Pentax K200D

Hello Everyone,

My girlfriend and I are planning on buying a DSLR and we've settled on a Pentax K200D. I was hoping that any past/present owners of the camera could let me know what they thought of it, whether they were/are happy with it, etc.

The deciding factors which pushed us to the K200d were it's weather and dust proofing/self cleaning features, steady shot, it's use of AA batteries and SD cards (less important). We intend on using this camera for interior camping and travel so thsi seemed liek the perfect camera. Any thoughts, comments, warnings?

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Originally Posted by WilliamYoung

The deciding factors which pushed us to the K200d were it's weather and dust proofing/self cleaning features, steady shot, it's use of AA batteries and SD cards (less important). We intend on using this camera for interior camping and travel so thsi seemed liek the perfect camera. Any thoughts, comments, warnings?

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All good reasons for choosing the Pentax. I have minimal experience with the K200D so will refrain from commenting except to say that I've enjoyed using other Pentax DSLRs, in the past. The K10D, in particular, with weatherproofing and image stabilization, was really nice.

Hopefully some of the K200D owners here will jump in and give you some feedback on their cameras. In the meantime, here are links to K200D reviews on the site.

Pentax K200D Pro Review >>
Pentax K200D User Reviews >>

If you do decide to go with the Pentax, please write a review when you've had to for a bit. User reviews are the foundation on this site and your review counts!

Thanks Photo John. I read through the reviews you have provided but unfortunately there were only two user reviews and those are what I'm looking for. I'd like to hear from people who own and use it, as I've already read quite a few professional reviews and am interested in what non-professionals who will/have used the camera for a very long time have to say about it.

i'm also curious about the battery life. I'd always assumed dslr's would take considerably more juice to run than point and shoots, but all the reviews I've read, on this and other camera's, say that they last for "weeks" without charging or replacing a set of batteries, including the one in your link a bove. I don't see how that is possible, when I go through such a large number of batteries on my point and shoot when I'm out camping or travelling due to the large number of times it is turned on and off.

William .. DSLRs do indeed tend to use less juice - the main reason for this is that the viewing screen is, by far, the biggest user of juice - P&S cameras use the screen for viewing, DSLRs (apart from live-view) use it only for the menus and perhaps for a quick preview (because you use the optical viewfinder instead). Basically, with a DSLR, it is as though you had the feature that consumes most of the power turned off most of the time.

I don't use the K200 but I do use the K10D - my understanding is that the K200 uses the same engine and sensor as the K10 did. I can tell you that the K10 (and therefore the K200) is capable of great pictures once you have it all set up the way you like it. There are no bad DLSRs these days - but the K series stands comparison with the best of them in their respective price points.

Hope this helps a little
Mike

Thank you Mike.

Hi William, depending on your style of shooting and "viewing", you should be able to get a couple of hundred shots out of a set of batteries. Best thing though, ALWAYS CARRY FULLY CHARGED SPARES!!!! (or a good fast charger)! I always have at least one set to change if I'm only going to be out a few hours. If I'm going to be out much longer I'll sometimes have as many as 4 or 5 sets!!! I have the *ist DL, and I assume the power usage would be similar. I keep my auto focus on constant and my camera never shuts off when I'm shooting as I don't want to waste even a few milliseconds on startup. Oh, and I'm an insecure shooter, so I always preview my shots, so I use a lot of power!!!
Anyway, good luck on the camera and we look forward to seeing your first photos.
Also, maybe a bit premature, but Welcome to the world of Pentax!!!