Pentax K2000

	Color Summary
• Below average scores for color accuracy • Practical selection of six color modes • Acceptable but not exceptional long exposure performance
	Product Tour	Page 3 of 18	Noise

Color Accuracy (12.86)

The Pentax K2000 reproduced color less accurately than the other cameras in our comparison group, but the results still fall within an acceptable range. Our test images were slightly oversaturated, and while flesh tone reproduction was very good, blue shades were noticeably off-color, with yellows and oranges also problematic.

What we're testing here is color accuracy, not color attractiveness. The K2000, like many SLRs, offers a variety of color modes to let the user match color reproduction to the tones he or she finds most pleasing. For our lab testing purposes, though, we shoot the standard X-Rite ColorChecker chart and use Imatest to determine which of these modes produces the least color error. That's the one we use all of our color accuracy testing. For more information on our color testing procedures, see the How We Test section here.

For the Pentax, there are five color modes plus monochrome, and the one called Natural produced the best results, with a mean color error of 2.88 and a mean saturation of nearly 108%. It's interesting to note that Natural is not the default setting for the camera. It's set to shoot in Bright mode out of the box, which produces even more intense shades.

It's important to note here that the group of cameras chosen for comparison here is based on the models we've tested under the updated review procedures we instituted in January 2009. For this reason, several inexpensive cameras which compete directly with the Pentax K2000 aren't included.

Color Chart Comparisons
Pentax K2000	Nikon D90	Canon 50D	Canon Rebel XS	Olympus E-30
Natural	Neutral	Faithful	Faithful	Muted

In the chart below are actual-size crops of the patches from the X-Rite ColorChecker chart as shot in the most accurate color mode of five SLRs, along with patches in the ideal color value as specified by X-Rite. The labels on the left are the official names for each patch.

	Camera Color Comparisons
	Ideal	Pentax K2000	Nikon D90	Canon 50D	Canon Rebel XS	Olympus E-30
Dark Skin
Light Skin
Blue Sky
	Ideal	Pentax K2000	Nikon D90	Canon 50D	Canon Rebel XS	Olympus E-30
Foliage
Blue Flower
Bluish Green
	Ideal	Pentax K2000	Nikon D90	Canon 50D	Canon Rebel XS	Olympus E-30
Orange
Purplish Blue
Moderate Red
	Ideal	Pentax K2000	Nikon D90	Canon 50D	Canon Rebel XS	Olympus E-30
Purple
Yellow Green
Orange Yellow
	Ideal	Pentax K2000	Nikon D90	Canon 50D	Canon Rebel XS	Olympus E-30
Blue
Green
Red
	Ideal	Pentax K2000	Nikon D90	Canon 50D	Canon Rebel XS	Olympus E-30
Yellow
Magenta
Cyan

NOTE: Because of the way computer monitors reproduce colors, the images above do not exactly match the originals found on the chart or in the captured images. The chart should be used to judge the relative color shift, not the absolute captured colors.

The K2000 comes up short of the competition here, but not so much that it poses a significant problem. It's interesting to note that camera price and color accuracy don't go hand in hand. The Rebel XS, which sells for roughly the same price as the Pentax, beats the far more expensive Nikon D90 and its brandmate Canon 50D here.

Color Score Comparisons

Color Modes (4.00)

The Pentax K2000 provides six Image Finishing Tones, which are roughly equivalent to choosing different film stocks in the old days to provide the color and image quality characteristics you're after for a given subject. The available settings are Bright, Natural, Portrait, Landscape, Vibrant and Monochrome. Each of these settings can be fine-tuned for saturation, hue, contrast and sharpness, as explained in the Picture Effects section below. For the purposes of color comparison, we shot the X-Rite ColorChecker chart in all five color modes and grabbed actual-size crops for each patch, which are presented below.

	Color Mode Comparisons
	Ideal Color: The actual color as displayed on the X-Rite ColorChecker chart.	Natural: The most accurate color mode based on our tests.	Bright: The default image finishing tone setting.	Portrait: Designed to produce pleasing photos of faces.	Landscape: Designed to enhance outdoor shots.	Vibrant: Boosts colors to "pop" more.
Dark Skin
Light Skin
Blue Sky
	Ideal	Natural	Bright	Portrait	Landscape	Vibrant
Foliage
Blue Flower
Bluish Green
	Ideal	Natural	Bright	Portrait	Landscape	Vibrant
Orange
Purplish Blue
Moderate Red
	Ideal	Natural	Bright	Portrait	Landscape	Vibrant
Purple
Yellow Green
Orange Yellow
	Ideal	Natural	Bright	Portrait	Landscape	Vibrant
Blue
Green
Red
	Ideal	Natural	Bright	Portrait	Landscape	Vibrant
Yellow
Magenta
Cyan

NOTE: Because of the way computer monitors reproduce colors, the images above do not exactly match the originals found on the chart or in the captured images. The chart should be used to judge the relative color shift, not the absolute captured colors.

While it's clearly targeted at a consumer-level audience, the K2000 supports both the sRGB color space used by most shooters and the AdobeRGB color space which is used primarily for commercial printing.

Long Exposure (8.44)

Our long exposure test combines two significant factors when shooting in low-light environments at slow shutter speeds: color accuracy and image noise. Based on its so-so performance on our color test conducted under bright lights, it comes as no surprise that the K2000 lagged the competition in this aspect of our long-exposure test as welll. When it comes to image noise, though, the Pentax did very well here, maintaining image noise well below 1.5% across all five shutter speeds we test: 1 second, 5 seconds, 10 seconds, 15 seconds and 30 seconds. For more information on our long exposure testing process, read the How We Test section here.

In the chart below, a shorter bar indicates a superior result, since it's an indication of color error. We shoot our test chart twice for each shutter speed, once with the long exposure noise reduction system on, and once with it off. Hence, the two results for each shutter speed.

Pentax K2000 Long Exposure Color Error

Here again,a shorter bar indicates better performance: in this case, lower image noise. As we often find, long exposure noise reduction proved ineffective, and even slightly harmful, in our tests. Noise is inherently random, but long exposure noise reduction systems are designed to take two consecutive shots and remove the noise patterns found in the second (taken with the shutter closed) from the first. With random patterns, this approach is understandably ineffective.

Pentax K2000 Long Exposure Noise

As with our core color accuracy testing, the Canon Rebel XS leads even its more expensive rivals in our long exposure testing, though the Pentax delivered respectable performance.

Long Exposure Score Comparison