Originally posted by praterg I bought it over 2 years ago. My first SLR back int he 70's was the K1000. Of course everyone knows how good it was as a beginner camera. So, I thought k2000?....sounds like a done deal. After getting acquainted with the camera a few months and getting less than acceptable Jpeg images (I'm not an advanced user and have only dabbled with Raw processing) I begin to look for help on the internet. I find a review that points to the Jpeg engine delivering low image quality. I look deeper and find 2 more reviews that pinpoint the same culprit. The camera is easy to use and the learning curve for me was shallow, but without good image quality all other features are pointless. I'm still loyal to Pentax, though I have read reviews for other brands/cameras(namely the canon 600D and Nikon 5100.....but I doubt ill ever stray.
Hope that is what you were looking for.
You came to the right place for help
Maybe you can start a thread where you post an image, tell us what you think is wrong, and people can advise how to improve.
The complaints about the K2000 with regards to IQ are the same as for the K200D (at least in the DPR review); they might be right or wrong (I don't know as I don't have either camera) but there is a thread here on PF in the line of "Do you miss the K200D?" which would basically imply that the IQ of that camera is actually 'not as bad' as the review states. Either users of K200Ds find the 'poor' quality acceptable or they spend a little time on finetuning the JPEG settings in the camera or on RAW processing.
Did you try adjusting jpeg settings in the camera or dabble a bit more in RAW to get better results? You don't need to be an advanced user to circumvent the in-camera JPEG engine using RAW conversion.
I've seen plenty of impressive K200D photos and I'm quite sure I've seen plenty of impressive K2000 photos as well without realizing it; only reason why I phrase it like this is that I sometimes know that a photographer who posts images uses a K200D.
I'm not trying to talk you out of a new camera; the K5 is an absolutely brilliant piece of machinery and can generate excellent JPEGs (after possible finetuning of the in-camera settings).