Pentax K200 VS Nikon D60

[demon]

I was in our local camera shop to pick up my first DSLR rig. I am a hobbiest shooter that mostly does HDR and urban photography. I was thinking I was going to pick up the Nikon D60 but the rep there really pushed the Pentax K200. I ended up leaving without getting anything (mostly because the sales person was a jerk.) Can anyone give me insight on the Pentax VS the Nikon? Thanks in advance for any help.

[GEli]

The K200D is a superior camera if you want Pentax optics, and the D60 is a superior camera if you want Nikon optics. The D60 has no in-body AF motor, though, which will severely limit the number of Nikon optics you'll have AF with. If you want to go the Nikon route, I'd direct you to the D50/70/80 depending on your budget so you could utilize the full range of lenses out there with AF. As an urban photog I don't imagine MF is something you want to have forced on you very often.

The K200D is beefier (size+weight) and completely weather-sealed if you use DA* lenses. This could be a big boon if you ever have to shoot in the rain and like delicious lenses like the DA*16-50 f/2.8 or DA*50-135 f/2.8. If you're not going to get the nice, newer glass then the weather-sealing may not be as big of a deal - your body will still be sealed, but the connection between your lense and your body will not. The K200D will accept most any K-mount lense ever made, with some caveats as you get into the really ancient stuff (stopped-down metering, etc.) and is definitely the preferred body if you want/have access to old, gorgeous Pentax glass.

Those are all the big differences I can think of off the top of my head. Do you have any other specific areas you'd be interested in hearing the differences in?

[demon]

I don't know how I missed the fact that the D60 doesn't have an autofocus motor in it! That is a deal breaker right there.

Have you encountered any software compatibility issues with the Pentax cameras? I mostly use Photoshop when working with Raws but have occasionally used Capture One.

Thanks for the great advice!

[mattdm]

Originally Posted by demon

Have you encountered any software compatibility issues with the Pentax cameras? I mostly use Photoshop when working with Raws but have occasionally used Capture One.

The RAW converters are sometimes a bit slower in getting Pentax RAW format added than they are with others, but in general there's no problem.

[ditch_azeroth]

Originally Posted by GEli

DA*16-50 f/2.8 or DA*50-135 f/2.8.

sweet mother of God - those are nice focals for 2.8. i've heard of their good optics, must cost a bundle. as for nikon, it's really not that bad. if you're just starting to get into digital photography, i'm pretty sure that you wouldn't have old lenses that don't have motors. because of this move of not having internal focus motors, i'm sure nikon's bound to release new lenses completely compatible for the d40/40x/60 soon enough. sigma's got nice lenses too for them, but i really can't rely on the quality of their lower end lenses.

[mattdm]

Originally Posted by ditch_azeroth

i'm sure nikon's bound to release new lenses completely compatible for the d40/40x/60 soon enough.

They don't seem to be exactly jumping to make lens-motor-enabled prime lenses, so if that's something you're interested, Pentax is definitely the way to go. (Extremely good well-priced modern prime lenses is one of Pentax's strengths.)

[GEli]

Originally Posted by ditch_azeroth

sweet mother of God - those are nice focals for 2.8. i've heard of their good optics, must cost a bundle. as for nikon, it's really not that bad. if you're just starting to get into digital photography, i'm pretty sure that you wouldn't have old lenses that don't have motors. because of this move of not having internal focus motors, i'm sure nikon's bound to release new lenses completely compatible for the d40/40x/60 soon enough. sigma's got nice lenses too for them, but i really can't rely on the quality of their lower end lenses.

Yes, I nearly wet myself when I put the 16-50mm DA* on my camera at the store. Sadly you're right about the prices - the 50-135 DA* is $1100 and the 16-50 is $1000. That's in Canada, mind you, where we get shafted even when the dollar is at parity, so it may be slightly cheaper in the US. Even at $200 less, though, those prices aren't small commitments to the system.

As for RAW compatibility, you can shoot in either PEF (Pentax's proprietary RAW format) or DNG with the K200D. There's a slight file size difference, as the PEF format is slightly more efficient at storing data, but I think it's well worth not having to convert when importing to PS or Lightroom.

[Grayson118]

I too am in the market for a first time Digital SLR. Purchase is for my wife. We are not experts by any means and she really wants a camera to photograph the family. We have two children under the age of 9 and thus they are the subjects 99% of the time. I was about to purchase a Nikon D40 2 Zoom Lens Kit (18-55mm AF and 55-200mm G Nikkor AF Zoom, gadget bag and nikon school dvd's) from Ritz for $599 until I went to the store and the salesman really pushed the Pentax K200 with 18-55 mm lens for $700. Now I am all out of whack. We have a Pentax film camera with two lense, though i dont know the specifics ...salesman said those lense are interchangeable with the K200...also said K200 has "auto pict" which D40 does not.....Help??!

[i speak in math]

I recently purchased the k200d witht he 18-55mm kit lens and absolutely love it (of course, it is my first dslr so that may be why). You can check out some of my shots in my signiture link if you feel like it.

I picked mine up from amazon.com for $540 -- there was a $100 rebate that just ended. It was too good a deal to pass up. Amazon has it for $640 which is still pretty good. Pentax might start another deal soon so I'd wait a bit.

My only complaint about the camera would be the noise at 800-1600 ISO. There seems to be a lot of it. I usually shoot handheld though, so maybe a tripod would reduce that.

[mattdm]

Originally Posted by Grayson118

I too am in the market for a first time Digital SLR. Purchase is for my wife. We are not experts by any means and she really wants a camera to photograph the family. We have two children under the age of 9 and thus they are the subjects 99% of the time. I was about to purchase a Nikon D40 2 Zoom Lens Kit (18-55mm AF and 55-200mm G Nikkor AF Zoom, gadget bag and nikon school dvd's) from Ritz for $599 until I went to the store and the salesman really pushed the Pentax K200 with 18-55 mm lens for $700. Now I am all out of whack. We have a Pentax film camera with two lense, though i dont know the specifics ...salesman said those lense are interchangeable with the K200...also said K200 has "auto pict" which D40 does not.....Help??!

Nice to see a salesperson pushing Pentax over Nikon for once. He's right in that your old lenses will work, although depending on what lenses they are you might not care. (What are they?)

"Auto pict" is a gimmick feature where it automatically guesses the best scene mode for what you're shooting. It's not a big deal.