going through every adventure. And it got me into Pentax, so there's that too  | | | | | Site Supporter Registered: March, 2010 Location: Frankfurt am Main Posts: 1,241
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: October 12, 2018 | Recommended | Price: $420.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | WR, Build Quality, Ergonomics, Performance with Eneloops | | Cons: | No per lens AF adjustment | | Years Owned: 9
Ergonomics: 8
Build Quality: 9
User Interface: 9
Autofocus: 8
Features: 8
Value: 9
Image Quality: 9
Noise: 7
New or Used: New
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Bought new in November 2009, after production stop at its lowest price level (3 months later the Internet prices went up by 40%). I would have preferred the K20D, but K200D-€399 vs. K20D-€650 decided for me.
It was just that I was sure on the long run neither 10MP nor 14MP would be what I wanted. And as this was my first digital SLR, I did not want to invest too much money for using this camera only for a few years.
But I was pleasently surprised by the IQ, and also by the fact that (despite negative ratings by many users) with a good external noise reduction software even shots with ISO 800 were really good, and many ISO 1600 shots usable.
The somehow limited possibilities to crop I had foreseen, and only seldom caused a problem.
I bought a used grip, which now just stays at home. It makes the camera too big and heavy (for me), and I never ever ran out of battery power with fresh loaded Eneloops.
After using the camera for a longer period, I found just two negative aspects:
The screen which is not really much fun to use with not so fast manual lenses.
And the missing possibility to store front-/back focusing seperately for each lens.
The missing LV did not bother me; I had tried it with the K20D and was not impressed.
EDIT:
I wrote this review nearly 9 years after purchasing the camera, and as all my actually 3 Pentax DSLRs have a top LCD, I forgot it to mention. A camera without it would be a no-go for me, but from the beginnings of Pentax DSLRs till the presentation of the K200D ALL Pentax cameras had a top LCD. The K-m/K2000 (a stripped down K200D) was the first one where this feature was missing. From then on, only the top-of-the line models got it (and not even all of these).
| | | | | | | Pentaxian Registered: December, 2016 Location: London Posts: 1,079
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: July 25, 2018 | Recommended | Price: $46.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Big screen, simple operation, AA batteries | | Cons: | A bit heavy | | Ergonomics: 8
Build Quality: 9
User Interface: 9
Autofocus: 8
Features: 8
Value: 9
Image Quality: 8
Noise: 8
New or Used: Used
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I bought this second-hand with an 18-55 lens in a pawnbroker's sale; the price I've given for the body is half the total price, since I can't break it down more accurately. I bought it as a test bed for K-mount lenses, so I don't need much in the way of features, and it seems a nice simple design that will do what I want without a lot of unnecessary bells and whistles. I particularly like the big rear screen, much better than that on entry-level Canon and Nikon bodies, and its use of AA batteries. The con of the latter is that really good high-capacity rechargeable AA batteries are heavy, expensive, and take a long time to charge compared to most dedicated camera batteries. I went with Duracell Powercell 2500 mAh batteries, so far I've taken 150+ shots without recharging.
Performance seems very good most of the time, but I had a little trouble with some close-focus work - not sure if this is down to the camera or the lens, but it wasn't serious anyway. There's an album of photos here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/150868539@N02/albums/72157699002825284 | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: August, 2012 Posts: 678 | | Review Date: July 14, 2017 | Recommended | Price: $94.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | CCD sensor, weather sealed, nice feature set, good ergonomics | | Cons: | No front dial | | Ergonomics: 9
Build Quality: 9
User Interface: 9
Autofocus: 9
Features: 9
Value: 9
Image Quality: 8
Noise: 8
New or Used: New
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I recently acquired this camera and although it's an older model, it still has a lot to offer. It offers most of the advanced features of my K10D in a package weighs almost half a pound less. Its user interface is somewhat simplified, compared to my K10D or GX-20, but not quite as dumbed down as my K-x, thus striking a good balance between the two. The camera is very comfortable in my hands, probably the most comfortable of any of my Pentax bodies. I also like that it uses AA batteries to keep things simple. Mine came to me with a DA 18-55mm AL II lens, both in their original boxes. I also snagged a BG3 battery grip for it, but as with the K10D and its grip, I feel the advantages it offers are somewhat overshadowed by the added bulk. Still, it's nice to have. The only real criticism I have of the camera is its lack of a front dial but hey, you can't have everything. All in all, this camera packs in a lot of good stuff and that makes it a keeper.
UPDATE: My review above was based on my initial impressions and the experience of having taken a handful of test shots when I first got it. Yesterday, I finally was able to truly put the camera through its paces shooting at a small outdoor music festival, mostly after dark and with only the stage lights for illumination. The camera performed quite well and its simplified user interface actually revealed itself to be an advantage as it is far more intuitive to make adjustments by feel than, say my K10D or GX-20. I have a feeling this camera will be seeing much more use in the future.
ANOTHER UPDATE: I just picked up a second one of these with a battery grip in their original boxes and eight Eneloop batteries but no lens for $80 plus shipping (total $110). Just couldn't resist, especially with a shutter count of 2,500. When I checked the firmware, I found it had already been updated. Funny thing, both of my K200D's came from Canada.
| | | | | Junior Member Registered: June, 2012 Posts: 47 | | Review Date: July 21, 2016 | Not Recommended | Price: $1,000.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | weather sealing, ccd | | Cons: | af, high iso | | Years Owned: 8
Ergonomics: 9
Build Quality: 9
User Interface: 9
Autofocus: 7
Features: 8
Value: 7
Image Quality: 7
Noise: 6
New or Used: New
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good ccd sensor. bad high iso noise. bad low light af.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: May, 2013 Location: BC Posts: 138
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 16, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $150.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Weather sealing, takes AA batteries, Top LCD Screen | | Cons: | Heavy, Slow AF, User interface may not be easy to navigate | | Years Owned: 1
Ergonomics: 9
Build Quality: 9
User Interface: 5
Autofocus: 5
Features: 7
Value: 9
Image Quality: 8
Noise: 7
New or Used: Used
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I'm primarily a Sony A mount user but from time to time I use my K200D. Prior to this I had owned a K100D as well.
I mainly use the pentax with legacy lenses so I can't comment on how it is with newer glass.
I feel that the AF on the K200D is off by a bit, but since I mainly use older lenses which are MF it isn't an issue.
I find that I can't get sharp images around ISO 800 and I'm not sure if it is just the camera (I bought it used) or maybe it is me but I do enjoy the grainy results of the photo. It brings me back to film days.
Honestly if you pixel peep it will just annoy you, other than that images printed and viewed on a monitor look great.
I do recommend this camera for those who want to try out a DSLR, those people coming from a P&S Camera
A few things that I do like about the K200D
1. Takes AA batteries
2. Use of older K mount lenses without any adapter
3. Weather sealing on it
4. Takes me back in time... grainy out-put reminds me of film
5. The useful top LCD (These days entry level camera skip this)
6. Colour output (something about CCD sensor)
| | | | | Pentaxian Registered: April, 2009 Location: Madrid, Spain Posts: 10,887
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: February 12, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $600.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Build quality, low ISO IQ, top LCD, battery grip, huge range of features | | Cons: | Inaccurate AF, no AF adjust, high ISO IQ, poor performance of AA batteries, poor jpeg engine | | Years Owned: 5
Ergonomics: 10
Build Quality: 9
User Interface: 10
Autofocus: 7
Features: 9
Value: 10
Image Quality: 9
Noise: 6
New or Used: New
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The K200D is the only DSLR I've ever used and I've been using it for five years now. It's produced many, many wonderful shots for me and I really love using it.
When I was choosing my first DSLR I read all the reviews of all the cameras within my price range and it became very clear that unless you already had a stack of lenses, you'd have to be mad to buy anything other than a Pentax. This camera cost less than the Canon 400D and is superior in every way. When I bought it, the only APS-C DSLR with superior dynamic range from it's sensor was the highly-praised Nikon D90.
Positive points:
Ergonomics are great, especially with the battery grip. The top LCD is extremely useful. The lack of these two features on Pentax's lower-range models since the K200D are the main reasons I have not yet up-graded.
I remember picking up a Pentax (I don't know if it was this or the K20D) in a shop and it felt wonderful in my hand. No other cameras were even close. The camera is extremely solidly built. All competitor's models, as well as newer Pentax models, around this price point are inferior, and this counts a lot for me. Weather resistance was extremely rare for a non-pro model when this came out.
The image quality at low ISOs (100-200) is amazing, and at 400 it's still very good. Above that it's not great and I end up converting to B&W a lot to avoid colour noise.
The viewfinder is quite good. I've swapped the standard screen for a Katzeye for using manual lenses, and it's a vast improvement.
The use of AA batteries is a mixed blessing. On one side they're much cheaper, easier to replace and carry spares when compared to LiIons, but I couldn't could on both hands the number of times I've had fully charged AAs (sometimes several sets) and yet the K200D simply refused to work with them. I chose the K200D largely because of it's use of AAs but came to regard it as more of a problem than a help. And yes, this applies even when using Eneloops, the highest quality rechargeables on the market.
Negative points:
The AF speed is not too bad, the problem is that it's not very accurate and misses a lot. This is the camera's major flaw, even more so that high-ISO image quality. There is also no AF micro-adjust for individual lenses, which is a criminal exclusion on any DSLR. There is a global setting that can be applied to all lenses, but you need to hack the camera to get to it (which I've done).
The noise above ISO 400 makes the camera tough to use at those settings. At 1600 you're almost obliged to convert to B&W to avoid colour noise. In many situations you can get around this by learning to use bounced flash, and I'm glad I've been forced to do so but that's not a solution for all situations.
I used the camera for the first year without post-processing the RAWs on a computer and when I finally did I realised how poorly the in-built jpeg engine was handling them. From that point on I PPed everything on a PC as the difference was considerable.
I've taken one point off for the AF and high-ISO performance, but other than them, this camera is an absolute pleasure to hold and use, and produces wonderful images.
My Flickr album of photos taken with this camera can be found here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/69424694@N06/albums/72157632365698058 | | | | | New Member Registered: November, 2013 Posts: 14 | | Review Date: February 8, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $200.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | very very sharp 100 ISO, excellent colors | | Cons: | higher ISO a few noisy | | Years Owned: 3
Ergonomics: 10
Build Quality: 10
User Interface: 10
Autofocus: 10
Features: 10
Value: 10
Image Quality: 9
Noise: 8
New or Used: Used
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for maco shootings my favorite inspite of not eliminating CA's like k-x or k-5
with single lenses excellent sharpnes at 100 iso.
good antishake with m42 lenses
additional AA-grip very usefull. If battery empty touch a switch and continue shooting.
| | | | | Forum Member Registered: January, 2012 Posts: 85
1 user found this helpful
| | | | | Forum Member Registered: October, 2013 Posts: 94
4 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: November 24, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $150.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | CCD, build quality | | Cons: | Controls, stiupid SD card slot cover | | Years Owned: 1
Ergonomics: 7
Build Quality: 10
User Interface: 7
Autofocus: 8
Features: 8
Value: 8
Image Quality: 10
Noise: 10
New or Used: Used
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I liked my first K200D so much I bought a second body. I like shooting outdoors and the build quality and WR mean I don't have to worry about the occasional knock or inhospitable conditions. This is one heavy camera (for an 'entry level' model) though and lugging two around plus lenses provides quite a work-out.
As I have mentioned in detail in another post, I like CCDs. I feel they reproduce subtle tones more accurately than CMOS, especially in low light - although the maximum 1600ISO is not so good. Detail from the modest 10MP sensor is excellent, especially with some cheap fast primes glued to the front.
I only ever shoot RAW so I'm not going to bother writing about the various filters and editing options. I generally use the same settings whatever the situation - centre weighted metering and AWB - and mostly use manual lenses so most of the options in the menus are irrelevant to me. I'll change ISO if the light is low but that's about it. I don't even know what all the buttons do, except they slow me down and distract me from taking photos. I like to keep it simple and as long as the IQ is good I leave well alone.
Not so good is the menu system which is distinctly old-hat, and I don't like the top LCD as I prefer to see all the information on one screen. I am not a huge fan of menus for ISO, WB, Drive and flash but as I never use flash and rarely change the other settings, it's no big deal. But what I hate most is the SD card cover which simply does not open wide enough, resulting in a real struggle to remove the card. It's a minor detail and one which my K-x doesn't suffer from, but one wonders what they were thinking when they designed it.
A word about image noise as other people have rated it low here. It does not possess great low-light sensitivity in the way my K-x does for example, but I don't see this as a problem. Low-light detail is better than the K-x, which just proves to me that the amount of processing needed to increase sensitivity is considerable and comes at a cost. There is noise at ISO1600 but it is not unpleasant noise - I quite like the graininess, which reminds me of old Ilford 400 B&W film. Don't moan about the noise, be creative with it.
If you're a Pentax user you'll know why Pentax is best, but for anyone else reading this - just look at the lens reviews. Look how many lenses there are, the quality and the price. You don't need another reason to buy Pentax.
Sample images
 | | | | | Senior Member Registered: September, 2008 Location: Tallinn Posts: 146 | | Review Date: November 23, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $650.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | WR, CCD colors, accurate autofocus with small aperture lenses | | Cons: | slow writing speed, slow autofocus, inaccurate autofocus with large aperture lenses | | Years Owned: 5
Ergonomics: 9
Build Quality: 10
User Interface: 10
Autofocus: 8
Features: 8
Value: 9
Image Quality: 10
Noise: 10
New or Used: New
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Bought K200 + DA 18-55 + DA 55-300 kit in '08 and I fell in love with it. Colors of CCD sensor are amazing; WR is handy - body coupled with DA* 16-50 withstanded a sea storm; autofocus is slow, but accurate. High ISO noise is not a problem for me, I'm sucker for grain. With ISO sensitivity up to 6400 and F2.8 luminance flux cross sensor, this would be perfect camera.
| | | | | New Member Registered: January, 2013 Location: Dublin Posts: 3 | | Review Date: November 20, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $280.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | excellent ergonomics | | Cons: | N/A | | Years Owned: 3
Ergonomics: 9
Build Quality: 10
User Interface: 9
Autofocus: 10
Features: 7
Value: 10
Image Quality: 9
Noise: 8
New or Used: Used
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Excellent camera at the beginning of the adventure with photography
| | | | | New Member Registered: August, 2008 Location: Maine USA Posts: 3 | | Review Date: October 20, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $500.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Clear shots,solidly built | | Cons: | None | | Years Owned: 5
Ergonomics: 9
Build Quality: 10
User Interface: 9
Autofocus: 8
Features: 9
Value: 10
Image Quality: 9
Noise: 7
New or Used: New
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I love this camera , I also own the k100d Pentax makes a strong durable camera, easy to use. | | |
;)
;)
