Pentax K200D: Smallest and cheapest WEATHER-PROOF DSLR body

[Darren Addy]

Scott,
Welcome to Stormtrack! (and to the Pentaxian Tribe). We should start a club.

The manual the comes with the K200D looks like it was designed for hypertext (turn to this page...turn to this page) In fact, that gives me an idea. More later.

 

[Ryan McGinnis]

I only have the kit lens, for auto-focus. One nice thing about the Pentax is that, unlike most kit lenses, you don't have to be embarrassed over it. It's widely respected as pretty decent lens, in its own right. My goal is to have an ultrawide by Spring (I'm hoping that Pentax announces their version of the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 at the upcoming Photokina.)

Other than that, the manual focus 85mm Zeiss will be my medium telephoto and I'm planning on picking up a vintage manual focus Super Takumar 135mm f/3.5 for my effective 200mm lens. That should cover me for a while without having to spend a ton of coin.

Oh yeah, then there is my special project Macro lens:

A 1930 Zeiss-Ikon Maximar that I made into a 105mm f/4.5 macro for my K200D.

Assuming you want to go the more traditional autofocus route there is a good range of Pentax DA and DA* models, and a lot of respected third party lenses, like Sigma.

I still can't wait to see what kinds of pictures this produces. This is one of the cooler camera mods I've seen in a long time. Slapping an entire vintage bellows camera to a modern DSLR. You could probably start a trend.

 

[Darren Addy]

Just another small factoid for those considering the Pentax K200D...

Mainly because my hobby is trying to understand everything in the universe , I've been reading up on some "interesting" stuff like Does Size Matter: Sensors, Resolution, and Output, Digital Camera Sensor Performance Summary, MTF as a Measure of Lens Resolution, Understanding MTF, A Comprehensive Method for Choosing the Best Lens for Your Needs Using MTF Charts and an interview with the engineers that designed the K200D's immediate ancestor (the K10D).

I'm not even going to PRETEND that I understand it all. But I understand more than when I started!

I don't want to become a FREAK about this stuff, because I agree with the guy that said "My sharpest lens is my tripod." However, if your thinking stops there you forget that if you have two identical cameras on two identical tripods shooting the identical shutter speeds/exposures, then the guy with the sharpest lens on his camera is still gonna have the sharpest picture.

Anyway, I tracked down the "pixel pitch" on the sensor used in the K10D/K200D (6.07µm) and so was able to calculate where the K10D/K200D falls in the example cameras in his "Clarkvision Figure of Merit"

Example CFM values:
Camera Megapixels Pixel Pitch CFM
(MP) (microns) (MP*microns)
____________________________________________
Canon 1Ds Mark III 21.1 6.4 135
Nikon D3 12.1 8.46 102
Canon 1D Mark II 8.2 8.2 67
Pentax K200D 10.2 6.1 62
Canon 40D 10.1 5.7 57
Canon 30D 8.2 6.4 52
Olympus E3 10.0 4.7 47
Panasonic FZ50 10.0 1.97 19.7
Canon S70 7.1 2.3 16.3
Panasonic FZ18 8.1 1.76 14.3

Basically, you can see that in the last column, higher numbers are better than lower numbers. (That's my technical explanation).

I keep wondering when I'm going to feel stupid about choosing Pentax, and it just isn't happening (yet) !

 

[Darren Addy]

I still can't wait to see what kinds of pictures this produces.

Alright, I ran out after work to try a couple of handheld macros, just to see what happened. (You don't handhold macros, as a rule). Here's a couple of quick examples:

if you want to scrutinize the full-size images, just open the image in a new window and then remove the "_sm" from the URL.

This is through a dusty lens (haven't taken the time to clean it yet). By the way the lens is a Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar f/4.5 105mm. I can extend it further than this, for more close-up, but I lose more light so would have to have it on a tripod.

 

[Darren Addy]

My understanding is that the K200 is using the K10's sensor? I would be curious to see how much improved processing there is.

Yes, by the numbering system, you would think that this is simply an upgrade to the (excellent) K100D. But it is really a slight downgrade from the previous FLAGSHIP K10D, with a few flagship K20D features thrown in. It's WAAAAY better than the K100D.

For an interesting view into the DSLR development process, read this interview with the Pentax engineers after their release of the (former flagship) K10D here.

 

[Darren Addy]

For those of you who worship at the altar of dpreview.com, they have FINALLY reviewed the K200D: http://www.dpreview.com/news/0809/08090103pentaxk200dreview.asp

 

[Rob Wadsworth]

No; that isn't my altar.
But I did read the review.
It didn't say if it uses the highly-acclaimed Carl Zeiss lenses.
What's the scoop on that?

Here's what B&H has just released from their site on these fantastic lenses.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/find/newsLetter/Carl-Zeiss.jsp

 

[Darren Addy]

Rob the link you included specifically SAYS they tested on a Pentax K10D. Clearly they are made for the Pentax mount.

Here is a thread with more info and images shot with these lenses on Pentax.