K20D Review on Imaging Resource

ftpaddict · 02-17-2009, 04:31 AM

Pentax K20D Digital Camera - Full Review - The Imaging Resource!

Have a read for yet another opinion.

GoldenWreckedAngle · 02-17-2009, 06:43 AM

Wow, I had given up on ever seeing a full review of the K20D from I.R... It's disappointing that it's the only Dave's Pick DSLR in the enthusiast category that didn't also make the pro cut in his estimation, but hey, at least Pentax finally got a nod.

I kind of feel like it says a lot about Dave's general opinion of Pentax that I.R. got all of the newly released models from other manufacturers out of the way before they got back to the full K20D review. Of course, it could have been out of courtesy to give Pentax time to correct the issues he uncovered before he published his final opinion, or it might have just been that he didn't get a fixed review model from them in a timely fashion.

I had an e-mail exchange with him just before the full K10D review was finally published and he was pretty frustrated with Pentax at that point. Not only did he have to go back and reshoot all of his test images, he claimed he had to wait for a very long time for a corrected body to even review.

At any rate, I thought it was a fair critique with a lot of positive highlights. Thanks for the update Dave.

Side note and shameless plug - I was pretty pumped to win the image of the day from them last year for this manipulation of one of my K100D shots: http://www.dailydigitalphoto.com/cgi-bin/potd/potd.pl?day=8&month=3&year=2008

jms698 · 02-17-2009, 04:06 PM

This is a really glowing review. Shame it is a year too late. As GoldenWreckedAngle says that is probably Pentax's fault as much as it is imaging-resource's. Still, nice for Pentax to get such a good review from a major website.

David Whiteley · 02-17-2009, 06:01 PM

Hey, I just noticed--my friend Andrew Alexander is one of the reviewers!

I also happened to stumble on his name selling what looked like a full Nikon system oh a couple weeks ago maybe, on a local forum I don't normally frequent (virtually no Pentax representation). I wonder if he got sold on the K20D while testing???

I should really read that review in full--I just skimmed and got distracted when I saw the name.

lbam · 02-18-2009, 12:00 PM

Shame it's so late indeed. Shouldn't Pentax be pushing out a camera like this to all the major websites within a few months of release of a new model? (after the first firmware update for example).

Ratmagiclady · 02-18-2009, 12:55 PM

I dunno, Ibam, there's a *lot* of payola involved in stuff like web and former-magazine reviews. Both very overtly, by old standards, and simply in terms of having had just a couple of major brands basically getting to define what's *important* in a digital image for all these years.

How much of the 'marketing leaders' success has been about the 'megapixel race,' ....too often selling amateurs noisier and more resource-hungry sensors that don't actually improve their results?

I see all the trolling and agitation on boards like this, and it has little to nothing to do with the photography, ...just the corporate competition and all the brand wars that make game-console geekery look almost sane.

Frankly, brand-loyalty n photographers rarely makes for better equipment, except maybe in the second and third ranks, where, maybe a bit of loyalty *allows* a company to take their time and do something right.

Big boys like Canon are too often most interested in 'staying on top,' 'burying competition' and doing other things for *sales* which *do not in fact count for beans in the field or help anyone.*

If they can cut corners on the basics like a shoe or finder, and make it up supplying lousy video to get something out the door, (Like I'm gonna spend two grand on a still camera and put tens of thousands of exposures worth of wear and tear on it to grab a video clip I could do with a hundred dollar pocket thingie.... Dream on.) ...Well, if they're the 'big guys' trying to 'bury competition,' they might do it.

That doesn't always work when markets start contracting, shall we say.

Rush2112 · 02-18-2009, 01:11 PM

I wrote this user review on photographyreview.com

Pentax K20D Reviews

I'd have gladly done one on my site yet it doesn't really fall into our theme too well

lol!

Pentax is a great product, I think they are hanging around for a while. Build it, and they will come. I'm sure Hoya knows this...

Carl

lbam · 02-18-2009, 02:55 PM

Originally posted by Ratmagiclady

I dunno, Ibam, there's a *lot* of payola involved in stuff like web and former-magazine reviews. Both very overtly, by old standards, and simply in terms of having had just a couple of major brands basically getting to define what's *important* in a digital image for all these years.

How much of the 'marketing leaders' success has been about the 'megapixel race,' ....too often selling amateurs noisier and more resource-hungry sensors that don't actually improve their results?

I see all the trolling and agitation on boards like this, and it has little to nothing to do with the photography, ...just the corporate competition and all the brand wars that make game-console geekery look almost sane.

Frankly, brand-loyalty n photographers rarely makes for better equipment, except maybe in the second and third ranks, where, maybe a bit of loyalty *allows* a company to take their time and do something right.

Big boys like Canon are too often most interested in 'staying on top,' 'burying competition' and doing other things for *sales* which *do not in fact count for beans in the field or help anyone.*

If they can cut corners on the basics like a shoe or finder, and make it up supplying lousy video to get something out the door, (Like I'm gonna spend two grand on a still camera and put tens of thousands of exposures worth of wear and tear on it to grab a video clip I could do with a hundred dollar pocket thingie.... Dream on.) ...Well, if they're the 'big guys' trying to 'bury competition,' they might do it.

That doesn't always work when markets start contracting, shall we say.

I agree with a number of your points (although I'm not sure how many of them relate to what I said).
I just feel a good product needs good exposure, and wonder just how much "Payola" IS required to send out 10-15 K20D's for review soon after release.
Obviously, new users generate opinions on new products when they receive them too, but these are scattered all over the place (web, down the boozer, newspapers etc), and usually are slightly less "comprehensive" shall we say, than a few of the better web sites' findings.

02-17-2009, 04:31 AM	#1
ftpaddict Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Yurp Photos: Gallery Posts: 4,669	K20D Review on Imaging Resource Pentax K20D Digital Camera - Full Review - The Imaging Resource! Have a read for yet another opinion.

02-17-2009, 06:43 AM	#2
GoldenWreckedAngle Veteran Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Abilene, TX Posts: 341	Wow, I had given up on ever seeing a full review of the K20D from I.R... It's disappointing that it's the only Dave's Pick DSLR in the enthusiast category that didn't also make the pro cut in his estimation, but hey, at least Pentax finally got a nod. I kind of feel like it says a lot about Dave's general opinion of Pentax that I.R. got all of the newly released models from other manufacturers out of the way before they got back to the full K20D review. Of course, it could have been out of courtesy to give Pentax time to correct the issues he uncovered before he published his final opinion, or it might have just been that he didn't get a fixed review model from them in a timely fashion. I had an e-mail exchange with him just before the full K10D review was finally published and he was pretty frustrated with Pentax at that point. Not only did he have to go back and reshoot all of his test images, he claimed he had to wait for a very long time for a corrected body to even review. At any rate, I thought it was a fair critique with a lot of positive highlights. Thanks for the update Dave. Side note and shameless plug - I was pretty pumped to win the image of the day from them last year for this manipulation of one of my K100D shots: http://www.dailydigitalphoto.com/cgi-bin/potd/potd.pl?day=8&month=3&year=2008 Last edited by GoldenWreckedAngle; 02-17-2009 at 06:53 AM. Reason: To add a shameless plug

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02-17-2009, 04:06 PM	#3
jms698 Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Wellington, New Zealand Posts: 133	This is a really glowing review. Shame it is a year too late. As GoldenWreckedAngle says that is probably Pentax's fault as much as it is imaging-resource's. Still, nice for Pentax to get such a good review from a major website.

02-17-2009, 06:01 PM	#4
David Whiteley Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Ottawa-Gatineau, Canada Photos: Gallery Posts: 374	Hey, I just noticed--my friend Andrew Alexander is one of the reviewers! I also happened to stumble on his name selling what looked like a full Nikon system oh a couple weeks ago maybe, on a local forum I don't normally frequent (virtually no Pentax representation). I wonder if he got sold on the K20D while testing??? I should really read that review in full--I just skimmed and got distracted when I saw the name.

02-18-2009, 12:00 PM	#5
lbam Veteran Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Toronto Photos: Gallery Posts: 443	Shame it's so late indeed. Shouldn't Pentax be pushing out a camera like this to all the major websites within a few months of release of a new model? (after the first firmware update for example).

02-18-2009, 12:55 PM	#6
Ratmagiclady Pentaxian Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: GA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 13,468	I dunno, Ibam, there's a lot of payola involved in stuff like web and former-magazine reviews. Both very overtly, by old standards, and simply in terms of having had just a couple of major brands basically getting to define what's important in a digital image for all these years. How much of the 'marketing leaders' success has been about the 'megapixel race,' ....too often selling amateurs noisier and more resource-hungry sensors that don't actually improve their results? I see all the trolling and agitation on boards like this, and it has little to nothing to do with the photography, ...just the corporate competition and all the brand wars that make game-console geekery look almost sane. Frankly, brand-loyalty n photographers rarely makes for better equipment, except maybe in the second and third ranks, where, maybe a bit of loyalty allows a company to take their time and do something right. Big boys like Canon are too often most interested in 'staying on top,' 'burying competition' and doing other things for sales which do not in fact count for beans in the field or help anyone. If they can cut corners on the basics like a shoe or finder, and make it up supplying lousy video to get something out the door, (Like I'm gonna spend two grand on a still camera and put tens of thousands of exposures worth of wear and tear on it to grab a video clip I could do with a hundred dollar pocket thingie.... Dream on.) ...Well, if they're the 'big guys' trying to 'bury competition,' they might do it. That doesn't always work when markets start contracting, shall we say.

02-18-2009, 01:11 PM	#7
Rush2112 Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: RSM, CA Photos: Gallery Posts: 277	I wrote this user review on photographyreview.com Pentax K20D Reviews I'd have gladly done one on my site yet it doesn't really fall into our theme too well lol! Pentax is a great product, I think they are hanging around for a while. Build it, and they will come. I'm sure Hoya knows this... Carl

02-18-2009, 02:55 PM	#8
lbam Veteran Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Toronto Photos: Gallery Posts: 443	Originally posted by Ratmagiclady I dunno, Ibam, there's a lot of payola involved in stuff like web and former-magazine reviews. Both very overtly, by old standards, and simply in terms of having had just a couple of major brands basically getting to define what's important in a digital image for all these years. How much of the 'marketing leaders' success has been about the 'megapixel race,' ....too often selling amateurs noisier and more resource-hungry sensors that don't actually improve their results? I see all the trolling and agitation on boards like this, and it has little to nothing to do with the photography, ...just the corporate competition and all the brand wars that make game-console geekery look almost sane. Frankly, brand-loyalty n photographers rarely makes for better equipment, except maybe in the second and third ranks, where, maybe a bit of loyalty allows a company to take their time and do something right. Big boys like Canon are too often most interested in 'staying on top,' 'burying competition' and doing other things for sales which do not in fact count for beans in the field or help anyone. If they can cut corners on the basics like a shoe or finder, and make it up supplying lousy video to get something out the door, (Like I'm gonna spend two grand on a still camera and put tens of thousands of exposures worth of wear and tear on it to grab a video clip I could do with a hundred dollar pocket thingie.... Dream on.) ...Well, if they're the 'big guys' trying to 'bury competition,' they might do it. That doesn't always work when markets start contracting, shall we say. I agree with a number of your points (although I'm not sure how many of them relate to what I said). I just feel a good product needs good exposure, and wonder just how much "Payola" IS required to send out 10-15 K20D's for review soon after release. Obviously, new users generate opinions on new products when they receive them too, but these are scattered all over the place (web, down the boozer, newspapers etc), and usually are slightly less "comprehensive" shall we say, than a few of the better web sites' findings.