[Rush2112]

Hey I threw down some organized notes on the K200D if anyone is interested in a read for any reason.

-Carl

PHOTOGRAPHIC CENTRAL: Pentax K200D Review- Weatherproof DSLR Package Bargain!

[Spock]

Good review.

One thing though: a used K7 isn't the only weathersealed alternative in that price range - a K10 can often be found for even cheaper than a K200 and a K20 is not much more.

[Rush2112]

true but just like the K7, you can't use AA's

[Spock]

true but just like the K7, you can't use AA's

Yes, AA compatibility is something I've always liked.

I have a K10 but in some ways I would have preferred a K200. Only thing I don't like about the K200 is the lack of a pentaprism viewfinder otherwise it would be a match for the K10 and yet lighter and more compact.

[Rush2112]

Yeah, the viewfinder indeed would have made the K200 even better for sure. Been looking at the ist DS2 and ist DL because of that neither have weather sealing though.

[john5100]

Great review and my thoughts exactly. It performs as well as many newer cameras costing lots more.

I know that I've posted these before, but here it is during a Pitbull concert shoot.

Performer: Pitbull

[Stone G.]

Thanks for this tribute to a camera that had deserved a much longer product life time. I allow myself to quote from your fine review:

"I believe the K200D is not only a stand out DSLR in the photographic market, it is a stand out product in Pentax's line up as well."

How very true.

[Rush2112]

Thanks for this tribute to a camera that had deserved a much longer product life time. I allow myself to quote from your fine review:

"I believe the K200D is not only a stand out DSLR in the photographic market, it is a stand out product in Pentax's line up as well."

How very true.

However humbly received it is . I'm sure a lot of what I said has been said by K200D owners here in the past already, but hey, why not say it all again!?

Pentax apparently liked it too...

If I may quote myself, I thought this part was particularly true (and seldom noticed by the press):

"Internally it is supported by a stainless steel chassis (as if it needed to be stainless with a weather sealed body- proof that Pentax overbuilds it's cameras), "

[redbirdpete]

Thanks - excellent review.

I was going to do one but yours is infinitely more professional.

I bought mine S/H for £200 with the original kit lens, and I'd budgeted for a WR 18-55 as well (new unboxed from SRS). As I mention elsewhere I like the camera so much I've laid out for a WR 50-200, and I've bought the battery grip as well.

My original expectation was that I would have a weather resistant version of my K100D for use on bad weather days, and I would have been satisfied with that, however there are so many improvements that the K200D is likely to be my main camera, which is why I've eaten into the beer money to get the other bits.

Among the improvements - the back screen is much better than the slight size increase would suggest, there is the seperate green button, the menus are much clearer and provide more information, there is the RAW+ option (so I can quickly bang up a piccy on Facebook when I get in). There are other things I havent used yet as well. I'm not really in a positoon to compare the IQ yet because I haven't had enough of a variety of conditions, it's been used so far in weather where I wouldn't have taken the K100D out of its bag. It seems to run happily off 2000mh Eneloops where the K100D needs 2500, and the battery level indicator does not seem to suffer from the unreliability of the older camera (which often shows half or sometimes no battery until you turn it off and on again). There is the dust removal feature, and Sv mode which I've already found very useful.

Downside - I'm left eyed and a spectacles wearer, and because of the bigger screen the layout is slightly more awkward for my situation than the K100D (My nose presses on the arrow buttons - Will anyone ever make a left handed SLR?). The viewfinder seems darker than the K100D. (I have a split screen replacement in the K100D, the K200D came with one as well, but I've replaced it with the standard one from the K100D to brighten it) . It's a bit heaver than the K100 as well, even more so with the battery grip, but the battery grip helps with the handling, especially as I take quite a lot of 'vertical' shots. And I agree a backlit top screen would be an improvement. Also, the WR 18-55 is noticeably better than the mk1 kit lens with the K100D - it feels more solid and better made, as well as the optical improvements.

Summary - it's built like a tank, and I can't see myself buying another camera unless this one breaks, especially since the current equivalent Pentaxes are not WR and do not have the top LCD that I find virtually indispensible. For those of us in wet parts of the world the peace of mind provided by the WR is really important. I still treat it as if it was my old ME-F as far as trying to keep it dry is concerned, but the knowledge that there is a second line of defence, so to speak, is very reassuring.

It's a shame Pentax didn't persist with this type of mid-range camera, especially as the lenses that complement it only became available after it went out of production.

[Clicker]

This is the model that bought me back to Pentax unfortunately i passed it on for a competitors offering which i admit was a mistake, hopefully the person who has it now understands it better than i did.

[tibbitts]

It does seem the K200 was among the most unique DSLRs; hopefully mine will keep working for a long time, since it has only 10k actuations. I'd appreciate a better viewfinder, and of course a sensor with the dynamic range of the K5, but the size/sealing/AA combination is still very appealing.

Paul