Although the K200D is currently the junior member in the Pentax DSLR line-up from a feature and price point of view it is comparable with some of the other manufacturers 2nd level models - cameras such as the Canon EOS 450D, Nikon D60 or the Olympus E-520.
Competition is fierce in this element of the market and any camera which wants a slice of the pie has to convince consumers in both areas - features and quality. From a feature perspective the K200D is up there with the rest although it lacks one key functionality that most rivals offer: Live View. If you can live without Live View with the Pentax K200D you get a well-built and weather-sealed body with a top LCD, in-body image stabilization, 11-point AF and arguably the largest viewfinder in its class.
So, if featurewise the K200D satisfies all your requirements, one big questions remains: How does is shape up against the competition in the image quality department? Read on to find out.
| |
Pentax K200D |
Canon EOS 450D |
Nikon D60 |
Olympus E-520 |
Price (Body only)
(With kit lens) |
$560/£400
$630/£450 [check] |
$640/£430
$700/£450 [check] |
$ - /£345
$600/£380)[check] |
$575/£450
$660/£490 [check] |
| Construction |
• Plastic
• Weather sealed |
• Plastic
|
• Plastic |
• Plastic |
| Dust removal |
• Sensor-shift shake
• Anti-static coating |
• Sensor-shift shake
• Anti-static coating |
• Low pass filter vibration
• Airflow Control System |
• Supersonic Wave Filter
• Anti-static coating |
| Image stabilization |
• Sensor shift |
• Kit lens |
• Kit lens |
• Sensor shift
• Horizontal and Vertical panning modes |
| Effective pixels |
10.0 million |
12.2 million |
10.0 million |
10.0 million |
| Aspect ratio |
3:2 |
3:2 |
3:2 |
4:3 |
| FOV crop |
1.5x |
1.6x |
1.5x |
2x |
| Live View |
• No |
• Yes
• Up to 10x magnify
• Contrast or Phase AF
• Different modes |
• No |
• Yes
• Up to 10x magnify
• Contrast or Phase AF
• Different modes |
| File formats |
• JPEG
• RAW (PEF)
• RAW (DNG) |
• JPEG
• RAW (CR2) |
• RAW (compressed)
• JPEG (3 levels) |
• JPEG
• RAW (ORF) |
| Auto focus |
• 11 point
• 9 cross-type
• -1 to 18 EV |
• 9 point
• 1 cross-type
• -0.5 to 18 EV |
• 3 area TTL
• Range: -1 to +19 EV |
• 3 point
• 1 cross-type
• 0 to 19 EV
|
| Metering sensor |
16 segment |
35 zone |
• 420 pixel RGB sensor |
49 zone sensor |
| Metering modes |
• Multi-segment
• Spot
• CWA |
• Evaluative
• Partial
• Spot
• CWA |
• 3D Color Matrix Metering II
• Center-weighted average
• Spot |
• Digital ESP
• Center-weighted average
• Spot
• Highlight based spot
• Shadow based spot |
| Exp. comp. |
+/- 2.0 EV |
+/- 2.0 EV |
+/- 5.0 EV |
+/- 5.0 EV |
| Continuous
rate (high) |
• 2.8 fps
• 4 frames JPEG/Fine
• 4 RAW frames |
• 3.5 fps
• 53 JPEG/Fine frames
• 6 RAW frames |
• 3 fps
• Unlimited JPEG/Fine frames
• 7 RAW frames |
• 3.5 fps
• Unlimited JPEG/HQ frames
• 8 RAW frames |
| White balance |
• 8 presets (with adj)
• Manual preset
• Kelvin temperature |
• 6 presets (with adj)
• Color temp (K)
• Manual |
• Auto
• Six presets
• Manual preset
• Fine tunable |
• 8 presets (with adj)
• Manual preset
• Kelvin temperature |
| Image parameters |
• 6 presets
• Saturation +/- 4
• Hue +/- 4
• Contrast +/- 4
• Sharpness/Fine +/- 4
|
• 6 presets
• 3 User defined
• Sharpness 0-7
• Contrast +/- 4
• Saturation +/- 4
• Color tone +/- 4 |
• Six preset looks
• Sharpening: Auto, 6 levels
• Tone: Auto, 5 levels, cust.
• Color: 3 modes
• Saturation: Auto, 3 levels
• Hue: -9° to +9° |
• 5 presets
• 1 User defined
• Saturation +/- 2
• Contrast +/- 2
• Sharpness +/- 2
• Gradation 4 settings |
| Noise reduction control |
4 levels |
1 additional level |
No |
4 levels |
| DR extension mode |
DRng |
Highlight Tone Priority |
D-Lighting |
Auto Gradation |
| External flash |
• Hot-shoe
• Wireless flash |
• Hot-shoe |
• Hot-shoe |
• Hot-shoe
• Wireless flash |
| Flash sync speed |
1/180 sec |
1/200 sec |
1/200 sec |
1/180 sec |
| Viewfinder |
• Pentamirror
• 96% coverage
• 0.85 x magnification |
• Pentamirror
• 95% coverage
• 0.87x magnification |
• Pentamirror
• 95% coverage
• 0.8x magnification
|
• Pentamirror
• 95% coverage
• 0.92x magnification |
| LCD monitor |
• 2.7 " TFT LCD
• 230,000 pixels |
• 3.0" TFT LCD
• 230,000 dots |
• 2.5 " TFT LCD
• 230,000 pixels |
• 2.7 " TFT LCD
• 230,000 pixels |
| Top panel LCD |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
| Vertical grip |
Yes, D-BG3 |
Yes, BG-E5 |
No |
No |
| Dimensions |
134 x 95 x 74 mm
(5.3 x 3.7 x 2.9 in) |
129 x 98 x 62 mm
(5.1 x 3.9 x 2.4 in) |
126 x 94 x 64 mm
(5.0 x 3.7 x 2.5 in) |
136 x 92 x 68 mm
(5.4 x 3.6 x 2.7 in) |
| Weight (inc batt) |
690 g (1.5 lb) |
522 g (1.2 lb) |
471 g (1.0 lb) |
490 g (1.1 lb) |
