[Rene`]

If you have a K20D --- I would love to hear from you. I am thinking about buying the K20D. I have the *istDL and the K100D. I need more resolution. Please give me your thoughts. How about the battery? How long does it last? I shoot children and sports.

I am new here--- but I have been a Pentaxian for almost 30 years.......

[Wheatfield]

You will certainly get more resolution with the K20. The sensor pretty much can out resolve all but the very best lenses out there.
Battery life is good. with the accessory grip, and mild chimping, you should get at least a thousand shots between battery change outs, 500 without the grip.
If you chimp a lot, or for long periods of time, this will go down. Live view also is a battery killer, so use it sparingly if you need maximum battery life.
The K20 shoots at 3fps on continuous full resolution shots, with a 9 frame buffer fill, IIRC. A fast card such as a Sandisk ExtremeIII really helps as you can shoot bursts of 3-5 shots, wait a moment and shoot another burst, and the camera will keep up. I don't find this limiting. It's fast enough. The AF can be a bit of a disaster with a moving target, but is close to as good as anything in the K20 price class. You can get better with the other big camera makers, but you are moving up the price ladder to do it, and you don't get to use Pentax lenses anymore.

[Rene`]

"If you chimp a lot"--- What is that??

[jasonwarth]

If you have a K20D --- I would love to hear from you. I shoot children and sports.

I'm sorry, but it's against my moral principles to give advice to someone who shoots children. Please pardon the awful (and probably repetitively awful) joke. It's Saturday night, and I've started hittin' the sauce! Haha!

Now, to get to your actual question... I own the K20D, and I absolutely LOVE it.

That said... it's my first digital SLR, so I don't have anything close to compare it to, necessarily. I was a Pentaxian before I even knew I was a Pentaxian. I borrowed a 35mm Pentax point-and-shoot from my sister before my first trip to Europe in 1998, and I still love those pictures. My 2nd digital was a Pentax Optio 550 -- which took/takes amazing pictures... although I've since abandoned it for a more portable point-and-shoot (Casio).

I'm still a relative novice to SLRs (although I have a pretty solid grasp of the photographic fundamentals, and have owned a Minolta XTSi + Tamron 28-200 for about 10 years). I've found the Pentax K20D to be really enjoyable, and I'm really pleased with the pictures so far. I'll let people correct me if they disagree, but I think the only reason to not get a K20D (vs. a K10 or K200) is the price. That much may be obvious.

I don't shoot sports, so I can't offer much feedback in terms of "speed of use," burst mode, etc... but for children / portraits, etc, this thing is awesome. My best portraits have come from my 100mm Macro, fwiw.

I have the battery grip, with extra battery, of course, and I've never come close to running out of juice in the field. I imagine that most would be well-served by two batteries, with only the most extreme cases needing a 3rd battery (which I do have).

Hope that helps... let me know if you have any more specific ?s.

-J

[Wheatfield]

"If you chimp a lot"--- What is that??

Chimping is using the review screen to look at what you have shot. The LCD is a battery hog, and will take the number of shots per charge down by a large number if you spend a lot of time inspecting your pictures.

[Rene`]

That is what I thought u meant by chimping --- but I wasn't positive. Thanks!

[Rene`]

Jason--

I love the joke... my to day profession is teaching 6-8...... good thing that you didn't know that.

Rene`

[barondla]

Own the DS, K10D, and K20D. Love the K20D. Its a faster camera than other two. You will get 400-500 shots on the battery (provided you don't use the builtin flash all the time or play with the lcd monitor a lot). Buy the camera you will enjoy it. It is capable of doing so much. Multiple exposures, B&W conversion and capture, live view, wireless flash (with 360 or 540), in camera processing of raw, studio flash PC connection, 21 frame a second shooting (at internet quality), image stabilization,etc. So much to increase your creativity.
thanks
barondla

Enter POINT & SHOOT CONTEST #7 in P&S forum. Any type camera except slr. Any brand. Any subject. Ends tonight!

[Mallee Boy]

G'day Rene`,
I have come from a DS & DL to the K20D.

I have had no issue with the K20D battery but I would buy a second battery with the camera in any case, just as no doubt you have a second set of AA's for your other cameras.

Camera is good and the learning curve is steeper due to the many more features.
Cheers
Grant

[mtngal]

I bought the K20 and also love it. The battery lasts about the same with the K20 as it did with the K10 - I don't notice much difference (I've only used live view a couple of times, though). I haven't spent all day shooting yet, but I've done a couple of short trips where I've taken a couple of hundred without trouble. I still haven't gotten around to buying a second battery, though I think it would be high on my list of priorities if I were shooting a full day track meet or something like that.

I've played around with shooting track and tennis and find that the K20's resolution comes in really handy - you can crop quite a bit and still have a high quality shot - it's one of the few areas I found the K100 a bit lacking. While I still own a K100, I find myself using it less and less now that I have the K20 (I used to use it all the time when I had the K10) - the extra resolution makes a bigger difference than I had expected.

[Rene`]

Thanks So Much For Your Response.

Hi, Rene'

I can tell some of my thoughts about this since I moved from K100D to K20D. Honestly (because I bought the camera from the first batches) I way weary about possible quality problems and the premium in price. I had no problems so far.
What you may expect from the K20D.

- heavier - some 200 grams more than K100D;
- much larger buffer both in RAW and JPEG;
- the shutter is less noisy (great difference);
- slightly larger LCD;
- weather seals and different way to open most compartments;
- faster focus with almost all lenses than K100D;
- the resolution is a huge improvement with splendid detail. The drawback is you need good lenses for it;
- the accu lasts a various number of shots based on LCD use, flash use, breaks you make durring shooting - for me that number is between 450 and 700 pictures;
- the camera is more responsive at all levels compared K100D;
- drawback - the files are huge and you need a good computer to edit them if you plan to;
- the VF is clearear and bigger - it helps with MF lenses if you have those;
- you'll have the possibility to use SDM lenses (not possible on K100D).

Hope it helps iti is 5 30 AM here and I need some sleep
Radu

[sklathill]

Most guys have touched on the stuff... I'd just like to add that the battery is great because it's a pretty common battery, and lots of people make them and sell them for cheap. While the Pentax battery is 50 bucks, I personally have had no problem with a $15 Ultralast. Also helps that my minolta 7D batteries from back in the day are a perfect fit as well. I use a battery grip and have gotten 1500 pictures in a day before I had to swap in another battery.

[Rene`]

This sounds great. I was curious about the off brand batteries.

[Rene`]

Radu
Thanks for the info. One question...."The drawback is you need good lenses for it"--- What do you mean. "Good lenses." I wasn't aware that there were bad lenses. I have enjoyed all of my Pentax glass.

Should I look for something else for portrait photography?

Rene`

P.S. I ordered it last night! I am excited!