Digital Home Thoughts: TrustedReviews Reviews the Pentax K200d

"The latest entry level model from Pentax is the K200D, replacing last years K100D Super. Rather than being a complete new camera the K200D is more an upgrade, but is not without some interesting and very useful features. Not least amongst these is the weatherproof body with image stabilisation built-in. Featuring some of the technology from the recent K20D, Pentax has brought its entry-level range bang up to date to compete with some of its more popular rivals. The major upgrade to the camera is of course its 10.2MP CCD backed up with the PRIME image processor, as seen on the semi-pro K20D... Pentax is offering something genuinely new to the entry level market in the cameras build. With over 60 seals to prevent dust and moisture entering the camera, it could be the perfect lightweight model for more hostile environments such as the beach or ski slope. Combined with the easy-to-buy AA batteries for power, the K200D may well be worth considering if you travel a lot, or are planning a backpacking trip, as the need to carry chargers and find power points is eliminated."

Very nice camera from Pentax. I like that they have inherited a number of features from the K20D. From the review, it looks like the camera handles very well as well. So will this camera propel Pentax to be one of the leaders in the DSLR space? Well, apparently they will have to wait, IMHO, beacuse a critical flaw in this camera that might annoy a number of users is that the K200D offers a rather disappointing burst speed of 2.8 fps over just 4 JPEGs or Raw files. In low continuous shooting mode the camera maintains 1.1 fps until the SD card is full, which is slow in comparison to even older models. That is quite disappointing. Now I realize that not everybody needs to shoot at 5 or 10 or even more fps, but when dropping almost $700 on a camera and more considering all the glass that needs to go with it, I think the camera speed will be a feature that most users would consider. Wouldn't you?