Geoff beat me to the punch, as I was writing this. Guess I'll leave the first part in anyhow:
The View wrote:
The interesting thing was, that a Canon and a Nikon interpret an image quite differently from the start. One is really buying into this when buying dslr.
Well, if you're shooting JPEGs then this might be a bit of a problem. But even then, the K20D has the usual set of JPEG adjustments. They all also have white balance tuning. If you shoot RAW, then you have complete control of your colour output. In LightRoom I spent a few hours tweaking the colour settings during the first week with the K20D, saved that as a default for the camera and now get accurate colours across the spectrum.
The Nikon looked like it had a more even picture, while the Canon had a more dramatic lightness distribution.
Again: that's something you should be in charge of, not the camera.
In choosing a camera, I'd think the important thing would be to get the "hard" aspects right. If I want in-camera spot metering, then I have to rule out the Canon. If I want maximum high ISO goodness, then I have to rule out the Pentax.
I'm thinking of renting a Canon 40d, and a Nikon 300d.
Another approach is to settle on one candidate based on feature set, then buy that from a local shop with a good return policy. It's really hard to learn a camera in just the few days of a rental period. Consider the example of Bill Mitchell's experience on
this TOP thread. Not hitting upon an obscure setting buried in the manual made all the difference in his testing experience. I'm still learning how best to use the K20D's feature set nearly six weeks after buying it.
Geoff Wittig wrote:
14.5 megapixels is probably at the current limit for noise control in an APC sized sensor, but will surely permit a nice big print.
The K20D's sensor is a bit heavy in shadow noise, so maybe even a bit past the limit. And, yep: the prints are truly stunning. But as The View says 14.6 mp is overkill in at least one regard: it mercilessly reveals every weakness of a lens.