Home > Consumer Reviews > Pentax K20D 14.6MP Digital SLR Camera with Shake Reduction (Body Only)

If Pentax were a bit more serious about increasing the sales of their cameras to first-time Pentax buyers, they'd be making some changes to their marketing strategy. It's unfortunate that with most consumer/professional camera reviews, the Pentax products get dinged in relation to their competitors when they shouldn't have to be. You can see this in the Consumer Reports review of DSLRs and other reviews such as PopPhoto. The problem is that these reviews are performed with tested cameras at their default settings, and Pentax chooses to "compromise" the performance of their cameras by requiring custom adjustments to bring about the true potential of the product. The K10D took a hit with its lower-contrast, soft and dark pictures when in default mode. Change the settings and you have a camera every bit in step with its competition at the time. Now the K20D suffers the same fate with the decision to make Noise Reduction-OFF the default setting. The PopPhoto test of the K20D actually resulted in higher noise levels than the K10D. Indeed, when I first compared the two cameras, I found them both the same at ISO 1600 for the amount of visible noise. Obviously, this is a shocker when you consider that the K20 uses the new CMOS sensor as opposed to the K10's CCD. Although the detail was higher in the K20, the noise was no better. That is, until I set noise reduction to "weak." What a difference! Comparing shots taken at the same settings between the two cameras (K10 default has noise reduction on) but with the K20 at the full 14.6 mp setting and highest JPEG quality with noise reduction at "weak," and the K20's image is strikingly cleaner and sharper. There's no doubt the resolution of the K20's image is hands-down superior to the K10. But you won't read about this in any review unless they choose to turn on noise reduction. There is a very slight loss of detail with NR on, but the resolution of the K20's sensor is so good anyway that the loss is negligible (especially with the Pentax DA* 50-135 lens). Certainly experienced photographers could argue the Pentax reasoning behind the default setting issue, but from a marketing perspective, subjective reviews and objective lab results based on lesser picture performance of default settings can only hurt potential sales when a buyer sees that the 40D or the D300 has clearly better performance in the noise level competition. When you're going up against the giants, you need to exploit the maximum potential of your product, and I believe Pentax has failed to do that.

Having a K10 and a number of Pentax lenses already, I couldn't quite justify jumping ship for the excellent Canon 40D or Nikon D300. But in the end, the price of the K20 was well-justified. The first feature that sold me on the camera is one that only true professional cameras have and isn't even mentioned in the K20 pitch - the ability to fine-tune the auto focus system so that if a lens is front or back-focusing, you can correct for it. This allows you to change the relationship between the point you focus on to the front-to-back area around that object that is also in focus known as the depth of field. This feature could save you a lot of heartache with poorly calibrated lenses that would otherwise be useless. The second feature of this camera that sold me is the improved sensor with its 14.6 MP rating and increased resolution. ISO 1600 shots are now a non-issue compared to the K10. Overall, the K20's pictures tend to be a tad bit warmer than the K10's, but I've also found them to better handle high-contrast transitions between bright and dark with less blown-out bright areas. This was evident in sunset shots where the brightest areas of the orange clouds went yellow in the K10 but kept their detail and color with the K20 (shooting in JPEG). No longer is there an issue with under-exposed shots as with the K10, and normal settings are set close to sharpness/contrast ideals, I've found. But of course, it's all adjustable to just about any result you could want. Just be prepared to deal with some pretty big file sizes on the highest quality JPEG setting - about 11MB. Shoot in RAW and it's almost twice that size. 4GB SD cards suddenly seem puny.

After several thousand shots with the K20, there are a few things that I would consider a bit of a deficit with this camera's performance. First and foremost is the burst rate of 3 frames per second. This is perfectly fine for just about all shooting situations except sports. If you plan to do sports photography, this is not the camera for you. Way too much action happens between frames at that slow rate. The other area where performance lags a bit is with the auto focus system: it's just too slow at the very times you need it to work faster than it can. The issue remains a nuisance from kit lenses to the DA* SDM lenses in low-light or with moving objects. Live-View was not something I cared much about, but since it's there it has come in handy at times for inconspicuous pointing of the camera at non-moving objects or confirming focus when in manual focus mode. My only complaint is that its not as refined in its operation as I'd prefer, and it makes odd clunky-clattery noises when its in use. Another feature that could use some improvement is the Auto ISO setting where the camera selects the ISO between a range you specify. The problem is that it defaults to the lowest ISO which could result in a shutter speed as low as 1/80. This is too slow for anything moving, and I've lost opportunities to blurred pictures because of this. More expensive cameras have the ability to specify a minimum shutter speed as the secondary setting to this feature. Perhaps Pentax has it somewhere, but I just haven't found it. The last nit pick I have is with the shutter sound. It's a little bit sharper and quieter than the K10, but I really don't care for the sound on either camera - too "squeaky/clangy."

In the balance, however, there are a multitude of plusses to this camera that make it great such as the quality of the photos, the flexibility to custom adjust just about anything connected to the picture image and capture (too many to mention), the RAW file handling, in-camera image stability system, the auto focus adjustment feature, weather sealing, the ergonomics/handling and solid feel of the camera. The dust mapping and removal is nifty, too. The dust mapping lets you see a representation of where exactly the dust is on the sensor rather than having to study pictures and transpose the positioning to what you see when looking straight at the sensor from the front. It's also quite sensitive. It showed the presence of dust when I had a very had time even detecting the dust in photos of blue sky taken with a high f-stop. Interestingly, the dust shake-off feature of the sensor has never worked for me on either the K10 or the K20. What always works is to use a manual blower to shoot a few burst of air at the sensor at the right locations.

If you want a truly fine camera that lets you stand out from the Canon/Nikon masses without feeling second-rate (so long as you stay out of sports arenas), this camera is a worthy purchase that will get you great results. I'm surprised at the looks and questions I get from even professional photographers when they see me shooting with the K20 and a DA* lens attached. If you aspire to professional levels of photography without the typical high accessory costs incurred by Nikon/Canon shooters, this is probably one of the best mid-level cameras going. And Pentax is continuing to introduce more professional lenses on par with those from Canon and Nikkor at significantly lower cost.

I have been a Pentax owner since the 1950's when the first Heiland Pentax SLR was introduced to the market. This is my 3rd Pentax digital SLR, the first two being the 6 megapixel 1stDS and the 10 megapixel K10D. This new model is a significant upgrade from the K10D, and at 14.6 megapixels, provides significantly more resolution in the crops I make from the original images. What this allows is for me to go to smaller crops (increased area enlargement) and still maintain excellent resolution. Another significant feature is the new imaging device from Samsung, producing, for me, low noise excellent quality photos at sensitivities as high as 1600 ISO.
To me, one of the most significant features of this camera, also found on my earlier K10D, is the RAW button on the left side of the camera body. This enables me to shoot most of my photos in JPEG, but allows me to go to RAW for a single image that I really want to get the most out of. This feature really conserves memory card space, but allows shooting of intermittent RAW images when they are really needed. This is a feature that I believe is unique to Pentax. At the highest quality (least compression) JPEG setting, the camera produces 10 megabyte images, which provide plenty of detail and excellent color.
The quality of the shake reduction capability seems, to me, to be improved over the K10D. I have been able to shoot sharp photos at F3.5 at a 30th of a second at a focal length of 250 mm.
The camera is extremely well built and, for this reason, is slightly heavier than other brands of comparable size. But the small extra weight and the fact that the camera feels well in the hand makes for really steady shots.
A new feature is live image production on the 2.7 inch rear screen, which is somewhat larger than that on the K10D. Being a long time SLR user, I don't use this feature very much. But it seems to be the up and coming thing on new digital SLR's.
The internal software of the camera has really been upgraded and includes an in camera capability to convert RAW images to TIFF or JPEG, a really neat feature if one is on the road and doesn't have access to the computer software necessary to process RAW images but yet wants to view them on other portable imaging devices.
I bought my camera without a lens and separately purchased the new 18-250 F 3.5-6.3 Pentax zoom lens and the 50 mm F 1.4 Pentax lens, which serves as a very short telephoto, wonderful for taking pictures of people. This is the combination I would recommend. The 18-250 appears to be manufactured for Pentax by TAMRON and is an excellent lens in my opinion. It is also quite versatile, giving a 28 mm field of view at wide angle and 375 mm at full telephoto. The 50mm F 1.4 is really inexpensive, at about $199 from reputable internet dealers, and is one of the sharpest lenses ever produced by Pentax. This lens is a real "sleeper" and should be owned by any Pentax DSLR owner for low light and portrait photography.
At about $1250-1299 street price for the body alone, the camera is not cheap. But it is a prosumer model and priced somewhat below comparable Canon and Nikon models. It is providing me with wonderful performance and I highly recommend it.

Dr. James E. Maynard

As an on-and-off pro photographer, I needed a professional camera that I could use in places like the Kashmir or Khazakstan, taking professional quality pictures without risking a five to ten thousand dollar piece of equipment. The Pentax K20D works for me, expecially thanks to certain key elements:

1. Size
Since I'm not a studio photographer, and the fieldwork I'm into these days is in some pretty rough places, I wanted a camera that was sturdy and compact and easy to carry. The K20d is significantly smaller than any other pro or semi-pro camera on the market, and it makes a big difference because I can carry it in a shoulder bag along with a sweater and notebook, rather than having to carry a separate camera bag.

2. Control (Features)
The camera has all the shooting control of a Pro Camera. Especially cool is that almost every adjustment has a convenient on-body toggle, meaning I can set up my shots without having to navigate menus.

3. Control (Image quality)
I'm a nuts-and-bolts kind of guy, so I don't like it when a camera thinks its smarter than me. Although a lot of people complain about its lack of noise reduction, that's one of the big reasons I bought it. You see, every digital picture has noise. Cameras designed for shooting pictures of your kids on vacation smear the details away to try to hide it. They don't have less noise, they just make the picture fuzzy until you can't notice the pixels. Once this is done, there is a permanent loss of detail.

The K20D preserves the original image and lets you manually adjust noise reduction, which can be done in most image editing programs like Adobe Photoshop. I understand that not everyone knows how to do this, but don't blame Pentax. If you don't know how to manually edit your photos, then why on earth are you spending a thousand dollars on a camera body? This is not a point and shoot camera. Good point and shoot cameras with SLR-like features are widely available for less than half the price, so think twice if you really need this camera before investing in it.

4. Manual Features and Battery Life
Virtually everything in this camera can be set to manual mode. Manual focus is a toggle switch, so it won't constantly reset itself. Devoted dials on the body adjust the aperture and exposure time. Rather than automatically popping up at random times, the flash will not pop up unless you manually activate it. In full manual mode, it allows you to set up each shot just like with an old SLR. Since that's the only way I shoot, and use the lcd screen sparingly if at all, there is virtually no drain on the battery. Set like this, I have used the camera for up to four weeks, shooting more than a thousand photos without having to charge the battery. I doubled that time by buying the back-up battery extension. The Lithium Ion batteries are awesome.

5. Mirror-up LCD viewfinder
You can lock the mirror up and use the LCD screen on the back as a viewfinder, which is really helpful in framing shots where you can't check the viewfinder. It also reduces body-shake in multi-second exposures, which is handy if you shoot at night.

Now I have heard one, and only one complaint (other than noise reduction) which is that its burst mode is kind of slow at 21fps. I'm not a burst mode photographer, so I wouldn't know. In my opinion, if you want a camera that shoots more than 21fps, then buy a video camera. Apparently this makes a difference for sports photographers - another thing I don't do.

The main reason, though that I bought this camera is to be able to use the Pentax lenses, which I love. But it should be important to remember, as a digital camera, it's sensor is big, but not 35mm big, and this changes the proportions and angles from what a film camera shoots. Thus a 50mm lens from your film Pentax takes photos like a 75m lens - a factor of 1.5, so if you want a normal shot, shoot at around 35mm, and wide angle around 19, etc. A 100mm lense will actually shoot like a 150. This can be handy for using wider lenses with less distortion. I have a fish eye lense that is a little too wide on film but perfect on the Pentax. Also, it only takes auto-exposure compatible lenses, ie, modern ones, so you can't use your golden oldies, like an f1 from the 1960s.

On the whole, if the camera fits your needs, it's worth way more than the price. Hands down my favorite camera in the field of DSLRs.

I had a pleasure to use this Pentax's baby for three days. This camera takes photography as far as it never was before under $8.000 price tag. The image quality is stunning. I especially like this rich tremendous color rendition that looks like mid format color slide of 6x9. The tone gradations are simply endless. If you take picture of sunset it will be the best sunset you ever seen.
I will not describe endless technical data details but I must stress how smart, convenient and relevant all the menus! You have a photography tools in your hands, not the computerized toy for browsing menus. The controls placement is the best I ever seen in any brand. Everything is under your fingers, everything is assignable. The camera reacts in the way you expect, it feels solid, complete.
It is pleasure to hold it, the balance is very good. This camera's software allows remote shooting (just like k10d) and if used in studio may be entirely controlled by computer. The ability to use the internal flash as a controller is very nice! The ability to store preview is very nice! The shift preview on shutter is super cool! The viewfinder is nice, clear and bright!If you had experience with K10D, you will find these awesome Pentax invented modes related to auto ISO settings.
The image quality is second to none. While there are many good cameras are around, this one of the league on itself. The tonality, sharpness, expressiveness of this cam is outstanding. What is even more outstanding is the combination of shooting experiences that end up in the final image. You feel that you control it to any degree you wish. The final image may be whatever you tune it to be. Make a profile and get it over sharpened as Canon, oversaturated as Sony or over contrasted as Nikon. Mix is in any way you pleased. You have any number of cameras inside. I personally enjoyed portraits and nature shots I made with it. With awesome tonal variations, countless gradations in shadows, natural and lifelike skin tones. This camera does equally good job on dark skins as well. And it looks real, photographically rich and not exaggerated.
In short, my three days of hands on experience with this camera I walked off very impressed. Hugely impressed.

I've only shot about 1700 images so far, so I haven't fully explored all the new features on this camera. This is my first impression and I'll update this review as I become more familiar with it.

I've used the K10D since it came out, and the K20D is a strong addition to the line. The new sensor is amazing. Live View is very handy when you're reaching to get the camera into an awkward position. I haven't needed the Dust Alert feature yet, but since I shoot in less than clean conditions, I'm guessing it will come in handy.

One of the features of the K10D that they've kept, and the primary reason I switched to Pentax in the first place, is the construction of the body with 72 seals to keep water and dust out. I've used the K10D in the pouring rain, in sea spray, and in smoky or dusty, windy conditions, and never had a problem. I've started to expose the K20D to the same conditions, and I expect the same performance.

The Shake Reduction is also fantastic, especially for my shaky hands. It doesn't replace a tripod, but it does allow me to shoot handheld in lower lighting than I ordinarily could. Since I have several lenses, it's also a money saving feature for me.

5/26/08 update: Three additional comments:

I've used this camera in both pouring rain and windy dusty conditions (not at the same time, obviously.) Since the body construction didn't seem dramatically different from the K10D, I expected it to survive my abuse, and so far it has.

Live View with a tripod and a wireless remote is heaven in awkward positions! No more contorting my body to squeeze into difficult spaces! (Well, ok, I do that for long enough to focus, then stand comfortably and switch to Live View. You can use the AF button to focus while using Live View, but I guess I'm a little old fashioned, and I like seeing my subject in focus in the viewfinder.)

It can be frustrating waiting for the images to write to the card, especially when you shoot in Continuous Shooting mode and shoot six or eight images at a time. But since part of that is due to the speed of the card and part of it is due to the size of the images, I can't complain about the camera here. If you are shooting multiple large raw files quickly, BUY FAST CARDS.

I've just scanned the manual and didn't notice the maximum capacity, but I'm using 8GB SDHC cards.

Now that I've spent a little time using it, I love this camera even more.