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I want to buy K200D + 17-70 lens or Nikon D60 + 16-85

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montrealcanada45

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Hi, i want to get Pentax K200D with the 17-70 lens. I want to find out if someone has tried this combo and what are your impressions. The sales person at my camera store told me the 17-70 is very good and i can get K200D body only at 499$

In october 2008 i took many pictures outside the camera store with the K200D with kit lens, i tought the images were very very clear, but a bit too much saturated, but the feeling was very good with this camera.

I dont want to switch lens at this point. I want a good DSLR with a good all-around lens. My other option was Nikon D60 with the 18-105 or 16-85. Something always brings me back to the Pentax combo after reading very good reviews about the 17-70 lens.

I began being more precise about the first DSLR i wish to buy after i started to shop for a good lens first...and then look for the camera.

Lens that got my attention :
Pentax 17-70 or the 18-250 (with K200D)
Nikon 18-105 or 16-85 (with D60)
Thanks for your toughts and suggestions.

Luc
 
Hello from another montrealer.

The D60 is not bad but it's not too exciting either, the Nikon entry-level cameras are very dumbed down. They cannot focus lenses with no in-lens motor for example.

OTOH the K200D is much better featured and is weathersealed and will please better a more advanced user IMHO. You can customize the look of the pictures. By default the K200D is in Bright mode. Switch it to Natural mode if you prefer.
montrealcanada45 said:
Lens that got my attention :
Pentax 17-70 or the 18-250 (with K200D)
Nikon 18-105 or 16-85 (with D60)
Click to expand...
Other lenses you may consider:
  • DA* 16-50, pricey but weathersealing and great performance
  • Sigma 17-70/2.8-4.5, much praised by its users
  • DA 16-45/4, a great lens if you like wide angles
  • Tamron 17-50/2.8, very good optically and does not break the bank
--
Manu



http://flickr.com/photos/ensh/
Pentax forums: http://tr.im/grmh

My PPG: http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/home#section=ARTIST&subSection=1312871&subSubSection=3929608
 
If you go with the Nikon you can find a d80 for about the same price which is a much nicer camera.
--
Aaron W.

 
A D60? A D60 is pretty crippled (won't autobracket for example) and isn't weather sealed. No in-camera shake reduction either. The K200D can be set to other options for jpeg output, you can have it pretty much any way you want. The K200D RAW is unbeatable in that price bracket.
*************************
Tom in Delaware
Photoblog: http://homepage.mac.com/galoot_9/blog/momentary.html
 
I think if you have kids, get the Nikon, ( But I absolutely agree with the D80 over the D60 though) if budget is an issue

If you don't have kids... get the pentax.

Although someone above claimed the K200d is weather sealed, it is not weather sealed at all with the 17-70 lens you are looking at. It will cost you a bit more money for a weather sealed zoom lens to go with it. But if you absolutely need weather sealing, the Nikon will do that with any lens.

This is just my opinion based on my experience... many more factors can and do come into play, but this is where I would draw the starting line if I was starting over and choosing a system.

--

Gus --- There are none so blind as those who had no chance to see... stop censoring photos!
 
Thanks, well the Nikon was interesting because the 16-85 lens looks so great
The K200D is first on my list because of the 17-70
I will mainly shoot JPEGS and i read that Nikon D60 JPEGS were very good

The 16-45 lens is very attractive but for 250$ more, i could get the 17-70 wich is the kind of range i'm looking for.
Luc
 
Britney Elvis said:
Although someone above claimed the K200d is weather sealed, it is not
weather sealed at all with the 17-70 lens you are looking at. It
will cost you a bit more money for a weather sealed zoom lens to go
with it. But if you absolutely need weather sealing, the Nikon will
do that with any lens.
Click to expand...
Sorry, but the Nikon D60 is not weathersealed at all, and the 16-85 is not weather sealed, it merely has a seal on its mount, as does the Pentax 17-70. Therefore, if you need weathersealing, DO NOT go for the Nikon, unless you want to pay alot of money getting it repaired when you take it out in the rain.
 
Hi. I have both a Pentax System & Nikon System. I have owned all the Pentax DSLR's except for the K200D. It is a very good camera from what I have read. Having recently downgraded all my Pentax equipment I know what you are going through trying too choose.

The Pentax stuff I kept was a K-M & DA 17-70mm with AFG 540. I actually sold my Sigma 17-70 after trying the DA. It is a very nice lens. I also have the 18-250mm for day trips & vacations. You won't go wrong with the K200D & 17-70 DA.

The Nikon gear is also good but stay away from the low line stuff. Go with a D80 or higher. I shoot with a D300 & 16-85 VR & SB-800. It's a very nice set up, but, I guess the D300 is over your budget. I also have the 18-200 VR, I use this when I'm going out for the day & don't want to change lenses, like with the kids or a vacation.

I agree with the other poster, if you have kids go with Nikon, sorry Pentax but your AF is not up to par.

I love the Jpgs that Pentax puts out, the Nikon Jpgs are softer & have less POP! right out of the box.
I hope this helps you out. All the best in your decisions.
 
Britney Elvis said:
I think if you have kids, get the Nikon, ( But I absolutely agree
with the D80 over the D60 though) if budget is an issue

If you don't have kids... get the pentax.

Although someone above claimed the K200d is weather sealed, it is not
weather sealed at all with the 17-70 lens you are looking at. It
will cost you a bit more money for a weather sealed zoom lens to go
with it. But if you absolutely need weather sealing, the Nikon will
do that with any lens.
Click to expand...
This should have read.... the Nikon will NOT do that with any lens...

Thanks I kill rock and roll for catching that.

I had done a quick edit and lost the 'NOT' somewhere. Unfortunately my computer has a 'spell check' but not an 'idiot' check.
Britney Elvis said:
This is just my opinion based on my experience... many more factors
can and do come into play, but this is where I would draw the
starting line if I was starting over and choosing a system.

--
Gus --- There are none so blind as those who had no chance to see...
stop censoring photos!
Click to expand...
--

Gus --- There are none so blind as those who had no chance to see... stop censoring photos!
 
Thanks for all your comments, the reason why i want the K200D is that a lot of pictures i saw with either the K200D or THE K10D / K20D with the 16-45 lens were very nice : clear & vibrant. Since the 17-70 is more recent lens, reviews were as good and to get the body of the K200D : 499$ + 17-70 : 565$ made sense to me.

I read a lot about different cameras but ended up considering lens and things changed. Since i have a Lumix FZ18 i am accro to stabilisation .. Pentax seems to be offering a good balance : potential and quality lens...everyone around me is telling me to go with Canon or Nikon, but i feel different about that, now that my budget is around 1000$ i think that the Pentax combo looks pretty good. I tought about the Nikon D90+18-105 but i dont want the video and the 350$ difference in price gives me the chance to buy a 50MM lens later on with Pentax.
Luc
 
The D60 is a very small body, and that 16-85 is going to make it front heavy. It might be difficult to handle that big lens with such a small body. But if the body fits your hands well, then it might feel fine. Good luck.
--
Lipo
 
Hi,
How would you compare DA17-70 to the 16-85?
Thank you in advance,

Al
pen1 said:
Hi. I have both a Pentax System & Nikon System. I have owned all the
Pentax DSLR's except for the K200D. It is a very good camera from
what I have read. Having recently downgraded all my Pentax equipment
I know what you are going through trying too choose.
The Pentax stuff I kept was a K-M & DA 17-70mm with AFG 540. I
actually sold my Sigma 17-70 after trying the DA. It is a very nice
lens. I also have the 18-250mm for day trips & vacations. You won't
go wrong with the K200D & 17-70 DA.
The Nikon gear is also good but stay away from the low line stuff. Go
with a D80 or higher. I shoot with a D300 & 16-85 VR & SB-800. It's a
very nice set up, but, I guess the D300 is over your budget. I also
have the 18-200 VR, I use this when I'm going out for the day & don't
want to change lenses, like with the kids or a vacation.
I agree with the other poster, if you have kids go with Nikon, sorry
Pentax but your AF is not up to par.
I love the Jpgs that Pentax puts out, the Nikon Jpgs are softer &
have less POP! right out of the box.
I hope this helps you out. All the best in your decisions.
Click to expand...
 
When it was time to upgrade from my K100D i went with the brilliant D90 and the 18-105 lens rather than the K200 or K20.

I will always run a Pentax system for the old glass i can use with it where as i am much happier with the Nikon flash system and AF performance as well as a few other things. Both systems have pluses and minuses which is why i run them side by side :)
Good luck on your choice.

--
Tony

 
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