The Pentax K-M/K2000 is my very first DSLR camera that I have bought. It is called the K2000 in the US and the K-M in different places of the world.
At first I was worried about limitations and was afraid that the K-M/K2000 would limit my learning ability because it is the most basic DSLR model from Pentax. I soon found out that just because the K2000 is Pentax's most basic DSLR does not mean that the camera itself is basic. The sensor is very advanced and it is the same one used in the more expensive K200D. I was surprised by the amount of things I had to learn from jumping to a DSLR from point-and-shoot, even with the entry-level DSLR from Pentax. The K2000's easy to navigate and use interface is helpful for a newbie like me. I was considering about the K20D and K200D but ultimately decided on the K-M/K2000 to save money as well as it being my first DSLR. Sure the K20D might pack more power but the K-M/K2000 still works like any other DSLR and still requires the same knowledge and technique to work like the K20D.
After playing with my new toy for quite awhile, I realized that there is much more to learn than just the camera itself and any DSLR limits itself based on how you limit your learning. Every DSLR works the same as stated, you'll have to learn F-stops, shutter speed, and ISO. The only true limitation is in the camera body from having less features, but those features have nothing to do with YOU and your knowledge on how to expose and compose the image you want. Every DSLR has the capability to produce a beautiful picture based on your knowledge and your technique. The picture quality also depends heavily on the lenses you use, so it's wise to spend less on a body and invest more on a lens if you're on a budget or if this is your first DSLR. After all, the Pentax K2000 will fit any K-mount lenses. It will fit the same lenses the K20D and K200D will.
The Pentax K-M/K2000 is the lightest Pentax DSLR camera and is non noticeably smaller than the Nikon D40. I was questioning it's size at first because I heard that this is a tiny camera and is smallest in the Pentax line-up. It is small but it's not "tiny", it will fit in my hands fine and I have long fingers. The camera is the lightest from Pentax and is one of the lightest DSLRs out there, but it is slightly heavier than the Rebel XS and the Nikon D60. The body of the K-M/K2000 feels very sturdy. The first time I held this camera I first noticed the quality of this DSLR, it is strong and well made.
The picture quality of the camera is good for a entry-level DSLR, the only problem is the noise levels at higher ISO settings, I never use 3200 because of the noise it produces at that ISO. I have my noise reduction set to weak and shoot only in RAW DNG. I try not to go over 800 ISO but sometimes I will have to go to 1600 ISO to keep the shutter speeds higher at night. 1600 ISO is still acceptable for this camera but I question if they should even add 3200 in the first place.
The kit lens that came with this camera is the Pentax SMC DA L 18-55mm AL. L after DA stands for light because it is light due to the plastic mount. The Pentax K-M/K2000 is the only Pentax DSLR at the moment to come with these "light" kit lenses. Yes it is plastic, but it is better than the original more expensive Pentax SMC DA 18-55mm AL that uses a metal mount. It's better because it uses the same optics as the SMC DA 18-55mm AL II, so it will produce the same image quality as the AL II but without the metal mount. The kit lens also does not come with the lens hood so you would need to buy it if you want some extra glare blocking.
The camera packs a lot of options and has a lot of built-in features so you can post process the image in it, but I never use this so I can't really review it. I use Adobe Lightroom 2 and Photoshop CS3 to process my pictures. The auto white balance on this camera works flawlessly and there is no need to adjust them, I just shoot in auto white balance mode for all of my pictures. The auto focus of this camera works fast, faster than the K20D and K200D which is a improvement. The auto focusing in low-light is also improved on this Pentax. The K-M/K2000 has a faster continuous shooting than the K200D, it fires at 3.5 compared to 2.8 in the K200D. Although there is some trade-offs such as 5 auto focus points and non-weather sealed body. The DA WR (weather-sealed) lenses from Pentax are expensive so I would buy the regular DA lenses instead. There's no point of a weather-sealed body if your lenses aren't weather-sealed with it. There is no need for more auto focus points because I found out the best is set to single point center-weighted. Lastly the K2000 has a in-body built in anti-shake so there won't be any need to buy a lens with a image stabilization. Although lenses with image stabilization will work better than the body's anti-shake, it's still good for using older lenses that do not have image stabilization.
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