Originally posted by a5m
Good find panoguy looks like a good deal, especially for those who missed out on the black friday deals and the ProMaster rebate.
Thanks Kayaker-J for posting this after taking the time to go through the data and analyze it. This is good info to know, especially since I decided to get a K-S2 over a K-3

. Makes me feel even better about the purchase.
Since I'm a beginner I have pretty much every feature I would want in a DSLR. After getting to know the K-S2 I'll know which features are a must and which I can go without e.g. size and weight, flip out screen.
I am happy to have been of some assistance, though my diligence had more to do with my own self interests! Nonetheless, I did want to tip off owners and prospective owners of Pentax's 20.1mp cameras to this information, which is definitely flying underneath the radar. IQ-centric folks, as I am, should take careful note; though, in both the case of the A5000 and Pentax K-S1, you'd be sacrificing something in ergonomics and control to gain the plusses I'm suggesting. No worries with the K-S2! In Sony's case, they introduced more full featured alpha models (the A5100 & the popular A6000) only about 6 months after releasing the basic, but all-you-need A5000: these were widely viewed as "replacements", though that is not really so. But I think that this marketing strategy had to have the effect of implying that the slightly higher rez sensor was an upgrade, and thus, "better"... and that the 20.1mp had become somewhat 'passé'. I choose the one available 20.1mp + BionZ-X implementation over the 24mp/BionZ-X, since my principal reason for owning it is to complement an A7 and, of course, my K3. Though disability has prevented me from making my own tests of this, my suspicion is that, all else being equal, your K-S2 may be able to produce more natural looking portraiture, for example, than my K3. Heresy, I know! But for those who can grok what's going on there, those IR comparisons do support the suggestion I'm making.
BTW. please don't miss reading John Riley's acutely aware reviews of your K-S2 (5 stars out of 5!) and also the similar K-S1 at ePHOTOzine.com. You'll feel even better about your choice! Riley is the one and only reviewer out there, apart from this site's staff, whom I have found to consistently "get" what the Pentax way is about. He is a Pentax owner, too. Both ePHOTOzine and the T.I.P.A. Awards people (the only awards that matter: check 'em out) rate your camera #1 in its category, unequivocally. Sorry, Nikon and Canon.