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Pentax K2000

Pentax K2000 is an excellent digital SLR camera for those shooters who would like to make a move from point-and-shoot camera to more professional experience.

Overview:

Pentax K2000 is a great camera for its price – $599.99. Fort his amount you get a very good quality DSLR with lens and external flash so it’s really hard not to have a look at it. Moreover, the Pentax K2000 has fast start-up, bright and large LCD, great design and very good image quality. Seems almost too good to be true doesn’t it?

Pentax K2000 pros:
+ Compact, well balanced body
+ Good resolution
+ Low noise
+ Overall good sharpness
+ Wide array of scene modes
+ Fast start-up

Pentax K2000 cons:
- Slowish burst mode
- Poor sharpness at small aperture settings
- No life view
- No depth of field preview
- The menu structure a bit too confusing

The design:

Pentax K2000 measures 122.5 x 91.5 x 67.5 mm and weighs 525 grams. The camera is not as packed as the Olympus E-30, but it is due to different targeting do the two cameras. So the front of Pentax K2000 features the lens, self timer lamp and lens release button. The back houses the viewfinder, pop-up flash release button, 2.7-inch LCD screen, AF button, 4 way controller, playback mode button, menu button back control dial and delete key. Of the left side of the Pentax K2000 you can see the focus mode switch and USB / AV connector, whereas of the right side the removable tab for power access and SD memory card port hidden under a door. The bottom features the tripod mount and the battery compartment door. At the top of the Pentax camera you can see the hot shoe, mode dial power switch and shutter release.

pentax-k2000

Performance:

The Pentax K2000 is equipped with 2.7-inch LCD screen which should be enough for previewing pictures if it wasn’t for the screen resolution which is far too small for this purpose. The camera has a really good start-up time so you will be able to take photos in no time, yet most probably not in the burst mode which is rather slow. And as the majority of the latest DSLRs the Pentax K2000 cannot record movies.

Image quality:

The Pentax K2000 has not so god color accuracy not only when compared to competition, but also more generally speaking. Even the selection of six different color modes does not help here. On the other hand, the Pentax K2000 has very good noise levels both in low light and in bright light. And if you see too much noise you can always use the noise reduction system which works really well. The Pentax K2000 has the maximum resolution of 10 megapixel so if you need to take larger photos you should consider Sony A900, or Olympus E-30. The camera has also a few white balance presets thanks to which it handles all types of light also in auto mode.

pentax-k2000-no-lens

Menus / ease of use:

The Pentax K2000 has a few shooting modes thanks to which it is easy to find the right one for the occasion. Moreover, the camera has six custom image settings with possible fine adjustment and six filter effects. Yet when you’re not using the dedicated buttons, or the auto mode and you need to plunge into menus you might get confused at first.
All in all, the Pentax K2000 is a very decent digital SLR or a very reasonable price.
Selected Pentax K2000 features and specifications:
SENSOR

  • Type: Interline interlace CCD with primary color filter and integrated Shake/Dust Reduction sensor movement system
  • Size: 23.5 x 15.7mm
  • Color depth: 8 bits/channel JPG, 12 bits/channel RAW
  • Effective pixels: 10.2 MP
  • Total pixels: 10.75 MP
  • Recorded resolutions: 10M (3872×2592), 6M (3008×2000), 2M (1824×1216)
  • Dust Removal: Image sensor movement combined with SP coating

LENS MOUNT

  • Type/construction: PENTAX KAF3 bayonet stainless steel mount
  • Usable lenses: PENTAX KAF3, KAF2, KAF, and KA (K mount, 35mm screwmount, 645/67 med format useable w/ adapter and/or restrictions)
  • SDM function: YES
  • Power zoom function: n/a

FOCUS SYSTEM

  • Type: TTL phase-matching 5 point wide autofocus system (SAFOX xxxxx)
  • Focus modes: AF Auto, AF Single (w/ focus lock), AF Continuous (available in Action mode including Auto Picture Action, Kids, Pet, Stage Lighting, and Night Snap modes, P/A/S/M/B/Sv), Manual
  • Focus point adjustment: Auto, Wide, Spot
  • AF assist: YES, via built-in flash

VIEWFINDER

  • Type: Penta-Mirror
  • Coverage (field of view): Approx 96%
  • Magnification: Approx 0.85X (w/ 50mm f/1.4 at infinity)
  • Standard focusing screen: Natural-Bright-Matte II
  • Diopter adjustment: -2.5 to 1.5
  • Depth of field preview: Digital (available as a custom function linked to Help button)

LCD MONITOR

  • Type: 2.7 TFT color LCD monitor, adjustable brightness
  • Resolution: 230,000 dots
  • Wide angle viewable: YES

BUILT-IN FLASH

  • Type: Retractable P-TTL auto/manual popup flash
  • Guide number: 11 (100/m)
  • Coverage: 28mm wide angle (equivalent to 35mm)
  • Flash modes: On, off, redeye, wireless
  • Flash exposure compensation: -2 to 1 EV in 1/2 steps

EXTERNAL FLASH

  • Type: Hot shoe (P-TTL, high speed sync available), wireless with PENTAX dedicated flash
  • Synchronization speed: 1/180s

STORAGE MEDIA

  • Internal memory: n/a
  • Removable memory: SD, SDHC

INTERFACES

  • Ports: USB 2.0 hi-speed, video out
  • Video out: NTSC, PAL
  • Printer interfaces: PictBridge

POWER SUPPLY

  • Power source: 4* AA (lithium, NiMH rechargeable, alkaline)
  • Recordable images: Approx xxxxx (lithium)
  • Playback time: Approx xxxxx (lithium)
  • AC adapter available: YES (optional)

PHYSICAL SPECIFICATIONS

  • Body dimensions (W x H x D): 4.8 x 3.6 x 2.7
  • Body weight
  • Without battery or removable memory: 18.5 oz
  • Loaded and ready: 20.8 oz (lithium)
  • Construction material(s): Fiber reinforced plastic polymer covers around a rugged stainless steel chassis
  • Operating temperature: 32-104°F

IMAGE STABILIZATION

  • Type: Body-based, sensor shift Shake Reduction (4 stops maximum)

METERING SYSTEM

  • Type: TTL open aperture, 16 segment metering
  • Sensitivity range: EV 0-21 (ISO 100, 50mm f/1.4)
  • Multi-segment: YES, 16 segments
  • Center weighted: YES
  • Spot: YES
  • Exposure compensation: +/- 2 EV (1/2 or 1/3 steps)
  • Exposure lock: YES (available as a custom function linked to focus lock)
  • Exposure bracketing: YES, 3 frames, up to +/- 1.5 (1/2 steps) or +/- 1.0 (1/3 steps)

ISO SENSITIVITY

  • Auto: 100-3200 ISO (1, 1/2, 1/3 steps), up to 1600 ISO in Bulb mode
  • Manual: 100-3200 ISO (1, 1/2, 1/3 steps), up to 1600 ISO in Bulb mode

WHITE BALANCE*

  • Auto preset modes: Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Fluorescent (D, N, W), Tungsten, Flash Manual mode(s): YES
  • * WB fine adjustment available

SHUTTER

  • Type: Electronically controlled, vertical run, focal plane shutter
  • Shutter speed: 1/4000 to 30 sec, bulb available

CAPTURE MODES

  • Mode selection: Auto Picture (Portrait, Night Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Action), Picture (Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Action, Night Scene Portrait, Standard Flash Off), Scene (Night Scene, Surf & Snow, Food, Sunset, Kids, Pet, Candlelight, Museum, Stage Lighting [2M JPG], Night Snap [2M JPG]), Program, Sensitivity Priority, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, Metered Manual, Bulb (available in Metered Manual)
  • Green simplified mode available: n/a
  • P/A/S/M/B: P, A, S, M (extended modes include Sv, Bulb available in Metered Manual)
  • Date stamp: n/a
  • Digital filters (capture): Toy Camera, High Contrast, Soft, Starburst, Retro, Color Extract (xxxxx). Custom Image Modes includes Bright, Natural, Portrait, Landscape, Vibrant, and Monochrome modes. Color Custom Image Modes include gamut radar and fine adjustment for saturation, hue, contrast, and sharpness. Monochrome Custom Image Mode includes adjustment for film filter effects (green, yellow, orange, red, magenta, blue, cyan, infrared), toning (sepia warm/cool), contrast, and sharpness (regular and fine adj scales).
  • Data record: Folder Name (standard, date)

DRIVE MODES

  • Mode selection: Single, Continuous (Hi, Lo), Self-Timer (12s, 2s), Remote (0s, 3s), Auto Bracket
  • Continuous FPS:
  • – 3.2 FPS (4 JPG and Continuous Hi, 4 RAW)
  • – 1.1 FPS (unlimited JPG and Continuous Lo, 4 RAW)
  • Self-timer: YES (12s, 2s)
  • Remote control: YES, infrared (0s, 3s)

PLAYBACK MODES

  • Mode selection: One shot, index (4, 9, or 16 thumbnails, select & delete available), magnification (quick zoom available), image comparison, image rotation, folder view, calendar, slideshow, histogram, bright/dark indication, resize, trimming, DPOF, digital filter, RAW to JPG
  • Magnification: Up to 16X, scrollable
  • Digital filters (playback): Toy Camera, High Contrast, Soft (3), Starburst, Retro, Color Extract, Illustration (Pastel, Watercolor), HDR (3), B&W, Sepia, Color (18), Slim (+/- 8), Brightness (+/- 8), Custom

FILE FORMATS

  • Still: RAW PEF/DNG, JPG (EXIF 2.21), DCF 2.0 (design rule for camera file system), DPOF, Print Image Matching III

CUSTOM FUNCTIONS

  • Functions available: 23

FILE STORAGE MATRIX (BASED ON 1GB MEMORY)

  • 10M (3872×2592) 202 343 586
  • 6M (3008×2000) 335 570 974
  • 2M (1824×1216) 902 1549 2627
  • RAW
  • 10M (3872×2592) 58

COMPUTER SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

  • Windows: Windows XP/Vista, USB port
  • Mac: MacOS-X 10.3 or later, USB 2.0 port

Other recently reviewed cameras:
Panasonic Lumix ZS3, Sony A900, Olympus E-30.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009 at 4:29 am and is filed under Digital Cameras, Pentax digital cameras. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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