As discussed in the Launch Announcement just before PMA, the Pentax K20D is now surprisingly the highest resolution Digital SLR in its class of prosumer DSLRs. That statement doesn't really convey the real comparison since the only current camera with higher resolution than the 14.6 MP (megapixel) K20D is the $8000 Canon 1Ds III with a full-frame 21.1 MP image.

The Pentax K20D has the highest resolution available in an APS-C sensor SLR. It is 20% higher resolution than the new Sony A700/Nikon D300 Sony sensor pair at 12.2 MP and almost 50% higher than the Canon 40D. Those are numbers that are hard to ignore.

Those who wondered why Pentax entered into a partnership with Samsung a few years ago finally have their answer. Samsung wanted to play in the high-end sensor market with Sony and Panasonic; their partnership with Pentax was to develop sensors for the digital SLR market. We don't know details yet, but we have to guess the Hoya merger also plays into this scenario since Hoya is the world's largest maker of optical glass. You would be surprised to see a list of companies who buy their lens glass from Hoya (THK).

There is no disputing the fact that the Pentax K20D is now the highest resolution prosumer DSLR; however, everyone has learned that sensor resolution is not the only thing that matters in image quality. As the high-resolution but tiny point-and-shoot sensors have proved, a higher resolution is not necessarily better.

Pentax addressed this concern when the K20D was announced. By reducing the area between pixels, Samsung/Pentax claimed the sensor design used larger pixels that are the same size as 12 MP designs. If this is true, the image quality of the K20D should be spectacular.

The sensor is also CMOS like the pioneering CMOS sensors of Canon and the architecture of the latest Sony/Nikon/Olympus sensors. In fact, all the recent top sensors have been CMOS, relegating 10 MP CCDs to low-end to midrange models. The lone exception is the announced Sony A350, which will sport a 14.2 MP CCD sensor.

For all of these reasons we couldn't wait to get our hands on a K20D just as soon as they were available. The K20D is finally shipping, and over the next few weeks we will be working on a detailed review of the Pentax K20D performance. Looking around the web, there has been so little information available about the k20D that we felt our readers would appreciate some first impressions. As you have probably already figured out, we were also impressed enough in our early testing that we wanted to share what we've found so far with you.

Resolution and Image Quality

Our early impressions of the K20D were pretty positive with the fast Pentax 50mm f1.4. As always with recent screw-drive AF, the lens focusing is reasonably fast (if not blistering) and noise is much greater than the excellent Canon Ultrasonic motor lenses - which are now most of the better lenses in the Canon line. We had a K10D for comparison and the K20D seemed faster in AF, even though Pentax makes no claim of improvements in AF with the K20D.

The 14.6 MP CMOS sensor actually allows an ISO Boost to 6400, so the new ISO 3200 and ISO 6400 were the next features to tackle. By default the K20D high ISO noise reduction is set to off. This resulted in usable but grainy images at ISO 3200 and an ISO 6400 performance that was too coarse to be useful for our needs.

However, with the "weakest" and "weak" high ISO Noise Reduction settings, our first impressions in pixel-peeping high ISO images was much more favorable. The images with a small amount of noise reduction were pretty good - much better than we had expected. We had to wonder if early reviewers had noticed that high ISO noise reduction is completely off by default.

Images to ISO 1600 were quite good; 3200 shows deterioration in the shadow areas, but it is still very usable - even for large prints. ISO 6400 quality is better with a little NR and it would be usable for smaller prints or the web-posting we do, but too much is lost for large prints. All in all this is an outstanding performance for the new Samsung 14.6 MP sensor. Like many others, we wondered how good a new sensor from Samsung could be compared to Canon, Nikon, and Sony. More testing will be done in this area, but our first impressions are that the Samsung sensor is quite competitive, capturing more detail than the competing Nikon, Sony, Olympus, and Canon prosumer models.

Auto can be set to any ISO range you want, a feature Canon still refuses to implement fully. Based on early test shots we wouldn't hesitate to set the auto range from 100-1600 on a routine basis and 100-3200 if we were going into a low-light situation - or for times when the highest possible shutter speed is required. We would reserve 6400 for those special situations where the trade-offs make it worthwhile.

Whenever there is a recent Pentax is in our hands, we are again reminded of the usefulness of Hyperprogram, where you can instantly shift the aperture or shutter speed (front and rear dials) with the camera shifting other program parameters. Like the K10D, the K20D continues the unique TAv (Time & Aperture) Priority program, where you can select the shutter speed and the aperture which remain fixed while the program dynamically changes the ISO to maintain shutter speed and aperture. Selectable Auto ISO to 6400 on the one hand, and both TAv and Sv (Sensitivity or ISO) programs with the same range on the other hand, make the K20D a remarkably flexible digital SLR.

SDM Motor Lens

Pentax announced they would introduce new motor lens technology, which they call DA* (pronounced DA star) SDM (Supersonic Drive Motor) when the K10D was launched about a year and a half ago. As you can see in the mount photo, there are two additional gold pins inside the mount that couple with the SDM lens motor. Without these pins the SDM lenses function like standard AF screw-drive lenses.

It was not until about five months ago that Pentax finally began shipping the new SDM motor lenses, and they require at least a K10D with an upgrade to firmware 1.30 for the motors to even work. As a result, almost no one took a closer look at the new Pentax motor lenses. Now with the K20D we have the first real opportunity to work with a Pentax motor lens, specifically the 16-50mm f2.8.

On a side note, we really wish the marketing guy who is so hell bent on using * would get over it (first "*ist D" and now "DA*"), because the realities in a computer world were not considered.  * usually signifies a wildcard in computer lingo, which means these Pentax products with the clever little * name can't be searched in Google or other search engines.  This makes it impossible (or at best very difficult) to find these specific Pentax products with a * in their name in a search engine or at a web retailer site. Clearly that wasn't the intent of Pentax, but someone in the company needs to realize it's a bad idea and not very helpful for their sales.

Back to the camera, we mounted the 16-50 DA* SDM and we were frankly blown away. We thought the lens was broken because we couldn't hear the autofocus motor at all during focusing. The focus was so fast we assumed it wasn't focusing but we quickly saw the lens was definitely focusing.

Our everyday cameras right now are a Canon 5D full-frame and 40D with Ultrasonic lenses and a couple of L lenses, and an Olympus E-3 with a Leica 25mm F1.4 and the new 12-60mm SWM lens. The Pentax DA* SDM is quieter than any of these cameras, including the 24-105mm Canon L. It is also subjectively as fast as or faster than any of these cameras with their best motor lenses. We were shooting test shots in my available darkness office and the DA* SDM AF performance was nothing short of remarkable.

The 16-50 f2.8 fast wide angle to short telephoto (24-75mm equivalent) features a lens motor and sealing against dust and moisture, just like the K10D and K20D camera bodies. At first glance, the street price of around $700 will seem very high until you compare it to similar offerings from Canon and Nikon. The 17-55mm f2.8 IS Canon will set you back $1000 or more and the Nikon 17-55 f2.8 is a healthy $1190. The Canon 16-35 f2.8 L is another comparable lens at $1370. By comparison the Pentax DA* 16-50mm f2.8 SDM, designed and built to similar Pro specs, is an absolute bargain.

This caused us to wonder how others would review the K20D. Most use the standard 50mm f1.4 lens from the manufacturer in testing Autofocus. The Canon 50mm is an Ultrasonic motor lens, while the Pentax 50mm is an old-style AF screw drive. Popular Photography modified their test procedure to accommodate the fast Olympus SWM motor in their E-3 review, but it is clear they didn't even bother to retest for the K20D and used older K10D launch AF numbers when SDM lenses were not even available. Unfortunately, that means their AF tests of the K20D are not comparable to Canon or Olympus or Nikon.

We are trying to determine how best to test AF to account for the improved performance of SDM. The point is that the first question for any review of the AF performance of the K20D should be whether it was tested with an SDM lens. If an SDM lens was not used the review is not measuring the K20D autofocus performance in an apples-to-apples comparison.

In-Camera Image Processing and Software

When Nikon introduced the D300 late last fall, some reviews detailed the in-camera image processing capabilities as if Nikon had invented the wheel. In fact, many of the "new" in-camera image-processing capabilities of the D300 were already features of the K10D. The K10D has remarkable abilities for capturing and manipulating raw, DNG (Adobe Digital Negative format), TIFF, and JPEG files.

The K20D extends those capabilities even further. JPEG images can be processed in-camera with digital filters, including sepia, color extraction, black and white, soft focus, and an illustration function that looks like a pencil drawing. Digital filters do not work for raw and TIFF files, but these get their own even more extensive in-camera processing options.

In playback mode, you hit the Fn (function) key, and then the down arrow on the four-way controller to bring up the parameters used to record the RAW image. You can then scroll through and change any parameter. These include image resolution, white balance, ISO sensitivity, color space (sRGB/AdobeRGB), high ISO Noise Reduction (four levels), and Custom Image.

The Custom Image function allows adjustment of Image Tone, Saturation, Filter Effects, Hue, Contrast, and Sharpness. Once you are satisfied with the RAW image changes, you can then hit OK and save the file under a new name.  This preserves the original RAW file (like a negative) for future processing and creates a new processed file. This in-camera RAW processing can be very useful at a show or in the field where you are away from a computer. It is also useful if you want to process just a few RAW images.

Perhaps to prove their claim that 24 million Pentax lenses will work on the K20D, Pentax includes comprehensive Autofocus adjustment tweaking for any lens that will mount on the K20D. The user can make fine adjustments to AF plane both forward and back to provide best AF performance of older full-frame lenses on the K20D. This even includes the ability to save and recall profiles for up to 20 lenses.

The K20D software is also very useful. Image processing is accomplished in Pentax Photo Browser 3 and Photo Laboratory 3. This Pentax software is a custom version of SILKYPIX Developer Studio 3.0, which is a very well-regarded RAW converter. While some manufacturers ignore the studio photographer needs, Pentax Remote Assistant 3 allows computer control of a tethered K20D. Most studio photographers demand this capability.

Frankly, most users don't bother with software packaged with their new digital cameras, but both these programs are capable and powerful. SILKYPIX in particular is regularly updated and it is fully Vista compatible. It also includes a version on the CD for Mac OS 10.3 or later.  More Information on SILKYPIX can be found at their website.

First Thoughts

Once in a while, a new product grabs our attention during review. Unfortunately, that is much less often than you might expect. Technology breakthroughs are truly rare, and most of what we see in the technology arena is evolutionary. Technology is also fast moving, so innovation by one player normally finds its way - quickly - to other new products.

It is far too early to draw conclusions about the new Pentax K20D, but we do confess that most of our questions about this new digital SLR have had positive answers. The new 14.6 MP Samsung/Pentax sensor is for real. Noise is admirably low and the CMOS architecture assures extremely low power draw and long battery life.

In early testing there was no substantive difference in image quality from ISO 100 to ISO 1600, which is a noteworthy performance for a sensor with a 14.6 MP resolution. Images were also very usable at ISO3200, even when enlarged. ISO 6400 was not as useful, though small prints and web publishing should be fine with the 6400 setting. Our fear was that Pentax/Samsung had given up the store to have the bragging rights for the highest resolution DSLR in their class, but that is certainly not the case. The image quality was at least as good as a Sony A700, but we have not yet compared results to the Nikon D300.

Pentax K20D features seem to go on and on. In fact it is easy to get lost in all of the extensive image control that is possible with this new camera. Fortunately, Pentax keeps everything under control with their Info button and the most common controls - White Balance, Drive, Flash parameters and ISO - are easily accessed with the Fn (Function) button.

The in-camera image stabilization and sensor cleaning have been improved over the K10D, according to Pentax. We haven't yet tested this claim, but hand-held low light performance was impressive, and dust on the sensor has not been an issue so far. The dust mapping strikes us as a bit gimmicky, but those who work in dusty environments will probably disagree. We weren't anxious, in early testing, to expose the sensor to a lot of dust to test its usefulness.

The new motor lenses are something of a revelation. Our 16-50mm f2.8 was completely silent and very fast. Compared to the record-setting speed of the Canon 40D and Olympus E-3, the motor lens performance gave up nothing to the Ultrasonic or SWM motors. Non-motor lenses were reasonably fast, but no real competition for the best from others. They were also a great deal noisier as we have seen on screw-drive AF lenses from Sony and others. Pentax needs to introduce more SDM lenses as soon as possible. Once you use one it is hard to go back to screw-drive AF even on a good lens like the 50mm f1.4.

Overall, we found the K20D exciting in early testing. The combination of a 14.6 MP low-noise CMOS sensor; a dust/splash-sealed body, grip, and lenses; and the new SDM motor lenses is very satisfying. This is not the camera for sports shooters, as the 3FPS shooting speed will be laughable to action shooters. However, the incredible feature set, useful and unique program modes, and solid construction and performance will likely be well-received by the rest of the photo world. Our full review should provide even more answers to our questions about the K20D. If you have any specific question, chime in on the comments and we'll do our best to address those as well.