I've always had a interest in cameras and even as a child used an SLR 35mm camera, I was still happily stuck in my ways until borrowing a digital camera from my partner on holiday. Suddenly I had instant access to my pictures and no worries about not having enough film. I decided that it was time I joined the digital age and after a brief bridge camera trial I after long deliberation decided to buy the outsider, the Pentax K200d.

I admit I'm stubborn in my ways and as a unconventional slightly gothy woman I have a natural aversion to the crowds of middle aged men with their Eos's at the zoo, but after eight months I bought myself a Canon and I'm selling my Pentax and waving goodbye to them. Despite being the makers of some fantastic glass they are so behind other manufacturers in the pixel race and as my skills grow I find that I need the comfort of being able to buy lenses for a range that I can progress with.

"Pros of the camera."

• The camera itself is incredibly comfortable and light for a woman to carry even with a 300mm lens equipped and does take some very nice pictures.
• There are some fantastic little tools on it as well and I was a great fan of the IR filter.
• There's always somewhere to buy AA batteries which this camera uses.
• Does take some beautiful shots and is fairly easy to learn the functions on which is great for even the most technophobe-like of us all.
• Good value for money, there are some nice cheap Tamron lenses to expand with for far less than the big common names.
• The kit lens is one of the nicest kit lenses out there and does take beautiful portraits.
• SD cards instead of CF, you can get these a lot more cheaply. I carry two 8mb cards and I've paid less than £15 for them.

"Cons of the camera"

• The sensor cleaner was a little disconcerting when it rumbled and generally would result in me screaming as the sensor got dirtier and dirtier seeming and then suddenly after a set of batteries had been used I'd have it clean again.
• Purple fringing does seem to be terrible with this, I've spent endless hours fixing pictures and my new camera doesn't suffer as badly.
• Poor performance in low light.
• Intergrated flash set very low and can leave pictures looking very dark at the bottom.
• Battery costs can add up so definately get rechargeables.
• Your race for pixels so far stops at 14mp with the K20d and Pentax aren't looking likely to be doing any higher for a while yet.

In my opinion this is still a fantastic camera for someone who is only wanting a basic SLR and not needing more then the 10mp this delivers. If you're looking at a long term investment then I'd do research and see if there's a more suitable range that can grow with you as lenses are an investment that will move from camera body onwards.