Pentax K200D Review
Review Date: July 3rd 2008
Author: Mark Goldstein
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Image Quality
All of the sample images in this Review were captured using the [10M] 3872 x 2592 pixels, *** Best JPEG
setting, producing a file that
is around 4Mb in size.
Noise
The Pentax K200D has 5 ISO
settings from 100-1600. There is no
discernible noise between ISO 100-400, and ISO 800 also
looks pretty good. There is some quite obvious noise at ISO
1600 together with some
blurring of
detail and colour artifacts, but it's still very useable. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise
levels
for
each
ISO
setting.
File Quality
The Pentax K200D has 3 different JPEG file quality settings available, with 10M *** Best
being the highest quality JPEG option. Here are some 100%
crops
which show the quality of the various options, with the file
size shown in brackets.
Sharpening
Here are two 100% crops which have
been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand
image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the
camera images at the default setting are just a little soft and
benefit from some further sharpening in a program like Adobe
Photoshop.
Alternatively you can change the in-camera sharpening level
if you don't like the default results.
Chromatic Aberrations
The Pentax K200D's kit lens handled
chromatic aberrations very well during the review, with
some limited purple fringing present around the edges of
the frame in particularly high-contrast situations. Here
are some 100% crops which show the typical chromatic aberrations
that
you can expect:
Flash
The flash settings on the Pentax K200D are Flash On, Flash On + Red-eye, Slow-speed
Sync, Slow-speed
Sync + Red-eye, Trailing Curtain Sync, Wireless Mode and Off. These shots
of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of
1.5m.
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Auto
Flash - Telephoto (82mm) |
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And here are some portrait shots.
As you can see, neither the Flash On setting or the Flash
On + Red-eye option caused any amount of red-eye.
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Flash
On (100% Crop) |
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Flash On + Red-eye (100% Crop) |
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Night Shot
The Pentax K200D's maximum
shutter speed is 30 seconds and there's also a Bulb mode
for really long exposures, which is great news if you're
interested in night photography. The
shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 15 seconds,
aperture of f/11 at ISO 100. I've included a 100% crop of
the image to show what the quality is like.
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Night
Shot (100% Crop) |
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Anti Shake
The Pentax K200D has an anti-shake mechanism, which allows you to
take sharp photos at slower shutter speeds than other digital
cameras. To test this, I took 2 handheld shots of the same
subject with the same settings. The first shot was taken
with anti-shake turned off, the second with it turned on.
Here is a 100% crop of the image to show the results. As
you can see, with anti-shake turned on, the images are much
sharper than with anti-shake turned off. This feature really
does seem to make a difference and could mean capturing a
successful, sharp shot or missing the opportunity altogether.
| Shutter
Speed / Focal Length / Aperture |
|
Anti-Shake On (100% Crop) |
| 1/4th
sec / 82mm / f/11 |
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| 1/15th / 82mm / f/5.6 |
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Overall Image Quality
The Pentax K200D produced
images of excellent quality during the review period. This camera produces noise-free images at ISO 100 all the way up to ISO 800,
with significant levels of noise only appearing at the fastest speed of ISO 1600. The
Pentax K200D also dealt very well with chromatic aberrations,
with limited purple
fringing effects appearing only at the edges of the photo
in high contrast situations. Anti-shake is a feature that sets this camera apart from its competitors and
one that works very well when hand-holding the camera in
low-light conditions or when using the telephoto end of the
zoom range. The built-in flash worked well
indoors,
with
a small amount of red-eye and good overall exposure. The
night photograph was very good, with the maximum shutter
speed of 30 seconds and Bulb mode allowing you to capture enough light
in all
situations.
The 10 megapixel images were a little soft
straight out of the camera at the default sharpening setting
and ideally require some further sharpening in an application
like Adobe Photoshop, or you can change the in-camera setting.
Overall a great performance by the K200D.
 PhotographyBLOG
is a member of the DIWA
organisation. Our test results for the Pentax K200D have been submitted to DIWA
for comparison with test results for different samples of
the same camera model supplied by other DIWA
member sites.
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