Pentax K2000 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm Lens - Black Review

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(More customer reviews)The Pentax K-M/K2000 is my very first DSLR camera that I have bought. It is called the K2000 in the US and the K-M in different places of the world.
At first I was worried about limitations and was afraid that the K-M/K2000 would limit my learning ability because it is the most basic DSLR model from Pentax. I soon found out that just because the K2000 is Pentax's most basic DSLR does not mean that the camera itself is basic. The sensor is very advanced and it is the same one used in the more expensive K200D. I was surprised by the amount of things I had to learn from jumping to a DSLR from point-and-shoot, even with the entry-level DSLR from Pentax. The K2000's easy to navigate and use interface is helpful for a newbie like me. I was considering about the K20D and K200D but ultimately decided on the K-M/K2000 to save money as well as it being my first DSLR. Sure the K20D might pack more power but the K-M/K2000 still works like any other DSLR and still requires the same knowledge and technique to work like the K20D.
After playing with my new toy for quite awhile, I realized that there is much more to learn than just the camera itself and any DSLR limits itself based on how you limit your learning. Every DSLR works the same as stated, you'll have to learn F-stops, shutter speed, and ISO. The only true limitation is in the camera body from having less features, but those features have nothing to do with YOU and your knowledge on how to expose and compose the image you want. Every DSLR has the capability to produce a beautiful picture based on your knowledge and your technique. The picture quality also depends heavily on the lenses you use, so it's wise to spend less on a body and invest more on a lens if you're on a budget or if this is your first DSLR. After all, the Pentax K2000 will fit any K-mount lenses. It will fit the same lenses the K20D and K200D will.
The Pentax K-M/K2000 is the lightest Pentax DSLR camera and is non noticeably smaller than the Nikon D40. I was questioning it's size at first because I heard that this is a tiny camera and is smallest in the Pentax line-up. It is small but it's not "tiny", it will fit in my hands fine and I have long fingers. The camera is the lightest from Pentax and is one of the lightest DSLRs out there, but it is slightly heavier than the Rebel XS and the Nikon D60. The body of the K-M/K2000 feels very sturdy. The first time I held this camera I first noticed the quality of this DSLR, it is strong and well made.
The picture quality of the camera is good for a entry-level DSLR, the only problem is the noise levels at higher ISO settings, I never use 3200 because of the noise it produces at that ISO. I have my noise reduction set to weak and shoot only in RAW DNG. I try not to go over 800 ISO but sometimes I will have to go to 1600 ISO to keep the shutter speeds higher at night. 1600 ISO is still acceptable for this camera but I question if they should even add 3200 in the first place.
The kit lens that came with this camera is the Pentax SMC DA L 18-55mm AL. L after DA stands for light because it is light due to the plastic mount. The Pentax K-M/K2000 is the only Pentax DSLR at the moment to come with these "light" kit lenses. Yes it is plastic, but it is better than the original more expensive Pentax SMC DA 18-55mm AL that uses a metal mount. It's better because it uses the same optics as the SMC DA 18-55mm AL II, so it will produce the same image quality as the AL II but without the metal mount. The kit lens also does not come with the lens hood so you would need to buy it if you want some extra glare blocking.
The camera packs a lot of options and has a lot of built-in features so you can post process the image in it, but I never use this so I can't really review it. I use Adobe Lightroom 2 and Photoshop CS3 to process my pictures. The auto white balance on this camera works flawlessly and there is no need to adjust them, I just shoot in auto white balance mode for all of my pictures. The auto focus of this camera works fast, faster than the K20D and K200D which is a improvement. The auto focusing in low-light is also improved on this Pentax. The K-M/K2000 has a faster continuous shooting than the K200D, it fires at 3.5 compared to 2.8 in the K200D. Although there is some trade-offs such as 5 auto focus points and non-weather sealed body. The DA WR (weather-sealed) lenses from Pentax are expensive so I would buy the regular DA lenses instead. There's no point of a weather-sealed body if your lenses aren't weather-sealed with it. There is no need for more auto focus points because I found out the best is set to single point center-weighted. Lastly the K2000 has a in-body built in anti-shake so there won't be any need to buy a lens with a image stabilization. Although lenses with image stabilization will work better than the body's anti-shake, it's still good for using older lenses that do not have image stabilization.

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Pentax K-m / K2000 Kit with smc DA L 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL Lens Review

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Lovely to use, and designed for the beginner with easy scene modes, with lots of options for the person like me who likes manual settings. Menu system is very intuitive. In my work I see and get to critique menu systems on web pages and software, so I think I can speak confidently on this
The body feels reassuringly solid, steel chassis inside. I dropped mine on a concrete floor several weeks a ago in a camera bag, and the camera auto focus was confused for about half an hour and then came good. This is a rugged unit, or I was just plain lucky. (I think the first is correct because believe it or not, I dropped the camera onto a pine timber deck with a 210mm zoom lens, and I think the lens must have taken the brunt of the fall. No ill effects. Phew X 2!)
Shake reduction works with older lenses (I have one from 1975, and three from the 1980's). Using an older manual lens is easy to set up. After you choose a menu item (set it just once), the camera from then will realize there is a manual lens, and ask you to confirm focal length when turning camera on. Put the camera into manual mode. Press a button to get the aperture and take the picture. The K-m focus confirmation still works. (I am really irritated a guy in a camera store told me the camera will not work with with the old manual lenses. Who knows why.)
Low-light focusing in dim light is done using a strobe from the flash, works well, and the flash seems to expose nicely, although I prefer not use it because I prefer natural light. When the light is low I use a tripod and the camera senses this and turns shake reduction off automatically. Brilliant! One less thing to remember, one less thing to forget.
Auto focus is fast. Although a lot people say they miss the focus confirmation on the screen itself, I don't miss even though my last camera, a Canon S3IS had this feature. Focus confirmation on the K-m is by a beep and a small hexagonal light at the bottom of the viewfinder. There is no view of what you are taking in the LCD: at first this also bothered me, but after realising the viewfinder was way clearer than what I had had on the Canon S3 IS (not really a fair comparison) I prefer this way of taking the picture. Holding the camera to your face in my book also reduces the amount of blurring for a sharper picture, than holding at arm's length. Some also say this camera misses out by not having selectable focus areas apart from the center of the screen and the other setting whatever it is (5 point focus?). Personally I give this little or no thought, as this is a feature I never used on the S3. I prefer a simple approach photography where I know without thinking where the camera is focused at the center, and leave it there.I really like the options where you can shoot in raw, or jpg or raw and jpg (common to many DSLRs). You can turn raw files into jpgs in the camera. You can choose the files sizes 2, 6, 10 MB: very sensible if you need to speed up file transfers or save disk space: there is little need for me to save at anything above 2MB.
The camera also has a range of inbuilt art filters which at first I did not think would be that great, but some have produced (high contrast filter for one)some great shots. It has a bulb function which means the shutter can be left open for as long as you like. Wireless shutter release is available, and a year 2000 remote shutter release I kept from a Pentax Optio my father bought works with this camera.
I also really like the way you can select and delete a lot of photos quickly. Good design.
The Help button normally when pressed brings up a screen explaining a feature and what it does, not found on any other camera as far as I know. Its really useful for those who are trying to get their heads around the jump from point and shoot to DSLR, e.g my sister in law who is trying to decide what to buy. This button can be changed to other functions: I changed mine to make it take RAW photos when the light is difficult. It can be changed to one of several functions.
Buttons are in the right place: I can hold what is one of the smallest DSLRs in the world in one hand, change settings and take the shot. Before you buy, hold one, I dare you!
My camera did not come with memory card and I was pleased as these tiny cards usually are always thrown away anyway. Less landfill a good thing.
Kit lens is better than some review suggest and equal or better better than supplied with other major cameras ( some camera website reviews I read say this). I have take some (what I consider) superb shots with it: very pleased with it as I get used to to it. I am not into what they call 'pixel peeping': my measure is can it be printed at 8' X 11' and will it be sharp? (I recently got 28th place in a competition online, out of 500 entries.)
After several months of owning the Pentax K-m I am still excited about owning it, an have taken over 3000 photos. And look forward to exploring all it possibilities in the years to come. I am taking pictures I am really happy with. It is a camera you can use as a very simple almost point and shoot mode camera if you feel like it (I do if I am really tired like at the end of a long walk). Or you can go in adjust lots and lots of settings. Or use it half-way between. Once again I really like the menu system because you can get to the same settings from the main screen by pressing OK or by pressing the menu button. Like that a lot.
One final thought. It bugs me that the larger lens lineup of some other brands is a supposed great advantage over buying Pentax. I think this is a myth. Pentax invented the SLR. They have made high-quality lenses for a long, long time. The marketing of the other brands does not mention that when you buy an after-market lens you are buying the image shake mechanism built into the lens, whereas Pentax cameras (and some others) have the anti-shake system in the body of the camera, which keeps Pentax lens prices more reasonable for the ordinary person's budget. It also allows you to use all their old lenses with shake reduction. What a great way to recycle technology.
If you do some research you'll find a lot of what what I am saying echoed again and again. Most people will only realise after they buy the camera that their future lens purchases are very expensive. Then it's too late. And most people are only ever going to buy one two or three lenses after they buy their camera, so my opinion is a billion lenses to choose from is not the advantage its sometimes hyped up to be.

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Pentax K-m / K2000 Kit with smc DA L 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL Lens. For those new to the world of digital SLR photography, PENTAX provides a rich learning experience in a lightweight, ergonomic package. Discover the DSLR. Welcome the K2000.

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Pentax K2000 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 DA L Lens and AF200FG Flash Review

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(More customer reviews)Pros:
High quality (sturdy feeling)
Well designed
Superb Image quality
No pattern noise at high ISOs (looks more like film grain)
In body image stabilization
Cons:
No image orientation sensor (if you hold portrait style have to manually rotate)
No red focus confirmation dot (still has green dot in viewfinder at bottom)
Who should buy the K2000? Anyone also considering entry level Nikon or Canon DSLRs. This is fully competitive, but offers in body image stabilization that works with any lens (old and new). Nice feature set at a great value.
The auto focus of this camera is improved, focusing more precisely in low light than previous Pentax models, and also works with the new SDM lenses. Auto white balance is also improved. It does much better under tungsten light than some previous Pentax cameras.
The shake reduction is highly effective, as much so as most in lens systems. About 3 f-stops for me. This is a handy feature because it works with ALL lenses. You don't have to keep buying the same feature for $100 to $500 every time you buy a lens for which you want stabilization. Not to mention, when a new body comes out you get an improved stabilizer. With an in lens system, you have to replace your lenses to get improved stabilizers.
Even though this is a no frills system, it is very capable for those advanced amateurs or pro's looking for a compact body to use with the Pentax Limited prime lenses (compact lenses offering outstanding image quality). The big two haven't invested many resources in prime lenses suitable for APS-C sensors (by far the best selling dSLRs), Pentax has bucked the industry trend with their superb DA Limited series lenses.
Image quality is outstanding. I used it at a studio shoot recently, and had no issue. My only complaints were the lack of user selectable focus points (besides all or center only) and lack of orientation sensor. For the most part these were easy to work around. The picture results were stunning, even up to ISO 800. By 1600 there starts to be a fair amount of noise, but there is no pattern to it (my K20d has awful horizontal pattern noise). These photos are highly suitable for B&W conversion, and they resemble high speed film better than many digital cameras.
In conclusion, you get a lot of bang for you buck with this camera. The bundled AF200FG flash is very good compared to any built in flash offering much better range, better fill, and being off camera helps reduce red eye and shadowing from lenses. The kit lens is excellent at apertures 5.6 and up at any focal length (it is a tad soft at the corners at wide angles at apertures larger (smaller number) than f/5.6. I mounted it to the K20d and it had no problems resolving for the higher resolution sensor. I recommend this without many reservations (see my cons), and for a starter or enthusiast it is a great little camera. With my review title, it is the first time I can feel comfortable to recommend a Pentax to a non-DSLR user (previously they have been better enthusiast, non-beginner models).
Update One: First set of batteries that came with the camera have more than 1000 shots on them, many of these with the flash. This has truly amazing battery life, especially considering how much the back LCD is illuminated (no top information display). This would last many users a year!
The only other little things I have noticed is there is no slot for a cable remote and the back LCD can be bright. This camera wouldn't be the best for star trails for example, but this will only impact a small percentage of users.
I still love it!

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K2000 w/18-55 Lens and AF200FG Flash Kit. 10.2 MP is compatible with any Pentax lens ever made. Shake Reduction. A user-friendly tools such as adedicated Help button.Advanced Auto Picture mode takes the guesswork out of your pictures by automatically selecting the best mode to use for a given situation. 2.7 inch high resolution LCD monitor featuring wide angle viewing of up to 170 degree allows for easy image review. High ISO of 3200 allows faster shutter speeds in lower lighting to freeze subject action, while making the most of ambient light. includes widely available long life Energizer AA Lithium batteries for oustanding runtime. One of the smallest and lightest DSLR cameras available allows one handed operation.

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