Home > Consumer Reviews > Pentax K20D 18-55mm II Lens Kit (14.6 MP High Performance DSLR With Integrated Shake Reduction)

I'm a professional photographer and use the K20D for a wide range of photography including: products, landscapes, events, portraits and glamour. Event photography can challenge any camera because you are having to deal with constantly changing conditions. The settings you need quick access to are instantly available on dedicated buttons - so no hunting through the menus. Things like focusing modes, exposure compensation and shake reduction are all instantly to hand.

Functions you need less often have their own fast-access menu through the FN button.

So - for a professional who needs to get the camera in the right mode quickly, this is hard to beat.

Image quality is superb. With over 14Mp to play with, you still have the option to crop to the detail without losing quality. You can produce huge prints so even posters pose no problem.

The publicity boasts of the camera being sealed against the elements. It works. I recently took it to shoot at a waterfall where the air was full of dense mist. The camera got soaked but never showed any sign of suffering from it. Other camera owners were running for cover.

I use this camera just about every day and wouldn't be without it.

The 14.6 MB and good lens resolution enables this camera to often capture detail that is simply not visible with the naked eye. The sensitivity setting at 3200 iso also has revealed interior detail (Italian church frescos) using only low levels of natural light better than I could actually see! - and the grain can be adjusted.
The large lcd screen and zoom by the rear dial enables quick review of images to check success or otherwise.
I upgraded to this camera from a Milota 6.5 MB digital (no longer produced) which performed well and had features in common. At first I wondered if I had done the right thing. I have now used the K20D for architectural photography and 2 weeks of snapping on holiday and I have no doubts - this camera is robust, intuitive in its menue layouts with button short cuts (you do need to learn these) and full of functionality (this makes it semi-professional - there is a lot you can do).
So far on enlargement of images I have seen no significant halo or interference along edges and colours appear natural.
The software and cable link to a laptop enables the camera to be drive remotely (useful for architectural photography).
A great bit of kit!
Niggles - not many -
It is rather heavy to carry around but I didn't want to be without it,
Sv on the function dial dosn't mean shutter priority but sensitivity (shutter priority is Tv I suppose this is best remembered as exposure time)
Live view nice idea but never use it.
It might be my camera but I have set exposure compensation to +0.5 or otherwise images are rather dark
The linked software for use on laptop dosn't enable zooming in on images to check focus etc.

Having been using Pentax since 1964 (spotmatic - still have it!) I am probably biased but this camera is the best I have had so far. Matches or exceed my expectations on every level. The live view which has come in for a lot of criticism is excellent for me when I have my slide copier attached. It is now so simple to convert the slides to digital (I have around 14000 so it will be a while yet).

After waiting for the K7 to arrive, I decided that the K20 at less than half the price is the Pentax upgrage for me. The bells and whistles features plus the main one the 14M pixel sensor, should keep me content for some time.

After frustratingly searching for many weeks to buy the Cannon 50D - I finally gave up the ghost as I began to assume that general stock had dried up. I even began to suspect the model had perhaps been deleted by Cannon and a supersede was secretly on the horizon. The final nail in the coffin was when I was treated very badly by Black Bearded Bob, the Store Manager of JACOBS in Hull. He frankly did not seem to give a damn whether I bought a camera or not and despite several visits to the store his apathy and contempt never waned; together with his serious lack of customer sales skills.
I was telling this tale of woe to a camera dealer in Hereford who promptly showed me the PENTAX K20D. I was hesitant and wary to deviate or change from buying my dream Cannon DSLR - but the more the dealer went on, the more impressed I became with all of the cameras features, specifications and capabilities. I was also very impressed with the Pentax K7 but eventually decided on the K20 as it was almost half the price of the K7 and well afforded me a 300mm zoom lens and other accessories into the bargain.
I am indeed more than happy with the K20D camera, as it excels all of my expectations, and for the money, with it's magnesium alloy body and live view, it has to be the best value on the market. It is a semi-professional camera - easy to understand, for any enthusiast who warrants the effort to read and study the elementary, enclosed manual. Sadly it looks like this model has now been deleted by Hoya Corporation (New owners of Pentax) but at the time of writing this review, there is still some stock out there if you look hard enough.