From K200d to K7

lurchlarson · 04-21-2010, 04:03 PM

I will be buying the 16-50 here soon and may be able to buy a k7 body at the same time if I sell my 200d. I was wondering, for those of you that have used both, how much of an upgrade is it in terms of AF speed/tracking/accuracy as well as low-light situations?

The KX is out of the question because I want the weather sealing (tromping through the forest in the oregon coast range in the pouring rain is not camera friendly), as well as the faster shutter speed.

I know what the spec differences are on paper but I want to know what real life, in-the-field-use differences are between the k200d and the k7.

If it's not that big of a difference then I may hold on to my k200d till we find out if anything comes out of Photokina. If there is a significant improvement then I won't wait and will get the k7.

Last edited by lurchlarson; 04-28-2010 at 08:33 PM.

Al_in_the_Shire · 04-21-2010, 04:18 PM

Your K200d is a "sleeper" camera. A very very good camera. Sure it doesn't have all the bells and whistles as the K7, but where it counts, in picture quality, I don't think you are getting much of a jump. And if I am going to upgrade bodies, there best be some gains in IQ over what I already have or it's just a ego purchase. With that in mind, I would, and am waiting to see what comes out next. I have a k20 and a K 200. Played with a K 7 for a week, and honestly, I was just not that impressed with it over the other two cameras. Sure it is nice, fits in the hand well, has lots of things to play with, but where it counts, in picture quality, I honestly did not see a huge improvement if any, and in some cases, thought it was a step back. I hate to say it, but I think Pentax missed the boat a bit on the K7. I expected a lot more out of the "flag ship" model. I'm hoping they deliver with their next incarnation of it, or bring out a K200 upgrade. Pentax needs to "nail" one. Everything has been close, but not quite perfect in the past couple of years. I think for the money, the K200 was the best camera they made. It's the only one you never heard a lot of complaints about. No hot pixels, no banding in cold weather, no clunky live view, no shutter vibration at certain speeds, no crappy sensor - I'm one of those who think if they had put the KX sensor in the K7 I would already own two of them. But they didn't, and now it's time to bring something better to the table. If they don't, I think they are going to end up having real problems down the road. There are a lot of great cameras out today, and Pentax needs to join the fun.

GerryL · 04-21-2010, 05:11 PM

If you have a K200D and would like to upgrade, then I think that the K20D is the best upgrade for now considering the price.
The K7 is not that much of an upgrade from the K20D so pitted with price per price and feature per feature, the K20D would be a better upgrade for the K200D.

yeatzee · 04-21-2010, 05:16 PM

My K-7 just shipped so send me a PM linking this thread incase it gets submerged in all the new threads and i'll post a comparison. Im so excited

Macro shooting will be SO MUCH EASIER with live view!

lurchlarson · 04-21-2010, 05:23 PM

Originally posted by GerryL

If you have a K200D and would like to upgrade, then I think that the K20D is the best upgrade for now considering the price.
The K7 is not that much of an upgrade from the K20D so pitted with price per price and feature per feature, the K20D would be a better upgrade for the K200D.

The k7 and the k20d are about the same price right now.

ddhytz · 04-21-2010, 08:30 PM

Originally posted by Al_in_the_Shire

Your K200d is a "sleeper" camera. A very very good camera. ...

+1
If I had K200 I would not consider upgrade at this stage.

fractal · 04-21-2010, 08:56 PM

Originally posted by GerryL

If you have a K200D and would like to upgrade, then I think that the K20D is the best upgrade for now considering the price.
The K7 is not that much of an upgrade from the K20D so pitted with price per price and feature per feature, the K20D would be a better upgrade for the K200D.

The only reason to buy a K20D over a K7 is if you have a really big hand. Otherwise why?

As Lurch said they are around the same price now.

+2 for not considering an upgrade.

SteveM · 04-21-2010, 11:27 PM

Originally posted by fractal

The only reason to buy a K20D over a K7 is if you have a really big hand. Otherwise why?

As Lurch said they are around the same price now.

+2 for not considering an upgrade.

I can't speak to your current camera, but I upgraded from a K20d to the K-7, then getting a K20d once again as a backup camera. Long story short, I was without a K-7 for a few weeks and the k20d is no excuse for a K-7.

dom777 · 04-22-2010, 03:30 AM

Originally posted by Al_in_the_Shire

[...] in picture quality, I honestly did not see a huge improvement if any, and in some cases, thought it was a step back.

Exactly what I was thinking when I got my k-7! I don´t know if I just like the look of CCD more than CMOS, but at first I was kinda disappointed from the image quality and the look of the grain.
My main reason for upgrading was the video-mode, but I did not feel like I had "mastered" the k200 yet in terms of picture-taking. Now I know the video-mode sucks, but I love the feel of my k-7, the rear dial and with the BG, it pretty much feels perfect in my hands. But I guess you would get that also of a k20...

Marc Sabatella · 04-22-2010, 01:40 PM - **1 Like**

I guess the reasons to upgrade would be low light AF (go, focus assist lamp!), better viewfinder and control layout, video, or live view. Or the other miscellaneous features - lens correction, AF adjustment, horiztonal level meter, etc. But IQ-wise, I haven't seen any reason to consider it step up at any ISO. For me personally, the viewfinder would really be the only thing on the list that would interest me enough to even consider it, but no way is that worth buying a new camera over. If/when my K200D dies, sure - but I expect we'll be a couple of steps beyond the K-7 by then.

yeatzee · 04-27-2010, 08:08 PM - **2 Likes**

Well I said I would return, so here I am

Just got my K-7 today so im still getting used to it but here are a few points that came to me instantly after handling both.

- I hate the viewfinder cup of the K-7.... maybe im just used to the K200d's, but I instantly swapped them despite the K200d's barely fitting the k-7.

- The actual viewfinder itself of the K-7 is almost worth the upgrade cost alone. Its incredible how much better it is. I can't quite explain it, you just have to handle one yourself.

- The back LCD is ridiculously huge on the K-7 considering the size of the body

- Both K200d and K-7 are almost exactly the same size or seem to be, but both have entirely different grips. Im not sure which I prefer.... they are different.

- The k200d with rechargeable batteries is heavier than the K-7 with its battery... or atleast seems to be from holding them.

- The K-7 needs a grip badly IMO with heavy lenses. My K200d has its on 100% of the time, and I presume the K-7 will also when I can afford one.

- The super duper LCD everyone talks about is nothing special. The menu and settings look better but the pictures look seemingly worse on the back of the camera.

-On the computer with my images, I see no real improvement of IQ at base ISO (all i've shot at with it so far).

- Live view is AWESOME

- Video is addicting

- two dials will take some getting used to.

- The K-7's front dial is right where the on off switch for the k200d is, so when i do not look at the camera and attempt to turn it on I turn the front dial by accident. Goes with the above point....

- The fact that the top screen always lights up is annoying

- The camera feals incredibly solid

- Seemingly thousands more settings and options to adjust to your liking.

Thats all I can think of at the moment

GerryL · 04-28-2010, 08:24 AM

Nice comparison yeatzee!
It is always better to have had handled both cameras and make point by point comparisons with regards to handling.
Others would just go mainly to IQ more than anything else.
Great job!

yeatzee · 04-28-2010, 03:08 PM

Originally posted by GerryL

Nice comparison yeatzee!
It is always better to have had handled both cameras and make point by point comparisons with regards to handling.
Others would just go mainly to IQ more than anything else.
Great job!

Thanks Gerry, I wanted to give you guys an idea coming from the K200d since I've never seen such comparison before. I mainly dwelled on the negatives, but truly those are all personal "niggles." As far as I can tell, the K-7 is an incredible camera.

I plan on doing a quick simple video comparing both that I will throw on youtube and link here. That way you guys can see the two cameras side by side

Edit: and by the way if you guys didn't already figure it out, im keeping the K200d. Its an amazing backup to the K-7 considering they are almost exactly the same size and are both weather sealed. The only reason I bought the K-7 was because my k200d's mode dial scrambled meaning some modes are missing and some are switched. The price to get it fixed was not worth it to me sadly. It still has a proper M mode though which is good enough as a backup for me.

lurchlarson · 04-28-2010, 08:32 PM

Originally posted by yeatzee

Thanks Gerry, I wanted to give you guys an idea coming from the K200d since I've never seen such comparison before. I mainly dwelled on the negatives, but truly those are all personal "niggles." As far as I can tell, the K-7 is an incredible camera.

I plan on doing a quick simple video comparing both that I will throw on youtube and link here. That way you guys can see the two cameras side by side

Edit: and by the way if you guys didn't already figure it out, im keeping the K200d. Its an amazing backup to the K-7 considering they are almost exactly the same size and are both weather sealed. The only reason I bought the K-7 was because my k200d's mode dial scrambled meaning some modes are missing and some are switched. The price to get it fixed was not worth it to me sadly. It still has a proper M mode though which is good enough as a backup for me.

Thank you very much. Your reviews has been incredibly helpful! I think I might hold on to my K200d for now. Nothing like a good backup and I agree...the K200d would be an excellent backup. I want to save up a little more.

I think I'll be ok without the grip. I don't have a grip for the k200d and if they fit similar in the hand, I'm already used to it.

creampuff · 04-28-2010, 09:20 PM

Originally posted by GerryL

If you have a K200D and would like to upgrade, then I think that the K20D is the best upgrade for now considering the price.
The K7 is not that much of an upgrade from the K20D so pitted with price per price and feature per feature, the K20D would be a better upgrade for the K200D.

I seriously doubt you know what you're talking about. I've owned the K20D and now the K-7 and the K-7 is far the more responsive and better camera. The K-7 is definitely a significant upgrade from the K200D.

04-21-2010, 04:03 PM	#1
lurchlarson Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Oregon, USA Photos: Albums Posts: 681	From K200d to K7 I will be buying the 16-50 here soon and may be able to buy a k7 body at the same time if I sell my 200d. I was wondering, for those of you that have used both, how much of an upgrade is it in terms of AF speed/tracking/accuracy as well as low-light situations? The KX is out of the question because I want the weather sealing (tromping through the forest in the oregon coast range in the pouring rain is not camera friendly), as well as the faster shutter speed. I know what the spec differences are on paper but I want to know what real life, in-the-field-use differences are between the k200d and the k7. If it's not that big of a difference then I may hold on to my k200d till we find out if anything comes out of Photokina. If there is a significant improvement then I won't wait and will get the k7. Last edited by lurchlarson; 04-28-2010 at 08:33 PM.

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04-21-2010, 04:18 PM	#2
Al_in_the_Shire Inactive Account Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: none of your business Posts: 96	Your K200d is a "sleeper" camera. A very very good camera. Sure it doesn't have all the bells and whistles as the K7, but where it counts, in picture quality, I don't think you are getting much of a jump. And if I am going to upgrade bodies, there best be some gains in IQ over what I already have or it's just a ego purchase. With that in mind, I would, and am waiting to see what comes out next. I have a k20 and a K 200. Played with a K 7 for a week, and honestly, I was just not that impressed with it over the other two cameras. Sure it is nice, fits in the hand well, has lots of things to play with, but where it counts, in picture quality, I honestly did not see a huge improvement if any, and in some cases, thought it was a step back. I hate to say it, but I think Pentax missed the boat a bit on the K7. I expected a lot more out of the "flag ship" model. I'm hoping they deliver with their next incarnation of it, or bring out a K200 upgrade. Pentax needs to "nail" one. Everything has been close, but not quite perfect in the past couple of years. I think for the money, the K200 was the best camera they made. It's the only one you never heard a lot of complaints about. No hot pixels, no banding in cold weather, no clunky live view, no shutter vibration at certain speeds, no crappy sensor - I'm one of those who think if they had put the KX sensor in the K7 I would already own two of them. But they didn't, and now it's time to bring something better to the table. If they don't, I think they are going to end up having real problems down the road. There are a lot of great cameras out today, and Pentax needs to join the fun.

04-21-2010, 05:11 PM	#3
GerryL Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: CA Posts: 2,731	If you have a K200D and would like to upgrade, then I think that the K20D is the best upgrade for now considering the price. The K7 is not that much of an upgrade from the K20D so pitted with price per price and feature per feature, the K20D would be a better upgrade for the K200D.

04-21-2010, 05:16 PM	#4
yeatzee Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Temecula Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,675	My K-7 just shipped so send me a PM linking this thread incase it gets submerged in all the new threads and i'll post a comparison. Im so excited Macro shooting will be SO MUCH EASIER with live view!

04-21-2010, 05:23 PM	#5
lurchlarson Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Oregon, USA Photos: Albums Posts: 681 Original Poster	Originally posted by GerryL If you have a K200D and would like to upgrade, then I think that the K20D is the best upgrade for now considering the price. The K7 is not that much of an upgrade from the K20D so pitted with price per price and feature per feature, the K20D would be a better upgrade for the K200D. The k7 and the k20d are about the same price right now.

04-21-2010, 08:30 PM	#6
ddhytz Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Melbourne Posts: 602	Originally posted by Al_in_the_Shire Your K200d is a "sleeper" camera. A very very good camera. ... +1 If I had K200 I would not consider upgrade at this stage.

04-21-2010, 08:56 PM	#7
fractal Inactive Account Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Melbourne Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,547	Originally posted by GerryL If you have a K200D and would like to upgrade, then I think that the K20D is the best upgrade for now considering the price. The K7 is not that much of an upgrade from the K20D so pitted with price per price and feature per feature, the K20D would be a better upgrade for the K200D. The only reason to buy a K20D over a K7 is if you have a really big hand. Otherwise why? As Lurch said they are around the same price now. +2 for not considering an upgrade.

04-21-2010, 11:27 PM	#8
SteveM Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Vancouver Island, BC, Canada Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,294	Originally posted by fractal The only reason to buy a K20D over a K7 is if you have a really big hand. Otherwise why? As Lurch said they are around the same price now. +2 for not considering an upgrade. I can't speak to your current camera, but I upgraded from a K20d to the K-7, then getting a K20d once again as a backup camera. Long story short, I was without a K-7 for a few weeks and the k20d is no excuse for a K-7.

04-22-2010, 03:30 AM	#9
dom777 Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: nbg Posts: 29	Originally posted by Al_in_the_Shire [...] in picture quality, I honestly did not see a huge improvement if any, and in some cases, thought it was a step back. Exactly what I was thinking when I got my k-7! I don´t know if I just like the look of CCD more than CMOS, but at first I was kinda disappointed from the image quality and the look of the grain. My main reason for upgrading was the video-mode, but I did not feel like I had "mastered" the k200 yet in terms of picture-taking. Now I know the video-mode sucks, but I love the feel of my k-7, the rear dial and with the BG, it pretty much feels perfect in my hands. But I guess you would get that also of a k20...

04-22-2010, 01:40 PM - 1 Like	#10
Marc Sabatella Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Denver, CO Photos: Gallery Posts: 10,685	I guess the reasons to upgrade would be low light AF (go, focus assist lamp!), better viewfinder and control layout, video, or live view. Or the other miscellaneous features - lens correction, AF adjustment, horiztonal level meter, etc. But IQ-wise, I haven't seen any reason to consider it step up at any ISO. For me personally, the viewfinder would really be the only thing on the list that would interest me enough to even consider it, but no way is that worth buying a new camera over. If/when my K200D dies, sure - but I expect we'll be a couple of steps beyond the K-7 by then.

04-27-2010, 08:08 PM - 2 Likes	#11
yeatzee Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Temecula Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,675	Well I said I would return, so here I am Just got my K-7 today so im still getting used to it but here are a few points that came to me instantly after handling both. - I hate the viewfinder cup of the K-7.... maybe im just used to the K200d's, but I instantly swapped them despite the K200d's barely fitting the k-7. - The actual viewfinder itself of the K-7 is almost worth the upgrade cost alone. Its incredible how much better it is. I can't quite explain it, you just have to handle one yourself. - The back LCD is ridiculously huge on the K-7 considering the size of the body - Both K200d and K-7 are almost exactly the same size or seem to be, but both have entirely different grips. Im not sure which I prefer.... they are different. - The k200d with rechargeable batteries is heavier than the K-7 with its battery... or atleast seems to be from holding them. - The K-7 needs a grip badly IMO with heavy lenses. My K200d has its on 100% of the time, and I presume the K-7 will also when I can afford one. - The super duper LCD everyone talks about is nothing special. The menu and settings look better but the pictures look seemingly worse on the back of the camera. -On the computer with my images, I see no real improvement of IQ at base ISO (all i've shot at with it so far). - Live view is AWESOME - Video is addicting - two dials will take some getting used to. - The K-7's front dial is right where the on off switch for the k200d is, so when i do not look at the camera and attempt to turn it on I turn the front dial by accident. Goes with the above point.... - The fact that the top screen always lights up is annoying - The camera feals incredibly solid - Seemingly thousands more settings and options to adjust to your liking. Thats all I can think of at the moment

04-28-2010, 08:24 AM	#12
GerryL Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: CA Posts: 2,731	Nice comparison yeatzee! It is always better to have had handled both cameras and make point by point comparisons with regards to handling. Others would just go mainly to IQ more than anything else. Great job!

04-28-2010, 03:08 PM	#13
yeatzee Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Temecula Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,675	Originally posted by GerryL Nice comparison yeatzee! It is always better to have had handled both cameras and make point by point comparisons with regards to handling. Others would just go mainly to IQ more than anything else. Great job! Thanks Gerry, I wanted to give you guys an idea coming from the K200d since I've never seen such comparison before. I mainly dwelled on the negatives, but truly those are all personal "niggles." As far as I can tell, the K-7 is an incredible camera. I plan on doing a quick simple video comparing both that I will throw on youtube and link here. That way you guys can see the two cameras side by side Edit: and by the way if you guys didn't already figure it out, im keeping the K200d. Its an amazing backup to the K-7 considering they are almost exactly the same size and are both weather sealed. The only reason I bought the K-7 was because my k200d's mode dial scrambled meaning some modes are missing and some are switched. The price to get it fixed was not worth it to me sadly. It still has a proper M mode though which is good enough as a backup for me.

04-28-2010, 08:32 PM	#14
lurchlarson Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Oregon, USA Photos: Albums Posts: 681 Original Poster	Originally posted by yeatzee Thanks Gerry, I wanted to give you guys an idea coming from the K200d since I've never seen such comparison before. I mainly dwelled on the negatives, but truly those are all personal "niggles." As far as I can tell, the K-7 is an incredible camera. I plan on doing a quick simple video comparing both that I will throw on youtube and link here. That way you guys can see the two cameras side by side Edit: and by the way if you guys didn't already figure it out, im keeping the K200d. Its an amazing backup to the K-7 considering they are almost exactly the same size and are both weather sealed. The only reason I bought the K-7 was because my k200d's mode dial scrambled meaning some modes are missing and some are switched. The price to get it fixed was not worth it to me sadly. It still has a proper M mode though which is good enough as a backup for me. Thank you very much. Your reviews has been incredibly helpful! I think I might hold on to my K200d for now. Nothing like a good backup and I agree...the K200d would be an excellent backup. I want to save up a little more. I think I'll be ok without the grip. I don't have a grip for the k200d and if they fit similar in the hand, I'm already used to it.

04-28-2010, 09:20 PM	#15
creampuff Veteran Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Singapore Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,953	Originally posted by GerryL If you have a K200D and would like to upgrade, then I think that the K20D is the best upgrade for now considering the price. The K7 is not that much of an upgrade from the K20D so pitted with price per price and feature per feature, the K20D would be a better upgrade for the K200D. I seriously doubt you know what you're talking about. I've owned the K20D and now the K-7 and the K-7 is far the more responsive and better camera. The K-7 is definitely a significant upgrade from the K200D.