[Jerry O]

Why would Pentax go to the trouble of weather sealing the K200d when all but four of their lenses are weather sealed and are geared toward K20d users?

[ben-pentax]

Might be they had some spare rubber.

But on the other hand - why did Pentax added a viewfinder to the K200D when you can simply look over the camera at the subject ?

Those stupid Pentax answers to stupid Pentax questions

[Big Dave]

Why would Pentax go to the trouble of weather sealing the K200d when all but four of their lenses are weather sealed and are geared toward K20d users?

When you are number three or four, you have to try harder. Weather sealing along with SR provides a marketing edge. I know that the SR along with lens compatibilty caused me to go with Pentax for digital. Nikon is very poor with older lenses and Canon only supports the newer lenses as far as I know.

Dave

[Aegon]

Why would Pentax go to the trouble of weather sealing the K200d...

You assume that it is "trouble". Pentax has taken the effort to weatherseal in other cameras, and it may have decided that they have the skills and manufacturing ability to easily and cheaply include rubber gaskets on their entire DSLR lineup. They came to the table with experience.

For all we know, Pentax may have intended to move the K20D system to the smaller K100D style body, and retrofitted their production capability to weatherseal the smaller system. In essence, the K200D is a K10D in the smaller body. The existence of battery grip for the K200D supports this (crackpot) theory.

Speculation aside, the point is that it might not be much trouble at all.

And I find Big Dave's point to be quite persuasive as well.

[ftpaddict]

Because it sells.

[Matjazz]

Because with all the buttons camera is much more prone to water than a prime lens. And like other said there is marketing. With K200D you have one more reason to buy DA* lenses.

[davemdsn]

Because it rains a lot at the factory.

[MrApollinax]

davemdsn for the win!

[inferno10]

It's future-proofing for their customers. People might buy the K200D to start off cheap, but may suddenly find themselves in need of fully weatherproofing their kit. Rather than force their users to buy the more costly model AND weather-proofed lenses, Pentax included weather-sealing so even the amateur photographer can take advantage of a fully weather-sealed system without having to completely upgrade. I bought a K100D after thinking I would never need all the features of the K10D, including weather-sealing. But now I'm wishing I had a weather-sealed body, and am cursing myself for the cost to upgrade.

Also, the list of weather-sealed lenses is growing. The DA* line isn't that old, so it's understandable that the list is somewhat scant. But if you look at the Pentax digital lens roadmap (http://www.pentax.jp/english/imaging/digital/lens/roadmap.pdf), you can see that Pentax is working hard to increase the number of weather-sealed lenses.

[Jerry O]

Thanks for the link to that roadmap. It looks like a 55 1.4 and a 30mm prime are coming and longer teles. If those lenses come true in addition to the existing DA*s that would be all I need. I just need to decide between a K20 and K200. I will download the manuals tonight and compare.

Jerry

[tbone-ike]

I think all of the answers above are good ones. I, for one, am very glad they did weather seal it. It was pretty darn nice for me to spend only $800 on a DSLR kit and get a weather sealed body. I can't tell you how many times taking my previous *ist DL into snowy conditions (that happens alot here in West Michigan ) freaked me out! I even recall having an argument with my wife due to her wanting to take photos of the kids going down a sledding hill during some wet snowfall....

True, non of my lenses are weather sealed, but if it becomes that important, I can upgrade my lens. If not, I throw on the kit lens and hold it face down when not taking the shot. As already mentioned, brushing a couple of drops of water off the outside of a lens is much easier than dealing with water drops that fall onto buttons for sure.

off topic: due to this thread, I just disovered that the new kit lens cost twice as much as the older version. Looks like I'll be more careful than I thought.

[Jodokast96]

off topic: due to this thread, I just disovered that the new kit lens cost twice as much as the older version. Looks like I'll be more careful than I thought.

Nah, that's just the list price. I posted a link (somewhere around here) last week to Amazon where it was $120.

[Jerry O]

Well, I am glad they sealed the K200 as I just purchased the body along with the DA* zooms. Should be a nice all weather kit.

Jerry

[LDB]

I'm looking at Pentax now because of the dust sealing. My understanding is the 20 and 200 are sealed to the same level of protection and the greater number of seals on the 20 is due to more controls to seal not better sealing. Can someone confirm?

Also, my understanding is the only sealed lenses are the * lenses which currently means 2 zoom and 2 fixed length. Correct or misunderstood?

I had hoped to use the camera with the 18-250 for a 98% lens change free system, later adding the 10-17 for close range versatility. I own a fleet of trucks and drive one. It is a very high dust environment, thus my interest in this system. How severely would using a non * lens on this body degrade my dust resistance? Thanks for any and all advice.

[Canada_Rockies]

I'm looking at Pentax now because of the dust sealing. My understanding is the 20 and 200 are sealed to the same level of protection and the greater number of seals on the 20 is due to more controls to seal not better sealing. Can someone confirm?

Also, my understanding is the only sealed lenses are the * lenses which currently means 2 zoom and 2 fixed length. Correct or misunderstood?

I had hoped to use the camera with the 18-250 for a 98% lens change free system, later adding the 10-17 for close range versatility. I own a fleet of trucks and drive one. It is a very high dust environment, thus my interest in this system. How severely would using a non * lens on this body degrade my dust resistance? Thanks for any and all advice.

The non sealed lens will pick up dust, there is no doubt, but I don't really think it will be that much of a problem with reasonable care.

The problem with the 18-250 is the dust intake on zooming. The lens needs quite a bit more air inside when zoomed to 250 than at 18, and that air in your environment will be dusty. Any zoom lens will pick up some dust, unless it is weatherproofed, but photographers have been using unsealed lenses for an awfully long time without any major problems.