M42 threads...haven't heard that in a while. My first SLR (Russian Zenit 12XP) used it...
Kerrie - I believe the canon EOS 40D and Nikon D90 are pretty closet competitors to the Pentax K20D, you can see a comparison chart here:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/comp...n_d90&show=all
I'm trying to find some pricing comparisons for you, but not having a lot of luck...
Dave
edit: after a bit of searching on fleabay, it seems that the RRP for the Pentax is around $1499, and the Canon and Nikon hover around the $2k mark. I'd liked to have grabbed body only price, but alas...why not give paxtons a call? (
www.paxtons.com.au), they should be able to give you body only pricing I suspect on all 3 models.
Just an addendum - the Nikon (imho) has the best flash and WB, but at 15mp, noise is going to be an issue imho due to small pixel size. The 40D is better in this respect. Both have large LCD screens and live view, but the Nikon beats it as it has a high resolution 920k LCD screen, Canon has a much lower grade LCD screen. AF - pretty even. The Pentax, at 14.6mp is similar to the Nikon in noise respects, seems to be OK with WB too. Pentax' LCD screen is like Canon's - lower resolution. This can make a difference when chimping. Oh, and the Pentax has built in anti shake sensors, a bonus. Canon and Nikon both employ their anti shake systems in the lens, not in the camera body, which means you have to pay a price premium for the anti shake enabled lenses. Performance of Pentax' system seems pretty similar to Nikon & Canon from what I can see. Oh, and the Nikon has low def video capability (not hd as Nikon says lol).