Best Pentax DSLR Under $150? Under $500?

What's the best value Pentax DSLR? Let's take a look at all the current and discontinued models on the market to see where the value is. Featuring the cheap and cheerful K200D.

DISCLAIMER:
Some of these links have an affiliate code. If you purchase gear with these links I will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you!

[mrlaw]

Another best analysis presentation of Pentax DLSRs. I'm so surprised that more people don't shoot with them because of their excellent image quality and lenses.

[baginatora]

I love how Pentax is a brand associated with quality. When I picked up an istDL 2 ten years ago, I was excited by the opportunities it offered. In 3 years time I sold it and bought a K-r. It still surprises me today how good of a camera it is- so far, the only limiting factor for great photos was my skill level.

[thegroove]

K200D user here and with all of its limitations paired with good glass I get really good results.

[KerryFreemanMelbourne]

Got the k5.11. am in love all over again....

[AlOne-xgdv]

As a happy Pentax K5 iis owner i really appreciate this review.
Coming from my previous K5 i could benefit from the iis's better AF mainly in low light, and much better sharpness any time.

[hansplourde]

this video gave me a good staring point to look further about Pentax
I have never held one in my hands
thanks

[mohnkern]

I just got a used first generation k-3 with a 50mm and 75-300 Tamron Zoom lens, and love it. It was $300.

[richardbraham]

I love the k3 matched with the da* lenses. Very happy with the results.

[karlbrodowsky]

I bought a used camera a couple of years ago and evaluated the K30 vs K50 vs K70. My result was that the step from K30 to K50 was important, but I could be happy with the K50. It was the interim solution until I could afford the K1 Mark II, but now I am happy to have both.

[iskandartaib]

I have a K100D, a K200D and a Kx. The K100D has one thing the newer bodies (even the K10D) doesn't have.. Infrared sensitivity. Screw on an IR filter on the lens, put the camera on a tripod and it takes great IR images. The K200D is weather sealed, so it's great for rainy days. For most shooting I like the Kx. A little smaller and lighter, better autofocus. I love using AA batteries - alkalines don't work that well, but Eneloops (and the equivalents from other brands, particularly IKEA's LADDAs, which are comparatively inexpensive) work very well indeed. My next camera body will be a K30 or K50 - these can take Eneloops, are weather sealed and come in a variety of colors. Lots on eBay, mainly from Japan. I plan to visit Tokyo next year and I plan to visit all the used camera stores to look for one - might as well look at used lenses too, at the same time.

[certs]

Great video. My first DSLR was a Pentax istDL. From there I went to Olympus mirrorless and now I am mostly back to shooting Pentax with a K5 II S that I got second hand in beautiful condition. I am very happy with this camera and love the resulting photos I get out of it.
I use my Pentax for pretty much everything except street photography when I use my M 4/3 cameras.

Pentax is also a great way to go if you shoot film and want to be able to swap lenses between your cameras going back to the 70s. Heck I even got an M42 adapter to use old Pentax screw mount lenses too.
You can do the same with Nikon F mount but at least here in Canada Nikon gear carries a premium so you will spend alot more to get the same level of performance. In my case I already had K mount film cameras so it also didn't make sense to have to buy all new lenses to go Nikon or Canon.

[leotomma]

I have the K-70, the flip screen sold me. I use full frame lenses, a great improvement

[kyleparks]

Not too hard to find a k-30 for under $100, very good low light performance, and can take four AA's or a standard battery pack. The only issue is that the k-30 (and many of the older cameras on the 16+ mp list) have an unreliable aperture solenoid that will pretty reliably fail at some point. Plenty about that and solutions to it on the pentax forums though.

[petermoxon]

Have a ist dl which I loved. Bought a K3 recently for just £300. It had a shot count of only 4000 so as good as new! It is absolutely brilliant. Using it for macro and landscape photography and the colour reproduction is outstanding. Autofocus can be a bit slow with some hunting but the KAF mount takes all my older lenses. Even taken some great shots of the moon with it combining it with software focus stacking

[lloydbligh]

I just recently bought a Pentax K-5 11 after researching really enjoying the size and solid build also the colours. After hearing the hype about the 5-11s’s improved resolution I bought it too. I was surprised with the increased size of the camera and it has an extended eye viewer. A slightly better resolution but I fell instantly with the 5-11 handling and photos in the early stages it’s still a toss up between the two cameras. Both are in excellent used condition and price i am very satisfied and happy with my purchases. Your video ended when It was getting more interesting for me, lol, enjoyed the video.

[jbp]

Good video, very informative. I have the K10D and K-3. I am addicted to user modes, of which the K-3 has 3. I wish I had more! If you ever do a follow up video, maybe that's something you could include for people like me that just can't get enough user modes haha. Being able to turn a dial and instantly change dozens of settings to go between bird in flight to landscape, etc., is such a pleasure. Enjoy your K-5ii and 18-135 (one of my favorite lenses)!

[Analogbrain]

Nice video! I've got a K10d, there's something about that CCD sensor giving some of that Kodachrome glow. For more modern Aps-c and fullframe cameras, I don't see many Pentax cameras, and when they show up, they're to expensive compared to Canon, Nikon, Sony and Fujifilm.

[deanroslynmengel]

K5IIs is a standout re sharpness, K3III is brilliant.

[jaibandroide]

will you do videos like this for more brands? would be awesome

[raecrowe]

Late to this party, but hey. Some points about Pentax in general and the K200d, specifically. Love that every lens ever made to fit this brand all the way back to the M42 screw mounts (with an inexpensive K mount adapter) are fully functional on their DSLRs. My all time favorite lenses are the Kiron, Komine, and Kobori made Vivitar lenses (sn beginning with 22, 28, and 77). Way ahead of their time. I like that this model is small and comfortable yet a solid weight, partially due to the fact that it uses AA batteries, not a rechargeable battery pack that also takes up a lot of room in your carry case and if you have just one pack, you have to wait for it to charge up. And if you use lithiums in the the K200d, you can pretty much bank on getting about 1500 shots out of one set.