Pentax K20D 14.6 MP Digital SLR Camera - Black (Body Only)

In terms of value for money this is probably one of the best Pentax bodies you can buy today and one of the best semi-pro DSLRs overall and I think it's the best so far in terms of ergonomics. All features that require quick access have dedicated buttons/switches. I like it even more than the newer K-7 and K-5 in this sense.

Feature-wise everything is there except video, but not everybody needs video in an SLR. In-body image stabilization is good, works with any lens, unlike Canon and Nikon that have it in-lens. Lens compatibility is the best in the industry - this is a KAF3 mount, so any lens starting with the M42 screw mount would work fine, including the new lenses with hyper-sonic auto-focus motors. I do recommend getting a battery grip for it as well - it fits in your hand better with it, plus you can put an extra battery into it.

The body is weather-sealed and very rugged and can take a lot of abuse. The viewfinder is large and bright and is perfectly usable for manual focusing.

Image quality is good to excellent, on an 8x11" print up to ISO-1600 it's virtually indistinguishable from lower ISO settings in terms of noise. ISO 3200 is still perfectly usable. While K-5 is definitely better in terms of IQ, this is still a very solid performer and in many situations the difference is too vague to be of concern.

Auto-exposure is correct most of the time. Auto white balance is good in daylight, but tends to produce slightly yellow images in artificial light, which is easy to correct in Photoshop. Auto-focus is as good as any, even in low light.

The only thing I could fault this camera for is somewhat low continuous shooting rate - whether this important or not depends on what you shoot.

The camera has a unique shooting mode where you set the exposure time and aperture and it adjusts the ISO - can be convenient.

Battery life is excellent and they seem to last a long time.

For under $500 this would definitely be one of the best DSLRs one could buy - absolutely recommended.

It has always amazed me that the so called critics give Pentax bodies by and large mediocre reviews yet the owners of these cameras love them. Weight is often criticized, but I find the weight comfortable. Granted I am not a pro, and do not carry it around all day long, but the weight and heft are to my liking. Most all the bells and whistles are here either direct access or easy to find menu placement.For those with previous lenses, you are in luck. They all work on the K20D some with restrictions as older lenses do not have the electic contacts. Even M42 screw mounts are fine with the Pentax adaptor. JPEGS in full resolution are very nice and you can make adjustments for color-vividness and such if the default is not to your liking. My only complaint and it is very minor for my use is the live view is not very sophisticated, but if the camera is on a tripod it comes in handy to frame a shot. No video on this, but I didn't buy it for a camcorder so I don't care. I hear the K5 is even better, but I am willing to bet that unless you do a side by side 100% cropped detailed analysis of both of these and a Nikon or Canon to boot you would be hard pressed to tell the difference. This is a sturdy, well made piece of equipment. I went Pentax as i have used these since the Spotmatics back in the very late 60's very early 70's, which I have, and it still works. If I was to start from scratch I might go Nikon or Canon only because accessories and lenses sometimes do not come in pentax and some programs turn their nose to Pentax. But I have no disappointments as to results with this camera and most of the pentax lenses. Anytime the picture has been under/over exposed it has been my mistake, not the cameras. I generally go AV or manual, sometimes TV as I like to think I had something to do with the picture. But, if you are a P or Auto person, the camera will do you right 99.99% of the time. It just doesn't know what you are looking for as far as field of view and such. The exposure will be correct, but maybe not correct for your purpose.
I may go to the K5 if the price is right, but I am in no hurry.

WOW, ever since I switched over from Manual Slrs, to Auto focus, and then to Digital, I've used Pentax, firstly Because Pentax is the Only manufacturer to keep the same Mount, and update a little, so any lens you ever bought for any Pentax camera will work on This DSLR, nikon don't do that, Cannon don't do that... sony are newcomers.

so I opened up the Package, looked at the camera, and Marveled at the size, I have had 2 previous DSLR's first was a *ist DL (6.1mp) second A Kx (12.4) both are more compact and lighter than the K20d both are fine camera's and the Kx has a few features that I wish the 20d had, but I am VERY VERY happy.

I'm still getting used to some of the new features, I believe in taking a camera out and going and shooting it to get to know it, rather than sitting and reading the manual (which is fortunate) as the camera came without a manual (I've since downloaded it from pentax's website) I like the build quality, and rugedness of the k20, I also like its size, and weight, it feels right in my hands, heavy but not too heavy. I like the 14.6 megapixels, one thing I don't like and I don't know why, the filesizes are 3x as large as my 12.4 megapixel kx, (and I'm only getting an extra 2.2mp)

I think this camera compares favourably to others in its, class, I've always felt reviewers treat pentax unfairly and unfavourably....

focus is very fast, colours are acurate, I love this camera. one thing I really love is they kept the wired remote jack, which they removed from the Kx and it has a full bulb mode for longer exposures, than are covered by dialing down the shutter speed.

Still learning alot about the camera so far it is really great I've added more assessories for the camera to do even more with the camera like 3 lenses wide angle 2X tel and one for very close pics. I've owned and went to photography school in the Military with the pentax camera and the old box camera from the 40's and 50's, I too have the box camera with the oak tripod in mint condition. Would I buy another Pentax Camera yes by all means but only digital I still have my old film Pentax and was able to interchange my lens with it also.

We love the quality pictures with vivid color and the heavy duty feel of this camera for our wedding photography business. We were stepping up from K200s to the KX model and we liked it, but I decided to try 1 K20 for the extra 2MPs. The K20 made the KXs feel like toy cameras... add in the extra 2MPs, ability to use a battery grip, the weather and dust sealing, and the over-all professional feel of the K20 it was a no brainer to resell our 2 KXs and add 2 more K20s.

It may not have quite as many features as the KX or K7 (didn't need the video), but we were able to get 2 lightly used K20 bodies for $415 and $439 and 1 with a great lens and a high end flash for only $599.

We are very happy with this camera and highly recommend it to any serious photographer!