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06-30-2008, 04:17 AM   #1
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K20D review in Amatuer Photographer

The K20D did surprisingly well scoring 86% overall just behind the 40D and A700 at 88%.

The camera was highly commended on high ISO performance and build quality but criticized for slow AF and bad live view.

Overall not bad.

06-30-2008, 04:19 AM   #2
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Interestingly enough, dpreview didn't care that much about slow AF speed.
07-01-2008, 08:36 AM   #3
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I really wish LiveView was left out of it :P I know it was put there for marketing reason but it really does suck
07-02-2008, 04:35 AM   #4
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QuoteOriginally posted by Okami Quote
I really wish LiveView was left out of it :P I know it was put there for marketing reason but it really does suck
I agree...

Ben

07-02-2008, 04:44 AM   #5
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Can't say I have used Live Preview at all so far, I did once when I got the camera but its a very sloppy version of Live Preview.
07-02-2008, 06:02 AM   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by Okami Quote
I really wish LiveView was left out of it :P I know it was put there for marketing reason but it really does suck
Hmmm, do you really WISH to leave it out ? Can't you just ignore it ?

On some conditions I personally find it quite usefull for manual focusing. The worst thing when moving from film to digital is getting used to smaller viewfinder, which is nearly unusable for correct manual focusing - even tiny movement of focusing barrel which causes no visible difference in viewfinder can cause big difference in sharpness of resulting picture
I just wish the zoom of liveview to offer better resolution.
07-02-2008, 06:03 AM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by Okami Quote
I really wish LiveView was left out of it :P I know it was put there for marketing reason but it really does suck

Personally, I don't think a DSLR needs this feature. None the less it is not without some merit even in its current form.

It is just a tool. You can choose to use it or not use it.

There have been two instances where I have actually found some use for it and therefore, just the fact that it was there was beneficial to me. If Pentax feels compelled to keep this feature in the future, perhaps generation 2 will function in a manner more representative of the quality of the camera it is seated on.

Stephen

07-02-2008, 07:11 AM   #8
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QuoteOriginally posted by SCGushue Quote
Personally, I don't think a DSLR needs this feature. None the less it is not without some merit even in its current form.
If makers could get rid of the SLR on the dSLR there would be great benefit in IQ.
I mean that the mirror dictates the last element of the lens to be some 5cm away from the sensor ( or film). That posses IQ problems to all lens up to 30-50mm, especially at the borders. Remember some large format wide angle lenses that needed the mirror to be locked up all times and had their own view finder? That was the problem they were addressing.
07-11-2008, 03:31 PM   #9
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I saw the review in AP as well.Although they put the AF speed down (we all know about that ) They did put the IQ top. Although the camera was not top overall (AF and FPS spring to mind)

However if you are not interested in the AF speed and FPS, the K20D is totally the one to go for for IQ, which in the end is what we all want, the best IQ!
07-11-2008, 04:43 PM   #10
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Hi offertonhatter

Re your point:

QuoteQuote:
The K20D is totally the one to go for for IQ, which in the end is what we all want, the best IQ !
Erm, not quite what WE all want ! I also require fast and accurate auto-focussing especially under difficult lighting conditions, but then perhaps it's asking far too much of Pentax at the K20D's particular price point ?

There are obviously plenty of other brands further up the food chain which, finances notwithstanding, I could choose from if I wished to follow the machine-gun approach so beloved of sports and action photographers, but then fortunately that's not my normal style.

One of the main reasons why I decided to stick with the K10D for the time being is that despite the acclaimed benefits of the new sensor, I don't personally feel that there are sufficient improvements to justify the upgrade. My primary interests lie mainly in travel, landscape & architectural photography, so in many respects the K10D happens to suit my style of picture taking very well.

However, it pains me to say this, but in my honest opinion I believe that Pentax's implementation of Live View on the K20D is particularly ham-fisted, when compared with what's currently on offer from competing manufacturers.......just my $0.02 cent's worth

Best regards
Richard
07-11-2008, 06:45 PM   #11
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QuoteOriginally posted by gkopeliadis Quote
If makers could get rid of the SLR on the dSLR there would be great benefit in IQ.
I mean that the mirror dictates the last element of the lens to be some 5cm away from the sensor ( or film). That posses IQ problems to all lens up to 30-50mm, especially at the borders. Remember some large format wide angle lenses that needed the mirror to be locked up all times and had their own view finder? That was the problem they were addressing.
I don't think that is necesarily true with a digital sensor though. Unlike film, the sensor needs the light to strike it in a more perpendicular fashion.
Using non-retrofocus wide angles (such as the Leica RF ones) on a digital sensor brings its own set of problems.
Offset microlenses were used by Leica for their M8 and I think the development took far longer than anyone anticipated.

In the longer term your statement will probabaly be true, but at present I'm not sure that there would be a sudden jump in image quality from such a change.
07-11-2008, 07:32 PM   #12
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Well, if bring the lens distance down to rangefinder lengths, say goodbye to all the lenses we know and love. Why don't people who say "Kill the viewfinder!" just man up and buy point-and shoots? Sell all your SLR gear. Get a GX200.

Of course, if you take a K-mount lens and mount it five mill or so away from the sensor plane, you'll wanna be shooting with a P&S size sensor to prevent massive vignetting, anyway.

I believe that the Pentax were just ticking the box with Live View on the K20D. Everyone else had it, and they'd probably lose a few sales to those people who've never brought a camera to their eye in their life. To get the same performance in terms of resolution and respone time as a pentaprism would probably entail inserting the equivalent of a small desktop computer into the camera, sucking more power and more money.

The VF is smaller, of course, on APS-C, but that can be fixed by going full-frame...

And with that, Lithos dumps another saucepan full of barra on the table.
07-11-2008, 08:47 PM   #13
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I'd find liveview useful and rewarding in sharing sessions. I'd used it to share with other Pentax photographers on how I focus macros. They actually did better macros after that 1 session of sharing^^
07-11-2008, 11:01 PM   #14
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QuoteOriginally posted by zeek10d Quote
I'd find liveview useful and rewarding in sharing sessions. I'd used it to share with other Pentax photographers on how I focus macros. They actually did better macros after that 1 session of sharing^^
zeek10d, I too have found Live View useful and have actually overcome my initial aversion to it. It is a nifty feature and I can't really understand why some are so negative about it.
07-12-2008, 10:04 AM   #15
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Hi creampuff

Re your point:

QuoteQuote:
I too have found Live View useful and have actually overcome my initial aversion to it. It is a nifty feature and I can't really understand why some are so negative about it.
In fact I approve of Live View in all it's various manifestations and willingly admit that under certain circumstances, it clearly has undoubted applications.
However I'm afraid that I simply cannot hide my disappointment at the somewhat cack-handed manner in which Pentax's design team have chosen to implement this particular feature on the K20D.
Imitation is supposedly the sincerest form of flattery, but in my humble opinion their R&D department team need to radically redesign the next version of Live View for the forthcoming model.
In all honesty, competing manufacturers manage this so much better on even their cheaper ranges that the current situation is almost embarrassing ! Might I tactfully suggest that Pentax take on board how the opposition achieve this feat so successfully and simply follow suit as rapidly as possible !

Best regards
Richard
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