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Bait and Switch 101.

k20d much much better for 625(no tax in most states)

most of these consumer digicam DSLR's are about the same, BUT

i'd go with canon or nikon, simply because they have nice/cheap/good lenses to grow with.

if your gonna buy a kit camera and will NEVER!!! upgrade, then pentax/olympus/ etc shop away

The only problem I have with this camera is that it runs on 4 AA batteries instead of a rechargeable battery.

#3 really? So the fact that pentax dslrs can use nearly every lens made for pentax means you cant find nice/cheap/good lenses? That includes PENTAX K-, KA-, KAF- and KAF2-mount lenses.

#4 And using AAs is a good thing.. Meaning you wont have to rely on buying a special rechargable battery + charger to lug around. So buy a nice la crosse charger and some rechargable AAs.. Use throwaways when your not able to charge.

#5 agree with you especially the 2nd point.

#4: actually two big GOs of most Pentax DSLRs (for me) are
- using AA batteries (just use Ni-MH chargeable)
(also the reason why I like Canon SX1 IS)
- Body stabilizer
(so you can hook cheap lens but still get the IS feature)

Oly have best lenses in a world, pentax lenses not bad either, the most stupid thing is buy DSLR with cheap lenses, lenses mean more than body

I've had this camera for almost a year and it's served me well. I too like the idea of using 4AA. I have 2 sets of eneloops for the camera and have yet to have a problem.

It is heftier than a lot of equivalent DSLRs, but it's also the only one (I believe) that is weather sealed.

Pentax makes some very good lens, especially their kit lens according testing from Photography magazines. Nikon & Canon cheap kit zoom lens does NOT have anti-shake built in. You have to pay a lot more for their better lens. The Sony and Pentax has moving CCD that can use any lens for the anti-shake feature.

For AA batteries, I brought a set of rechargeable Eneloop AA and they work super well and hold the charge for a very very long time.

Forgot to mention that the nice weather seal feature. I killed a Lumix FZ20 (with 28-420mm 2.8 Leica lens) bridge camera while taking pictures in the rain. I used to do this with my film Nikon but never thought the electronic camera can be kill so easily.

Pentax has done poorly at marketing and even more poorly at getting DSLRs to market, but if there's one company who knows how to build SLRs, it's Pentax, they made the first one back in the 1960s, and they are also a premier lens maker, their company being Asahi Optical. I wouldn't slight Pentax on their lens quality one bit. (Canon, Nikon, and Leica are equally formidable lens makers, but watch out for Canon's Chinese built lenses)