my new (used) camera

[Stephen Raff]

Well in the end I decided to get my self a Samsung GX-20, which is for those that didnt know a rebadged Pentax K20d (near enough).

My main reasons were:

a) they (and the K20d) were within budget and a good price at that
b) a solid body with weather sealing, ideal for my constant outdoors use
c) in body image stabilization, every lens stabilized without having to pay a premium
d) will take any of the Pentax K mount lenses, and I do enjoy manual focus photography
e) the ability to fine tune the focus of individual lenses

So although I am yet to get out in the field and shoot properly I thought I'd share my initial thoughts.

To be honest I am very happy, I wasn't able to see one before buying but I would say that it lives well up to its expectations as spoken about in various online reviews and word on the forums. It feels very nicely built and a with a bit of weight behind it too (which I find a bonus). A nice clear viewfinder and the duel dial controls are just perfect. The menu setup is pretty user friendly and there are plenty of custom adjustments you can make to stamp you own identity onto the camera. So far I have just three lenses (many more to come ) one kit lens, one SMC-A and one SMC-M. All are perfectly usable within their limitations, I really do like the 70-210 f4 SMC-A I have, for the money you just cant go wrong. Of course manual focusing isn't everyone cup of tea but it floats my boat.

Getting a reasonable priced long lens is next on the list and that seems to be Pentax's down fall. Although I do love my MF lenses for 400mm plus I really think AF pays off and so one of Sigma's offering is most likely. One will be keeping a close eye out for a suitable candidate so please bare me in mind if your thinking of selling

All in all I'm a happy bunny right now. With a week off in Dorset I look forwards to putting my new friend though their passes and will no doubt post some pics and thoughts for those who care

Stephen

[barquar]

Hope you have many happy days outside with your new camera, and we all look forward to seeing what you acheive with it. Good luck for your week off hope you get some interesting shots.
Barquar

[Stephen Raff]

Thank you Barquar, I'll do my best

Stephen

[nightshade]

I think that is a very sensible way to get good kit. I listened in amazment in a well known photo groups shop as they offered a hideously low trade in price for a 12 month old (very popular) bridge camera against a DSLR body that cost about the same as the bridge cameras new price.
There is a lot of very good second hand kit out there, and perfectly safe to buy from a good dealer or private seller face to face.

[Ukwildlifeo]

Ah the old K-mount no long lens argument. Ive got a sigma 150-500mm on my k20d so I've never understood the argument as I'll never be able to afford a 500mm prime and if I could I'd either get the sigma 500mm or buy a canon or nikon prime and the body to go with it!
But for us paupers the Pentax will do me fine! Plus Pentax apparently have a telephoto lens on their roadmap though its been there for a few years!

Im sure you'll love your GX 20, Ive had my k20d for nearly 2 years and never regretted it, despite what some users of other makes told me!

[eenymac]

Congartulations!
As the GX20 is, in essence, a rebadged Pentax K20D, it should serve you well.

I bought a K5 a while ago and am still getting to grips with it. The idea was that I would sell the K20D but I just can't bring myself to do so as it has served me so well.
I also found that the k20D with the battery grip just feels so well balanced with the Sigma 150-500mm or the DA*300mm for handheld shooting.

Hope it serves you well.

[Stephen Raff]

Not so much that there aren't long lens options but more the lack of offerings from Pentax, although I see a FA 400mm f5.6 was once available but discontinued in 2004 and rarely seen on the market.

The Sigma 150-500mm seems a good choice for the less than £1000 price bracket as does the 50-500mm and probably the 170-500mm.

I wonder how the Pentax F/FA/DA 300mm + 1.4x tc works out? but again the older F/FA not often seen.

One thing I have noticed with the shooting the older 'A' MF lenses such as my 70-210mm on the GX-20, when you have the camera set to only fire when the AF confirm is found you can keep your finger pressed down on the shutter release and gently move the focus ring in and out and as it catches focus it instantly fires. So as your subject also moves you stand a fair chance of keeping up with its movements (within a small area, birds on a branch or feeder for example).

So perhaps a MF Pentax 400mm f5.6 could still be an option

Stephen

[Jim Ford]

I always remember the slogan when the 'Spotmatic' came out - "Just hold a Pentax". I couldn't afford one then, though!

Jim

[Stephen Raff]

Well I managed last night to do a few tests with the ISO, I say tests but I just took some portraits of my niece indoors with less than good artificial light.

Using the 50mm f1.7 'M' I took shots at 800 and 1600iso the aperture was f2.8 and shutter speeds around 1/30th - 1/45th handheld with the OIS (SR) switched 'ON'.

The results were exactly what I was hoping for and even at 1600iso the noise/grain is very well controlled. There are signs of it bit not a great deal and there is plenty of detail in the image still to make use of. I should note that I always shoot RAW and from what I have read the GX-20 (K20D) performs much better in this format and that the JPEGs are supposed to be somewhat disappointing.

My results using the GX-20 at 1600iso are similar to 400iso on my old Oly E-620 under the same conditions, the E-620 retained less detail (also using a 50mm MF). Needless to say I'm very glad I made the change

It will be interesting to see some field shots now, so once breakie is taken care of its time to wrap up warm and off to Arne for me.

Stephen

[Ukwildlifeo]

Originally Posted by Stephen Raff

I should note that I always shoot RAW and from what I have read the GX-20 (K20D) performs much better in this format and that the JPEGs are supposed to be somewhat disappointing.

This indeed the case. In fact while reading around before buying my k20d I was intially put off by the high iso noise problem when compared to the Nikon D300 and the Canon 40D. But it turns out that Pentax on K20d and some other model have noise reduction on lowest setting by default so you get noise but sharper photos and when shooting in raw there was nothing between the k20d, d300 and the 40d in terms of noise. There are some images on the web somewhere demonstrating this but it was nearly 2 years ago so I cant remember where!