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Even at ISO 1,600 the K200D keeps noise to a manageable level, a decent amount of sharpness, and colors retain their saturation. Shot details: Pentax K200D; ISO 1,600; 1/200 sec.; f/5.6; SMC P-DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL II zoomed to 24mm (36mm equivalent in 35mm format)
The detail crop at the upper left shows that even in dim lighting, noise remains low, though the writing was out of focus, so don't blame the camera for that. The square off color toward the bottom right is from the same pole as shot by the Canon 1DS Mark III, an extremely color accurate camera and highlights the inaccurate, though still pleasing color captured by the K200D. Shot details: Pentax K200D; ISO 1,600; 1/30 sec.; f/5.6; SMC P-DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL II zoomed to 18mm (27mm equivalent in 35mm format)
The K200D's sensor shift image stabilization is quite effective. In this shot, it gave me about three stops (halving the shutter speed for each stop) of compensation so that this shot of a tree was acceptably sharp, despite the slow shutter speed. Shot details: Pentax K200D; ISO 100; 1/10 sec.; f/22; SMC P-DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL II zoomed to 55mm (82mm equivalent in 35mm format); Shake Reduction turned on
The K200D's kit lens isn't the sharpest lens you'll ever own, but it can produce a comfortable level of sharpness, as shown by the 100-percent crop of the petals of this flower. Shot details: Pentax K200D; ISO 100; 1/40 sec.; f/5; SMC P-DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL II zoomed to 18mm (27mm equivalent in 35mm format)
Pentax's Dynamic Range Expansion mode is subtle, but it does get you more detail in the highlights. The crop on the upper right shows the detail of a building that the K200D was able to capture with expansion turned on, but were blown out with expansion turned off. All other shot details are the same for both images. Shot details: Pentax K200D; ISO 200; 1/100 sec.; f/6.3; SMC P-DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL II zoomed to 24mm (36mm equivalent in 35mm format)