A discussion of the design and features of the Pentax K2000.
Lori Grunin
I've been reviewing hardware and software, devising testing methodology and handed out buying advice for what seems like forever; I'm currently absorbed by computers and gaming hardware, but previously spent many years concentrating on cameras. I've also volunteered with a cat rescue for over 15 years doing adoptions, designing marketing materials, managing volunteers and, of course, photographing cats.
...the K2000 has a toggle button that switches the dial function to changing aperture rather than shutter speed when shooting in manual exposure mode. In all other modes it toggles the dial to adjust exposure compensation.
The K2000's control layout will be familiar to anyone used to using a point and shoot, with dedicated buttons for setting ISO sensitivity, white balance, flash and drive-mode options. The menu system itself is a little clunky to navigate; not confusing, but it seems to take more time to get to the settings you want than on other cameras.
One of Pentax's novel features is its Sensitivity Priority (Sv) mode, which fixes aperture and automatically selects shutter speed while you cycle through ISO sensitivity settings using the dial.
