There is a new interview at DPreview with um Mr. Choong-hyun Hwang, the Vice President of the Digital Camera Business of Samsung Techwin Strategy Marketing Team (what a title). Anyway he states that samsungs GX-20 DSLR is pretty much the same camera as the pentax but well here’s the quote from this article

“Even though Pentax and Samsung DSLR are almost the same, the image quality – not in a vertical way but in a horizontal way; the color rendering – is different because we use different formulas and algorithms. So although the Samsung GX and Pentax K20D are the same system, some reviews have found the Samsung to be better “

You know while I’ve alway appreciated axis specific color rendering improvements it’s strange that samsung would charge more for there camera then the Pentax

Here’s amazon’s pentax page

And here’s the Samsung page

Personally I was hoping that since samsung isn’t really known for thier camera’s they wouldn’t charge as much but it’s probably just bacause it came out later. Oh well.

I have really wanted to upgrade my olympus E-Volt 410 but I don’t think I would gain much by getting DSLR without a Full-Frame Sensor plus I need video capabilities. So I guess I have one choice The Canon 5d MarkII. I wonder if I can really justify the expense though. I see so much bad photography by the “Proud Owners” of whatever cool camera and I want no part of that.  But the lens that comes with the Canon 5d Mark II cast about 3 times as much as my camera+2 lenses.

(Updated for discounted price on Canon 5D as of 1.24.2008) 

A slew of new models announced just before PMA 2008: Pentax K20D, Samsung GX-20, Canon XSi. These cameras have the latest sensor designs and noise reduction systems and from what I’ve been seeing/reading, these are a solid step above the previous generation. What to do if you’re buying for the first time and don’t have a prior investment in someone’s lenses?

In terms of my interest at the various price points, I’m guessing (without having seen/touched/reviewed any of these new units) that things break down like this:

Below $800, probably want to look at the Nikon D40X and D40 despite their being previous generation machines. Or, buy a discontinued Pentax K10D, Olympus E-510, or similar.

At $800, it looks to be the Canon XSi. Stuff trickling down from the 40D and some notable improvements keep this a perennial favorite for Canon.

At $1,200-$1,400, it’s probably the Canon 40D but a case could be made for Pentax/Samsung and their new 14 MP sensor, if you don’t care about shooting “sports.” And I as ramble below, the 40D and XSi are very similar… We’ll have to see what if anything Sony, Fuji, or Panasonic offers up in this range.

And at $1,800 you have the Nikon D300 and Olympus E-3 sort of duking it out.

At the next level again and still in its own world price-wise now just a few hundred more ($2,100 online) is the original, 2.5 year old full-frame Canon 5D. Conspicuously absent from PMA so far is its successor, presumably named the 5D Mark II… I guess that’s for Photokina or the Olympics. Originally priced around $3,300, it should be interesting to see what the new machine comes in at.

I’m generalizing here but last year it looked like all the DSLR models were somewhat grouping themselves into features/price points. You had the low end (< US$1,000), the middle (US$1K-$2K), and the high (US$2K+). Generally speaking, there wasn’t a huge difference between models in the price ranges. The exception, I felt, was the Pentax K10D which at just under $1K offered a strong feature set for the price and a somewhat unique position in the market given their lens line-up. Heck, you might add Olympus, Sony, and maybe even Fuji and Panasonic, too. Ah, the beauty/confusion of subjectivity…

With this week’s announcements, it doesn’t get a lot clearer, but you might say there is a new sub-segment now at $2,000. Actually this began with the Nikon D300 a couple months back. Nikon changed things a bit by bringing pro-level features and performance (by all reports now they’ve succeeded admirably) almost all the way down to the mid-price range of $1,200 to $1,500. I say almost because as you know, the D300 is $1,800. Olympus followed (sort of) with the E-3 at the same price.

For $2,000 (formerly the high-end price for 35mm film SLRs), there wasn’t anything like the D300 or E-3 before. Their speed, handling, pro build quality, and very importantly, their image quality are “only” evolutionary, but they represent a good long stride forward. The D300 has people raving and in my testing the E-3 performs very well too.

Now, I use Canon so don’t flame me when I say that Canon-folks might say, c’mon, the 40D is easily almost the equal of the D300 but for a few things. And the 40D is $1,100-$1,200, or a good deal less than a D300 (The D300 is approx. 63% more expensive than the 40D.)

But I feel that Canon splits the market differently: the new XSi and 40D are roughly in the same feature set category and are somewhat close in price, so to me they kind of blur together. Sure there are real differences but in many ways, they attack the entire low to mid-range market segment by being priced so similarly. (Then again, I think Nikon has been dominating the low end so I guess that strategy isn’t so smart? I don’t know for sure-no data on sales growth here, just hearsay.)

The shift I feel I’m seeing is that Nikon split its line farther apart than the others. They pushed the D3 farther out, moved the D300 up a bit over the previous mid-range price, and left the low-end low (where as you know, things tend to get even lower).

Here’s where things get really subjective: Canon’s new XSi brings 1D Mk III goodies like Highlight Tone Priority down to the $800 level. New viewfinder and rear LCD and other stuff make this a strong contender at the low end. Nikon’s D40X is still “last generation’s chip” so Canon is keeping up/staying ahead here. Pentax’s new K20D (also Samsung GX-20) is a new 14 MP machine that looks good so far but is priced at a surprising $1,300, $1,400 for the Samsung. I would’ve liked the pricing better at $1,000 like the K10D before, but I can see why they are priced high. But then for that kind of money, the Canon 40D becomes an option. And for just a bit more, let’s not forget Olympus and the new Olympus E-3. And oh yeah, that D300 thing again…

Perhaps what I’m implying is that the Nikon D300 appears to be the best in class under $2K and everything else in that range is a subset of Nikon’s capabilities. (Of course, if you don’t need that much camera, there are some strong choices at half the price. Choose what is best for your needs/budget!)

I’ve also neglected Fuji, Sony, and Panasonic here. Sorry about that–I hear good things about each of them, but haven’t had as much exposure to those makes and I’ll have to try and remedy that sometime soon.

So what I’m suggesting is that for a first time buyer who can afford $2,000, the choices are mixed. Speed freaks will want Canon or Nikon. Others may find a lot to like in the other manufacturers, but at what price? Remember you have to buy lenses too… And, in the end, you only really need as much camera as you can use. You just want the best value for your photographic purposes.