| Author: | | New Member Registered: May, 2016 Posts: 6 | | Review Date: February 29, 2024 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Colours,contrast, shadows etc. | | Cons: | Lowlight AF | | Ergonomics: 10
Build Quality: 10
User Interface: 10
Autofocus: 8
Features: 10
Value: 10
Image Quality: 10
Noise: 9
New or Used: Used
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K20D. I love it. Great colours, great contrast, artistic DR, Does not lose details and contrast at all iSO etc.I like all the photos I took with the k20D
I take photos for fun. I used Pentax k100d Super,K20D,KR,K7,K5,K5IIs, Nikon d300,d90,d700 and Canon 40D. My favorite camera K20D
If you are taking photos of moving objects in low light,K20D is not for you.Other than that, it's a great camera.
 | | | | | | | Senior Member Registered: July, 2022 Location: Ocala, FL Posts: 115 | | Review Date: March 13, 2023 | Recommended | Price: $75.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Rugged, Feature Rich, Ergonomic | | Cons: | Not too much | | Years Owned: 1
Ergonomics: 8
Build Quality: 9
User Interface: 9
Autofocus: 7
Features: 7
Value: 10
Image Quality: 8
Noise: 8
New or Used: Used
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This is a camera that I purchased simply because it came with a Pentax FA 50mm F1.4 strapped to it's nose for under a hundred bucks.
I thought this camera was going to behave like a K7 - the one K series camera I disliked enough to sell outright.
The K7 had noise such that I only used mine for shooting at base iso with flash or with B&W picture settings because the grain kind of blended into black and whites much better - I really really disliked this, your milage may vary, but for me this issue put me off so much I skipped it.
I got the K20D and found the noise was much less, the camera is well made and ergonomic, it takes decent pictures at 14mp and with good glass it behaves admirably.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: December, 2017 Posts: 470 | | Review Date: August 5, 2019 | Recommended | Price: $650.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Well balanced, excellent ergonomics, RAW files are great. | | Cons: | higher ISO settings generate noise. | | Years Owned: 9
Ergonomics: 9
Build Quality: 9
User Interface: 8
Autofocus: 6
Features: 9
Value: 9
Image Quality: 9
Noise: 6
New or Used: New
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I am into my fourth K20d. Was about to move to more recent models when my eye caught a glimpse of quality problems.
These are unknown to me with older generation bodies.
Found me another K20d in near mint condition to replace the stolen one.
I use low ISO and do most of the shooting with MF lenses with auto aperture.
Older lenses give me exactly what I want besides full control over the settings.
I seldom use AF, so the limited performance of the older bodies does not bother me.
After the K20d I will probably find me a decent K5 II.
New bodies? I am quite happy to let others do the research to find out later what I should have avoided.
Nothing beats experience in regard to women and cameras.
I am surprised by some of the negative reviews of the K20d.
Maybe some users have their expectations too high.
To me the K20d gives excellent results using legacy lenses and MF.
Pictures of my Hasselblad 1600F camera. Build in 1952, fully restored in good working order. A legendary camera.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: February, 2007 Location: Midwest Coastal Region USA Posts: 426 | | Review Date: July 25, 2019 | Recommended | Price: $200.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Weather Sealed, Ergonomics, Image Quality | | Cons: | Low ISO, Auto Focus | | Years Owned: 2
Ergonomics: 8
Build Quality: 9
User Interface: 8
Autofocus: 7
Features: 9
Value: 9
Image Quality: 8
Noise: 7
New or Used: Used
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If you can accept the limitations of this camera it still can perform acceptably even now depending on your needs. The color and quality of the images this camera produces at low ISO are very good. Higher ISO beyond 800 may not be acceptable for some. The controls are well placed and the camera has a very solid feel to it. Auto focus tends to hunt with a number of lenses with more modern cameras greatly improving the AF performance.
 | | | | | | | Pentaxian Registered: July, 2013 Location: People's Republic of America Posts: 9,910
4 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: September 17, 2018 | Recommended | Price: $250.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Stabilization, skin tone, no shutter shake, nice colors, ergonomics | | Cons: | High ISO noise, possibly the worst dynamic range in Pentax lineup? | | Years Owned: Almost 3
Ergonomics: 9
Build Quality: 9
User Interface: 8
Autofocus: 8
Features: 8
Value: 9
Image Quality: 8
Noise: 5
New or Used: Used
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The K20D was my first DSLR so it does have a place in my heart. It felt really good in my hands, the pictures looked good if I got them right,
I think the image quality is still very good if kept in a low ISO - I always went to ISO 640 as the max because the noise at ISO 800 and up was very, very bad looking and not so easily fixed because the color accuracy also went down quickly. In comparison, even though the previous model, the K10D, might have the same or even more noise at ISO 800 and up, the noise is so much nicer looking.
But the Samsung sensor did have some very good qualities - the colors, for example, might not be completely accurate, but they were extremely pleasing, in a film kind of way. Skin tones in particular were so beautiful - in fact I think this is unsurpassed in any other Pentax camera.
with DA 35 2.4
 looking back by ChristianRock, on Flickr
with M 50 1.7
 Entrance Road in Fall 2015-50mm by ChristianRock, on Flickr
Image stabilization was also very good, probably aided by the size and mass of the camera, which made it more stable than smaller bodies. Getting shots with my DA 35 2.4 at 1/8s was easy and pictures were sharp almost all of the time! Another bonus from the size of the body was that shutter shake was inexistent with this lens. With my later bodies I always seem to get a little bit, depending on the lens, but the K20D was flawless in regards to that.
What ended up making me switch is that I end up taking a lot of pictures during the day (on lunch walks usually) and I end up with some hard shadows that I need to get details out of. The K20D is not good at that at all. Even the older K10D seems to have much more detail to be extracted from shadows at ISO 100 - I can go 2.5 steps with it, while with the K20D anything over about 1.25 steps would lose detail and have that ugly noise. But in the right light, the pictures are gorgeous and the camera is a pleasure to work with. Knowing its limitations, it can give great results to its owner, and prices on it are very low right now for a solid, really nice handling camera.
With DA 18-55 AL II
 Sitting Pretty by ChristianRock, on Flickr
With Tokina 19-35mm f/3.5-4.5 AF193
 Wedding in the Glorious Ruins by ChristianRock, on Flickr
With SMC-A 70-210mm f/4
 Hanging in the Sun still by ChristianRock, on Flickr
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: August, 2012 Posts: 678 | | Review Date: January 29, 2017 | Recommended | Price: $145.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Advanced features, weather resistant | | Cons: | Heavy, won't use cards larger than 16GB, BG2 battery grip won't fit GX-20 | | Ergonomics: 8
Build Quality: 10
User Interface: 8
Autofocus: 8
Features: 9
Value: 9
Image Quality: 9
Noise: 9
New or Used: Used
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My copy is actually the K20D's 'evil twin', the Samsung GX-20, and I'm pretty pleased with it so far. At a single glance, it's pretty obvious it shares about 95% of the same DNA as with its Pentax step-sibling. Although its inherent Pentax-ness is undeniable, there are a few cosmetic differences like squarish buttons on the back and a slightly different shape to the grip, which is deeper and thus more comfortable than my K10D, but these are mostly just aesthetics. One annoying physical difference is to the bottom of the camera prevents it from using the BG2 battery grip, which fits both the K10D and K20D. Where things get a little more interesting is with the firmware. Samsung runs its own firmware, which features different JPEG algorithms and Adobe RAW format as opposed to Pentax's own flavor of RAW as well as a slightly different look to the menus--monochromatic color scheme with category icons running up the left side of the rear screen instead of across the top. This menu arrangement seems slightly more intuitive to me than Pentax's in that it provides a more linear left-to-right navigational flow.
All that aside, the shooting experience is still pure Pentax. Having had a K10D for a while, the GX-20 felt very familiar from the moment I first picked it up. Autofocus is snappy, although a bit schitzo in AF-S mode (Samsung calls it SAF), just like my K10D. CAF mode (AF-C in Pentaxian) works just fine. Image quality is quite good, although colors were a bit muted for my taste until I warmed things up a bit in the custom settings. Also, the camera is limited in the size memory cards it can use. The manual says it guaranteed to work with SDHC memory cards up to 8GB and mine will use 16GB cards successfully, but has write errors with 32GB cards. Pentax corrected this issue on the K20D with firmware update version 1.04 but Samsung's updates for the GX20, which were all based on corresponding Pentax K20D updates, stopped with version 1.03.
While the contrarian side of my nature kind of enjoys going 'rogue' with the Samsung branded version of this camera, there is a bit of a downside now that Samsung appears to be bowing out of the camera market. Support and even acknowledgement of legacy cameras is nonexistent on Samsung's Website. Not surprisingly, my GX-20 came to me with version 1.00 of its firmware and while updates are known to exist, Samsung no longer offers firmware updates or PDF manuals for its GX series cameras; in fact, they don't even acknowledge their existence. Fortunately, after a bit of online detective work, I found the last known update, version 1.03, archived at softpedia and the manual on another archival site. Other than that, the best support available for these orphaned Samsung DSLRs (GX-1L, GX-1S, GX-10 and GX-20) is right here at Pentax Forums.
Update: After having the camera for more than a year, I've come to understand and accept its quirks and shortcomings and they don't really bother me but I do feel like the K20D is a slightly better choice because of better support from Pentax in the form of more up-to-date firmware and PDF manuals and the fact that you can get a battery grip for it. That said, the Samsung GX-20 is a solid camera and worth considering but I wouldn't pay as much for it as I would a comparable K20D.
Another Update (16 December 2019): I really wanted to make this a separate review because I've now acquired a Pentax K20D in addition to the aforementioned Samsung GX-20, but the rules of this forum don't allow that. I picked the camera up on eBay for about what I paid for the Samsung without a lens almost three years ago. I really didn't need it but it was going cheaply and had a super low shutter count of just under 3,000 (compared to the Samsung's almost 14,000). I actually tripped it over the 3,000 mark, taking some test shots with it after it arrived. To sweeten the deal, the camera came with a new third-party battery, a third-party charger, a small bag and three lenses: the ubiquitous 18-55mm DA II kit zoom lens, a plastic craptastic silver FA 28-80mm zoom and a Vivitar Series 1 28-105mm manual focus zoom.
My initial tests show the camera is not only fully functional but corrects some of the previously noted shortcomings of the Samsung, including its inability to accept the BG2 battery grip from my K10D, difficulty writing to SDHC memory cards greater than 16GB, and somewhat muted color profile. I have used the Samsung very little since I acquired it, so I'm not decided what my plan for it is, now that I have the K20D. I may well hang a surplus lens on it and sell it off. Meanwhile, I'm pleased with the K20D and look forward to taking some great photos with it.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: February, 2011 Location: Brno Posts: 295
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 2, 2017 | Recommended | Price: $1,100.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Pentaprism, build quality, nice RAW image quality, ergonomy, live-view, WR, SR, 21 fps, can be controlled from PC software, last true Pentax body | | Cons: | Slow AF, 3 fps, poor hi-iso by today standards, weak jpeg, during live-view it is not possible to change settings | | Years Owned: 13 (2021)
Ergonomics: 9
Build Quality: 10
User Interface: 9
Autofocus: 7
Features: 8
Value: 10
Image Quality: 9
Noise: 6
New or Used: New
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K20D was and still is my favourite Pentax camera. I bought one of first, that arrived here in early 2008. In fact this is the last camera produced by Pentax before Hoya stepped into design.
Some people stated here, that image quality is awful. But they have no clue. JPEG might be weaker, but still even those 12-15MB jpegs do contain a lot of data! But seriously, who shoots jpegs with DSLR?
And when you use RAW and especially after they are pre-processed by "Pentax K20D Raw Border Correcter 0.9.0.0" tool, or latest Lightroom they are very good!! That Samsung sensor coupled with Pentax image processor certainly was the best APS-C in 2008 when Canon still was offering poor EOS 40D and Nikon only had D80!
Only later when D90, D300 and EOS 50D were introduced, they caught the DSLR bus again and in some areas (AF, Hi-ISO and video) surpassed this great camera a bit. But for significantly higher price. Anyway K20D still had better WR, in body stabilisation and better fine details in low-ISO images.
Shoot RAW! Keep ISO low in 100-800 range and camera would deliver excellent images printable on A3 without problem. Even up to ISO 1600 they are very usable. ISO 2000 and higher only if you have enough light and use +0.7 to +1EV correction. ISO 3200-6400 is just marketing, not usable for serious work.
When shooting outside on good light, this camera shows what it can do. Colors and contrast are even better than from K5. Keep in mind, that this camera rather underexposes image and avoids any blown highlight sources. Which is good, because you can dig deep into shadows into RAW, but it is hard to save anything from blown areas..
If you are beginner only clicking pics in JPG on auto without any knowledge and thinking, avoid this camera. This is tool for people who know what they want. Definitely not a point-and-shoot DSLR. I used it even for shooting on few weddings as main photographer. No problem at all. Great camera.
Autofocus might be slow and sometimes does not finish the focusing, but it is very accurate. It usually does two iterations and if locks, things are focused. (Unlike K5, which is much faster, but not that reliable)
It also is very cheap camera today, while still offering bright pentaprism, live-view, in body stabilisation, two control wheels and very good weather sealing. Nice camera for serious beginners who want to learn how to shoot raw, develop, how to set correct exposure, use M mode and others. It is also nice for old manual lenses as the live-view can be easily switched and magnification is fast using back wheel without pressing anything else.
And it is still joy to use it sometimes and it also works as nice backup.
btw. I made some videos about this camera:
Movie created BY K20D using TV card and AV output
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jub-sxAnNvQ
K20D WR real life
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTHe-5yH-xQ&t=17s
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: August, 2012 Posts: 118 | | Review Date: November 12, 2016 | Not Recommended | Price: $700.00
| Rating: 3 |
| Pros: | Battery life, tethering, build | | Cons: | Sensor, clunky, size, hot pixels | | Years Owned: 2
Ergonomics: 4
Build Quality: 8
User Interface: 6
Autofocus: 6
Features: 6
Value: 4
Image Quality: 1
Noise: 1
New or Used: New
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This is a pretty solid camera with an awful sensor. It is obsolete now. Even my Q-7 has better imaging. This was my first DSLR and I was extremely disappointed in its image quality. It was big, clunky and slow. Lots of hot pixels made time exposures at night impossible.
I then got a K-30 which was much better in every aspect except battery life and lack of tethering.
These still get a couple of hundred dollars on the used market, buyer beware!
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: July, 2007 Location: North West UK Posts: 390 | | Review Date: November 12, 2015 | Recommended | Price: $900.00
| Rating: 6 |
| Pros: | Weather sealing. Good detail, decent images up to ISO800 | | Cons: | striping, awful noise from 3200, poor DR, noisy shutter | | Years Owned: 7
Ergonomics: 9
Build Quality: 8
User Interface: 8
Autofocus: 7
Features: 9
Value: 8
Image Quality: 7
Noise: 6
New or Used: New
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I have had this since new back in 2008. At the time I thought it would be an improvement over the K10D at high ISO. Well, it was, just.
Then again, that 14.6MP Samsung sensor, the highest resolution APS-C at the time, is.........well lets just say, AWFUL!
It is possibly the worst sensor ever put in a Pentax body.
Why? Well lets see. At native ISO of 100 it is fine, great even, 200ISO? so far so good. you could say up to ISO800 it is a good sensor. Then things start to fall apart after that.
Dynamic range? Not good, lots of noise in the shadows, and if you push the sliders in CameraRAW, you start to see the striping. Above ISO800, striping is clearly there over the whole image, getting worse the higher the ISO and 3200 and above, lots of noise. My ancient *istDS, which has a lot of noise, does not suffer the striping that the K20D does.
Other negatives
The shutter is loud and you can feel a kick when taking a photo, the same as the K10D.
Colours can be off sometimes, then again, think Pentax Blue and it clearly shows them in all their beauty.
Not quick from FPS at full resolution, but we are talking about a generation of cameras where FPS was less important
Positives? - Surprisingly a few.
That 21fps at 1.4MP is useful at times
micro lens adjustment, that the K10D never had
sturdy build
weather sealing
chunky feel, even though it is plastic, albeit a high quality plastic
14MP is still good, even now.
AF is an improvement over all bodies preceding it.
Would I recommend?
That is a good question. Possibly.
At lower ISO's, think of it of a K10D mk2 with 50% more resolution, keep it at 100-800ISO and take care with the shadows and highlights and you will have a good camera.
If you want a low light beast, you are better off with a K-r with less resolution, or spending more money on anything from the K-5 onwards.
So that means, that controlled lighting situations (ie Studio) or Landscapes, this camera is rather good, but for anything else, there are far better Pentax bodies out there.
| | | | | New Member Registered: November, 2010 Location: Timisoara Posts: 22
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: December 11, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $550.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Superb image quality, superb colors and high level of details, high level of customizations, very solid build, very good kit lens , a true wonder if you know how to use it, used indor with an external flash(in my case AF 280T and AF200T) become a wonder. | | Cons: | none for me | | Years Owned: 4
Ergonomics: 10
Build Quality: 10
User Interface: 10
Autofocus: 8
Features: 10
Value: 10
Image Quality: 10
Noise: 8
New or Used: Used
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I own this camera since 2010 , I am the second owner. For me this was my first DSLR and I was blown away by its image quality and detail, autofocus and the feeling of this camera in the hand.
Despite the fact that some say that is noisy at high ISO and have only 3 FPS or the autofocus is not as fast as competitors, despite all this, if you know how to use this camera, you will never be dissapointed. The image quality and detail are at a very high level even compared with the actual generation of cameras suuch as Pentax K3 or Nikon D7100. I have pictures taken at ISO 2000 and 3200 that look verry good on a big computer monitor, without any post processing.
Beside all this, with today post processing programs the noisy 3200 ISO becomes a memory.
And as i mentioned on the positive aspects, used indorr with an external flash it will blow away or at least stand up even in front of the most expensive DSLR of today.
And with a good lens and photographic skills you can compensate the slow speed of only 3fps.
Actualy the last weekend I was at a party on a club with my colleagues and I pose all that party with my K20D equiped with the AF200T flash and the kit lens, the AF200Tflash is an old fpash without focus assist lamp so the whole night I was shooting on manual focus with the focus preset at around 2 meters and guess what 90% of the pictures was perfet focused perfet exposed vivid colors and some of my colleagues who own more recent and expensiVe DSLR was amased by the quality of the pictures.
And all this magic pictures that Pentax K20D produce are because I got to know this camera and also some basic technical aspects of the photography.
As a conclusion even this is a 2008 generation camera and since then a lot of upgrades are on the market I still not feel the need to change it with the latest generation camera, because in the right hands this camera shine and more, if you combine it with the latest photo editing software the pictures taken with this camera will stand up many years forward.
PS. 99% I used the kit lens on this camera and still my colleagues who own dslr's are amased by the sharpness of the pictures the collors contrast even if the pictures are unprocessed.
| | | | | New Member Registered: March, 2009 Location: Laidley, Australia Posts: 4 | | Review Date: June 14, 2014 | Not Recommended | Price: $1,200.00
| Rating: 1 |
| Pros: | Can take it anywhere with it's sealed body. Can use lens from the old film camera | | Cons: | Worst colour I've ever seen | | Years Owned: 2
Ergonomics: 8
Build Quality: 8
User Interface: 5
Autofocus: 4
Features: 6
Value: 6
Image Quality: 4
Noise: 3
New or Used: New
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It seems to do everything the right way but it just doesn't deliver. I want to get rid of this piece of metal. If it is used in ideal conditions it will produce a superb image, but otherwise I have never taken a shot that I have not had to modify sometimes quite extensively in Photoshop. Since when does a cream wall become blue? I have spent many hours/days/weeks/months experimenting with all settings and it has just been a waste of my life. Build quality is good though and it looks great sitting on the shelf where it belongs | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: March, 2009 Location: Australia Posts: 422
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 16, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $1,200.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Ergonomics, rugged, reliable | | Cons: | High ISO and long exposure noise, AF | | Years Owned: 5
Ergonomics: 9
Build Quality: 9
User Interface: 9
Autofocus: 7
Features: 8
Value: 9
Image Quality: 8
Noise: 6
New or Used: New
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I've owned this camera from new. My ratings are based on the current second hand prices. AF was a nuisance until I installed a split prism screen and re-shimmed the viewfinder screen a few years ago. AF on my Sigma 70-200 f2.8 is fast, sharp and accurate. AF on the FA50 or 77 is slow and can hunt a bit. It's always exhibited noise at high ISO and long exposure.
The controls are very well laid out, and very intuitive. I have a friend with a Canon 40D and I find the controls completely unnatural by comparison.
I have no great urge to upgrade, it performs as well now as when it was new and when coupled with good lenses it only reveals it's weaknesses at the limits of high ISO and low light.
It's still a good camera and will be in my hands for few years yet.
The first image is a 10 second exposure at ISO400, f13 on a modern lens. The second a snap shot that relied on the AF locking on in a second at f8, 1/800 ISO320.
 | | | | | Site Supporter Registered: April, 2013 Location: Norwich, Connecticut Posts: 439 | | Review Date: April 10, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $255.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Feel, Function and usability... | | Cons: | please see the attached picture... | | Years Owned: .01
Ergonomics: 9
Build Quality: 10
User Interface: 8
Autofocus: 8
Features: 10
Value: 10
Noise: 8
New or Used: Used
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I bought my K20 a few days ago and so far I am very impressed with it... (I moved up from a K2000)
Because of the 30 return policy, I have been puting it through all kinds of tests to find out its limits...
This morning I got up with the sun and shot the attached image... When I began my post processing, I noticed the lower left corner of the image was very uneven... (upper right of the censor...)
Please look at this and give some pinions... Do I have a censor problem or could I have a memory card issue...
After nearly two hundred images in the past week, this is the first time I noticed it
(BTW: I loaded the latest firmware two days ago...)
 | | | | | New Member Registered: March, 2014 Location: GuangZhou Posts: 7 | | Review Date: March 19, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $620.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | high build quality & best ergonomics | | Cons: | Very poor focus in low light & Bad image quality more than ISO 400 | | Years Owned: 2011
Ergonomics: 10
Build Quality: 10
User Interface: 9
Autofocus: 6
Features: 9
Value: 10
Image Quality: 9
Noise: 8
New or Used: Used
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TAv is a great function.
Excellent image quality less than or equal to ISO 400.
Robust body with dust and weather seals, high build quality.
Dust reduction by anti-static coating and optional sensor 'shake'.
Dust alert makes sensor cleaning simpler.
In short, K20D is a dependable camera.
| | | | | Junior Member Registered: December, 2012 Location: Cirebon Posts: 29 | | Review Date: January 31, 2014 | Not Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 5 |
| Pros: | Build quality. | | Cons: | Noise, Under exposure, Big size. | | Ergonomics: 8
Build Quality: 8
User Interface: 8
Autofocus: 7
Features: 7
Value: 8
Image Quality: 7
Noise: 4
New or Used: New
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For shoot at iso more than 640 forget this camera. It used CMOS sensor but noise handling like CCD.
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