K20D Stopped in Production


Status
Not open for further replies.

pmchin

New Member
Oct 5, 2008
43
0
0
http://www.pentax.jp/japan/imaging/digital/slr/others.html

K20D has been officially announced stopped in production,
the current available Pentax DSLR models are only K-m and K-7。

Looks like K20d may have bit of price increment, yet another reason to wait K-7's price drop off :embrass:
 

Strange not to have a midrange option.
Maybe a new one coming out soon...?
 

That just appears in the Japanese page (for the Japanese market) so one can't say whether it is an official announcement or not. At any rate, the K20D has been on sale for about 18 months so if it is discontinued, it won't be a big surprise given the shorter product cycles of products nowadays. There's still plenty of K20Ds still for sale anyway...

woefulwabbit, the K-7 IS the midrange option...
 

From the past years of operation, it seems like Pentax only has capacity to maintain 2 line of models. Well, this is good as they are able to trim their cost in production. Yeah, K-7 is the mid-level option. I hope their R&D is already working on their top-range model. :)
 

I wonder what's next after K7, I hope by then it will be a real flawless gem.

But I am still very much worried about the focusing in low light conditions for group shots ...when you are at 10-15 metres aways. I am not the only one....

I went to examine the outlook most cam has a huge assist lamp, the K7 was so small ....so I couldn't make up my mind about acquiring a K7, if low focus won't get blurr shots. and also Feng Wei had adviced me somehow to check the shutters speeds ... blur is so sometime of slow shutters lags even though in focus the first place.
 

I wonder what's next after K7, I hope by then it will be a real flawless gem.

But I am still very much worried about the focusing in low light conditions for group shots ...when you are at 10-15 metres aways. I am not the only one....

I went to examine the outlook most cam has a huge assist lamp, the K7 was so small ....so I couldn't make up my mind about acquiring a K7, if low focus won't get blurr shots. and also Feng Wei had adviced me somehow to check the shutters speeds ... blur is so sometime of slow shutters lags even though in focus the first place.

In situations where the K-7 activates it's assist lamp, it's REALLY REALLY dark.

I'm not sure that low light group shots are possible without flash. Even if you have fast glass, how are you gonna get everyone in focus? (Answer: smaller apertures)

So blur due to low shutter speed is quite likely the problem, without flash.
 

I don't think focusing is an issue if you are 10-15 meters away,
because everybody is in more than hyperfocus distance, i.e. in focus.
I am sure if you are using 18mm/F2.8 or 18mm/F4, the hyperfocus distance is less than 10m.

Shutter speed is partly not an issue, since pentax has in-body SR, and you can also use a tripod,
but is an real issue if the objects are moving.
So i think your first priority is to get all your objects' attention, then simply put ur MF focus to infinite, and happy shot shot shot :)
 

To take group shots of at least 15 people under dim conditions you unlikely to use a huge aperture ..because of the narrow dof.(by the way how do you know your hyper focus distance?) getting focus in the first place is still an issues. Manual focus eye also cannot see, (taking about handheld)..

Carry your tripods fires a few shots and 5:1 ratios sure got one in adviced from darrrrrrr.....who named K20D the cOok eye pentax.

Yesterdy my boss ask me to take pictures of him with his Colleague, slight OOF ... some blurred not because of slow shutter but focusiing problems. I can't do manual My the other lamp is activating DIY focus assist helps some situation but ot full proof.


flickr.com/photos/nc_chia
 

I'm chanting for the digital Pentax 645.

Give us what no other DSLR brand can give,
and an affordability unmatched by any other mediumformat label!

Just like the wonderful film Pentax 645!
 

actually i thought the k20d was something worth looking at, but i never used the k10d, so maybe that's why.

anyways, i got to see the k7, the shutter sound is so quiet! :eek:

think the response to k7 a lot more than the response to k20d at that time. hrm. :think:
 

I'm chanting for the digital Pentax 645.

Give us what no other DSLR brand can give,
and an affordability unmatched by any other mediumformat label!

Just like the wonderful film Pentax 645!

digital 645... no matter how cheap... i think it will cost more than a D3 or even D3X...
for the rich leica owners out there can la...i for sure cannot afford...:bsmilie:
 

actually i thought the k20d was something worth looking at, but i never used the k10d, so maybe that's why.

anyways, i got to see the k7, the shutter sound is so quiet! :eek:

think the response to k7 a lot more than the response to k20d at that time. hrm. :think:

u haven tried the K-7 meh ?

anyway the handling and functionality are much better than K20D, other than that the pics are the same imo if u dun need the slightly better iso... so u r safe with ur K20D...:)
 

u haven tried the K-7 meh ?

anyway the handling and functionality are much better than K20D, other than that the pics are the same imo if u dun need the slightly better iso... so u r safe with ur K20D...:)

haven't leh..

i just saw only.. :devil: and heard...

can elaborate on this??

nah, i don't need high iso, seldom go beyond iso800. but quite interesting, seems like iso got more steps now? or is it my imagination.
 

haven't leh..

i just saw only.. :devil: and heard...

can elaborate on this??

nah, i don't need high iso, seldom go beyond iso800. but quite interesting, seems like iso got more steps now? or is it my imagination.

smaller...lighter...longer batt life ... AF much faster, low light AF speed is like K20D day light AF speed... not so great HDR features :bsmilie: , electronic leveling probably is useful for u, better white balance...

all these will not make ur already excellent photos better la... :bsmilie:

shoot until ur K20D say good bye then time to upgrade... :devil:
 

smaller...lighter...longer batt life ... AF much faster, low light AF speed is like K20D day light AF speed... not so great HDR features :bsmilie: , electronic leveling probably is useful for u, better white balance...

all these will not make ur already excellent photos better la... :bsmilie:

shoot until ur K20D say good bye then time to upgrade... :devil:
ahhhh.. yeah, other than the electronic levelling, the rest are just bonuses i guess.

hard to justify bbb, at least to myself... well, it can only get better, right? :)
 

I think it's just in JP market, like the K200D which was discountinued in JP quite a while ago but still eveilable new elsewhere. I think K20D will be availalbe new for a long while here in Singapore, and elsewhere other than JP.
 

Well it doesnt make sense to keep 2 dslrs that are so close in performance yet large disparity in prices for the same market segment.

so any guesses what will they put into next year model?
 

My guess after K7 are:-

1. Fullframe sensor ... Ultra Super High Details with No noise.
2. Dual Focusing Assist Lamps: All kinds of lights level. Gurantee no blur shots: other than cause by slow shutters lags with movements beyong SR compensations.
3. SMC Colour sensor with CCD and Cmos Hyrid Combined High Definition Colours and Up to ISO One Million. Current K20D is only 6400 max.. but cannot use beyond 1250 ..
4. Sensor alway surrounded by high density Heat Sinks, so no hot pixels can happened and build in cooler piping on Critical Circuit Board.
5. New grip with Extra Emergency focusing assist lamps.
6. One shots can develop 8 shooting modes, landscapes, protraits etc.
7. Build in Polariser ... can detect sky brightness and compensate some of the 77 metering sensor with diferential sensitivity and mode to enhance constrast.
 

Makes no sense to go full frame now and waste their precious resources fighting for market share with the incumbents when they have yet to establish a major foothold on their current niche markets. I think its prudent to continue to have 2 models (entry plus mid range) at any one time to conserve manufacturing, support and marketing resources. They are increasing awareness and market share with their new models, hence should build on it before going for full frame (which is traditionally a challenging market with entrenched competitors, small production run, high cost and insanely high customer expectations).
 

Status
Not open for further replies.