Maya Python API 2.0 MImage problems

I am new to the maya python api and have been struggling to understand how pointers should work in the 2.0 version.
I want to use MImage.pixels() to get the the data from an image, but this returns a pointer (long) instead of just an array.
I was reading examples from API 1.0 using MScriptUtil to get the data from a pointer but that is no longer available in 2.0.
How does this work now, or is MImage not fully implemented in API 2.0?

I realize I could just write this in 1.0 but I figured it was worth a shot in 2 so at to stay current and avoid deprication.