The K20D Arrives

I received my own K20D from Pentax yesterday, a loaner, complete with the nifty new 35mm macro Limited lens. Although I don't know how I'm going to be able to add much of anything useful to Carl's evolving multi-part review. I will say that this lens makes a particularly nice match for the camera.

Whenever I get a new camera I like, I can't seem to help wandering around the house snapping random pictures of whatever's handy. Their willingness to model (well, okay, utter indifference to modeling) strikes me as yet one more of the manifold felicities of dogs.

That's my chair, by the way.

___________________

Mike

Comments

[Christopher Lane]

Hmmmm. And I thought I was the only one that did that. Dogs rule. By the way, was there any post-processing or is that out of the camera? Auto-everything or manual?

[Chris Norris]

Your chair? Sure it is. You just keep tellin' yourself whatever you have to hear.

[Adam Zolkover]

Congrats on the loaner camera. Also: the results that I've seen with the 35/2.8 so far have made me question my devotion to the 31/1.8. All I have to say is wow to it's 3d-ish qualities.

[Malcolm]

Mike: You only THINK that's your chair.

[Ben Marks]

You _say_ it is your chair. I had a chair like that once.

Ben Marks

[Curtis Hedman]

You only THINK that's YOUR chair... just like I sometimes think our couch is mine, not the property of the two Irish Wolfhounds who grace us with their presence!!!

Will be very interested in what you think of the 35mm Macro...

Curt

[Robin P]

Well after all the praise heaped on it in the last few days you've just put a stop to further K20D sales Mike - in that photo and particularly with that lens, it looks darned ugly!
Normal publicity shots of todays new DSLRs must be carefully composed from just the right angle to make them look desirable. On the rare occasions when I get to look in a camera shop window I'm always shocked at how ungainly the latest wondercameras appear in the flesh.
Then again, maybe it's all in the eye of the beholder - after a long email correspondence with my brother last week (he's considering his first SLR) I sent him a photo of a Mamiya 645E I was hoping to win on eBay. His comment? "Well ugly!".

Cheers, Robin

[_#_]

You seem to need a lot of butt cushion.;-)

[Mike Johnston]

Robin,
Are you talking about my dog, or my picture of my dog, or the picture of the camera, or the camera?

Mike J.

[Charlie]

Chair? That is an upholstered wingback dog bed.

[cb]

I thought the Leica R8 was an ugly camera. Well, until I saw the 20D.

[Damon Schreiber]

I'd definitely be interested to hear your take on the 35mm macro. Cute tiger.

[Robin P]

"Are you talking about my dog, or my picture of my dog, or the picture of the camera, or the camera?"

Sorry Mike, your dog is no problem - I like dogs, the K20D looked like a "dog" in your picture of it.

BTW same problem with the furniture here which belongs to Herbert the cat.

Cheers, Robin

[Mike Johnston]

"the K20D looked like a "dog" in your picture of it"

Robin,
Oh--no--no, I don't think so. It's got a touch of an attitude because of the "beaky" front of the prism housing, but otherwise it is no more or less ugly than most other Wunderplastik cameras, including almost all DSLRs.

Or perhaps I'm insensitive--I admit that I don't think any DSLRs are very good-looking, so I have no criticisms of the K20D.

Besides, beauty is as beauty does, and already this camera is starting to feel like a friendly collaborator, stepping up to help me do what I want it to and yielding unusually excellent image files. I think I'm very easily going to be able to forgive it its looks.

Mike J.

[Ben Marks]

Mike: my own bugbear on DSLRs has been focusing screens (exceptions to the general rule Canon 5D, Nikon D3). What's your impression of the focusing screen on the K20D? Better, worse or the same than the K10D? I guess the quality of the prism is in play here too.

Ben Marks

[Peter]

Mike: I just read your column in "Black and White's" April issue. You said you were probably going to stick with what you had a while longer. Then I read this blog post where you went with the K20D. Interesting demonstration on the time difference between print and Web. :-)

Will you at some point write a post on why you decided to go with the Pentax? You've said how you really like current Olympus lenses. Both the Olympuses and the Pentax have the in-body stabilization. What pushed you to the Pentax side? I'm interested in the thought process as much as the final decision.

[cog]

Until reading these comments, it had never occurred to me to wonder what my K20D looks like. Turns out it looks like a camera.

[Mike Johnston]

"Mike: I just read your column in "Black and White's" April issue. You said you were probably going to stick with what you had a while longer. Then I read this blog post where you went with the K20D. Interesting demonstration on the time difference between print and Web."

Peter,
Just to be clear, the Pentax camera and lens I'm using now are loaners from Pentax for the purpose of reviewing. I'll have them for 30 days, more or less. I haven't decided on a replacement camera for myself yet.

Mike J.

[Joe Shah]

As a previous K10D owner, I was torn between K20D and D300, purchased D300. Not sure that I made right choice. I think K10D was more user friendly and ergonomically superior. One example of this is RAW button on K10D as opposed to going into menu for same on D300, also K10D/20D give choice of different RAW modes vs Nikon's NEF(their software)
only. Other little touches include flimsy rubber USB flap on D300's "lovely" magnesium body vs Pentax's solid "plastic" body/steel frame with 72 dust and weather seals. Also have an issue with D300's interpretation of red colours, have tried various settings and improved same, but not fully satisfied. Can't quite justify $1,000AUD difference in price.