Pentax K20D review

Pentax hopes to battle with the big boys, offering an impressive feature set at a competitive price

Mid-range or ‘semi-pro’ DSLRs are becoming increasingly competitive, with the latest hotshot being the incredibly well-received Nikon D300. With star performers like this around from the manufacturers that currently hold the lion’s share of the DSLR market, it’s clear that well-respected yet not quite as successful manufacturers like Pentax have to go that extra mile to part us with our cash.

With the battle to cram in as much high-end technology as possible, the quest for image perfection and the race to shoehorn the highest number of megapixels onto a sensor, camera makers certainly have a tough task when it comes to beating the competition. Happily, Pentax has come a long way, bringing increasingly popular DSLR models to the market.

The upgrade to the Pentax K10D is, once again, the result of a beautiful friendship between Pentax and Samsung, so it’s pretty fair to say we can expect there to be very little difference between the Pentax K20D and the also recently released Samsung GX20.

The competition-beating 14.6mp CMOS sensor has been developed as a result of the aforementioned partnership between Pentax and Samsung, and the result of these two manufacturers sharing their knowledge proves the collaboration to be worthwhile.

The K20D’s body is all Pentax however, and fits very snugly in the hand. Based on the same design as the K10D, the generous grip is easy and comfortable to hold, while the body is nicely weighted, with all the fixtures and fittings being a reassuringly high standard of quality.

The user interface may look a little hectic upon first inspection, with a plethora of buttons, switches and symbols adorning the camera’s body. Fortunately, once we’d spent a little time getting to know the K20D, we found that the operation of the camera became intuitive, with all the key settings you’re likely to need while shooting being easily accessible.

Although aimed squarely at the enthusiast market, the K20D boasts a number of features found on higher-spec models from rival manufacturers, including a weatherproof, reinforced plastic polymer shell surrounding a stainless steel chassis, built-in Image Stabilisation technology, an expanded dynamic range function and Live View, all for a very competitive price. The build quality of this camera is particularly impressive: all the buttons, dials and switches feel solid, while hatches have locking mechanisms and all of the aforementioned are weather-sealed.

The Mode dial sports an array of shooting modes, including a programmable User option that allows you to store your own assortment of preferred settings, and an X-sync flash setting. A unique Sensitivity Priority mode is also available that – as the name suggests – allows you to dial in your preferred ISO. This stays constant, leaving the camera to work out the required exposure settings from there. This is a bit of a quirky option – while we can obviously see the merit of making sure your ISO stays constant, you could just as easily shoot in Program mode and select your chosen ISO, or determine the range within which you want the camera to operate.

Dust Removal systems are de rigueur at the moment, and the K20D certainly doesn’t disappoint. In addition to a mechanical dust removal system, where the CCD shakes to dislodge any foreign bodies on its surface, there’s a special coating on the sensor to discourage dust from adhering to it. Finally, there’s a Dust Alert option included in the Setup menu that analyses your sensor’s cleanliness and serves as a useful indicator of when it’s time to perform a manual spring clean.

On the top panel of the camera a secondary LCD displays some shooting information, although we have to say that a little extra wouldn’t go amiss. You can – of course – press the Info button on the back of the camera to call up a detailed view of your current shooting settings on the main LCD, but it’s obviously easier to take a quick glance at the top panel, especially when time is of the essence.

Front and rear e-dials allow the user to adjust their exposure settings on the fly, while the usual four-way d-pad and OK button combo provide the method for navigating the menu system and making alterations to settings.

Setting it apart from lower-end models, the K20D has a range of customisable features that include four different JPEG size and quality settings, along with the choice of either PEF or DNG RAW files. There’s the option of bracketing for white balance, saturation, hue, contrast and sharpness, a multi-exposure option and the choice of sRGB or AdobeRGB colour spaces.

On the front of the body there’s a RAW button, which when pressed can be customised to switch the camera to shoot in RAW or RAW+ mode. Continuing the theme of user-customisable options, there’s an entire Custom setting menu, where the user can define no less than 36 functions, programming the way the camera performs to suit their preferences precisely.

Similar fine-tuning capabilities extend to the White Balance menu, where it’s possible to simply select from a range of preset values, take a manual reading or select the appropriate colour temperature from the graphical representation of the Kelvin scale on the camera’s rear LCD.

The Expanded Dynamic Range function incorporated into the K20D’s arsenal works by automatically altering the sensitivity according to the scene you’re shooting, in order to enhance the shadow and highlight detail in your image.

Another previously mentioned ‘high-end’ feature that this camera boasts is Live View. The K20D’s bright, high-quality LCD is excellent and features a wide-viewing angle, making it well-suited to this task, although the lack of an Autofocus function is somewhat limiting. On the plus side, you do have the option of having the AF frame display and/or a grid to aid with composition on the LCD.

The 11-point autofocus system features nine cross-type AF points and is pretty speedy and accurate under most circumstances. It’s not as blisteringly quick as some more expensive models, but it keeps up with its peers. Continuous shooting is possible at 3fps for up to 38 JPEGs, 14 RAW PEF or 16 RAW DNG files, and you can slow things down to 2.3fps to allow for continuous shooting until you run out of memory (JPEGs). While this might not be as quick as some of the K20D’s competitors, it’s certainly enough for most everyday action-packed situations.

Despite the K20D’s somewhat inconsistent metering capabilities and tendency towards underexposure, the images this camera is capable of producing are superb. Having to correct a lot of photos for underexposure is a bit of a pain on occasion, but far better than dealing with the difficulties of overexposure! Nonetheless, the K20D’s 14.6mp sensor produces wonderfully detailed, vibrant images, with very little evidence of noise at lower sensitivities, and usable shots right up to the maximum ISO 3200 setting.

This camera is supplied with a SMC Pentax-DA f3.5-5.618-55mm AL II kit lens, which offers very good optical quality in general, although it does suffer from noticeable chromatic aberration and decreased sharpness around the edges. There are better lenses out there, but this one should serve the average enthusiast very well, at least until they’re ready to invest in higher-end glass.

On the topic of lenses, the K20D – like its predecessor – offers Pentax users the chance to use their much-loved K-mount lenses, in addition to the contemporary DA range of optics. Samsung and Schneider lenses are also compatible, and film converts may want to invest in an optional adaptor to allow them to make use of their existing Pentax 645 and 67 lenses.

In operation, the K20D is intuitive to use, with all the main controls at your fingertips. Dedicated buttons that adorn the body make it quick and easy to access key functions. Pressing the Fn button below the d-pad calls up a display on the LCD, providing shortcuts to the White Balance, Drive mode, ISO and Flash mode menus. Pressing the OK button takes you to the Custom Image menu, where you can fine-tune the appearance of your images. Options include Bright, Natural, Portrait, Landscape, Vibrant and Monochrome – all of which can be tweaked in terms of filter effect, toning, contrast and sharpness. This offers the user an impressive level of control over the look of their photos, adding points to the K20D’s score in terms of functionality.

In sum, the Pentax K20D is a very good camera indeed, offering a host of features. There are a few niggles, like the issues with metering, but the image quality it offers is generally excellent. We do feel that the camera will only have its true potential realised when used in combination with some top-quality glass, but the kit lens does its job well: there’s some moderate distortion, but it should satisfy most enthusiast’s needs. The inclusion of features previously found on higher-end DSLRs add weight to the K20D’s feature set, making it an attractive alternative to DSLR upgraders who don’t want to spend a huge amount of cash.