Pentax K-S2 added to studio scene

In the bottom right corner of the 100% crop is a small "i" for information. That will have info on SS, Aperture, and other settings, as well as the lens name.

Also, be sure to look at RAW files. In RAW mode the K-S2 does much better than the K-50.

Apr 20, 2015*permalink

HubertChen

@ Samual,

Thanks for the answer! Sorry that I found it only just now. My bad. But still useful! Thanks :-)

Jul 12, 2015permalink

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/image-comparison/fullscreen?attr18=daylight&attr13_0=pentax_ks2&attr13_1=nikon_d5500&attr13_2=sony_a6000&attr13_3=canon_eos700d&attr15_0=jpeg&attr15_1=jpeg&attr15_2=jpeg&attr15_3=jpeg&attr16_0=100&attr16_1=100&attr16_2=100&attr16_3=100&normalization=full&widget=1&x=1.0857680359762198&y=1.0238563008700534

Pentax zooms are well known for poor QA, but this Pentax fixed FL lens selected by DPR seems beyond poor QA.

Never thought SONY lens is that good comparing to Pentax.

Apr 16, 2015*permalink

Careful judging that Pentax lens's sharpness in JPEG mode, that's just the K-S2's engine. In RAW mode on the K-S2 that specific corner shows no difference, but the center is incredibly improved.

That Sony/Zeiss 55mm is just a peach.

Apr 16, 2015permalink

As seen in the link above in RAW, the sharpness is *only* one of the problems about this lens.

+1 for "Careful judging that Pentax lens's sharpness in JPEG mode, that's just the K-S2's engine". look the center where its JPEG engine makes K-S2 no better than 1" Samsung MINI and/or SONY P&S RX100-M3.

I like DPR's Studio testing which makes DPR the best and most useful review site on the net.

Apr 16, 2015permalink

Simon97

Finally, a glimpse into this Sony (?) 20mp sensor. Seems on par with the fabled 16mp APS-C sensor and a bit less noise than the 24mp sensor.

Apr 15, 2015permalink

Revenant

Sony used the 20 MP sensor in the A58, A3000 and A5000, so we've had plenty of glimpses already.

Apr 15, 2015permalink

(unknown member)

Since this test isn't using Adobe's ACR profile, probably best to hold off on making final judgements peeps. Check out what Rawtherapee looks like in the interim- might be a good choice, I haven't checked yet.

Apr 15, 2015permalink

22codfish

I wish there was an universal lens mount, so all the camera bodies could be compared, using the same lens.

Apr 15, 2015permalink

(unknown member)

This is possible with mirrorless cameras and adapters. Probably happen in the future.

Keep in mind that the light incidence angle may have a different effect on different sensor sizes and types though.

But, your idea would eliminate a lot of variables in the testing procedure :). Just not all.

Apr 15, 2015*permalink

cainn24

Even if you could in fact mount the same lens on every body no matter the format you'd still have to contend with the issues described here (in addition to everything else): http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2014/06/sensor-stack-thickness-when-does-it-matter

Apr 15, 2015permalink

Take a look at the green text on the bottom of studio page for the Nikon D5500, it talks about what happened when we tried to use one lens for all cameras: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikon-d5500/8

The problem we are hitting is the native lenses are more consistent in the amount of light they're letting in, so they're more fair for noise performance. In the case of the Sigma 50 Art, it will only be fair for resolution performance, unless we go back and re-shoot every camera on the scene... at which point we might as well build a new one. We're still trying to work it all out.

Apr 15, 2015permalink

SmilerGrogan

And perhaps I'm buying the hype, but don't camera makers say that they tailor their sensors and lenses to work together as a system? From what they say, the imaging and optical departments work together to get the two systems to work synergistically? If so, it's not fair to test a camera with lenses from another manufacturer. I use Nikon because I like the Nikon "look" better than the Canon look or the Panasonic look (but I love the Fuji look, if only they did video better).

Apr 15, 2015permalink

gargalamouth

Sony a77II studio samples have been removed for some time now. They were oof like the ones from A99 and A58. Technically speaking the SSCT is very poorly implemented.

Apr 15, 2015permalink

They are up now. Sorry about that. We originally just took down the JPEGs because they were shot with the wrong NR settings. Then we debated over what lens to use, because of the poor sharpness we were getting out of the Zeiss 50 f/1.4 for the A mount. Then we got a Sigma, and discovered they let in less light at 5.6 than native lenses, so it was back to the Zeiss.

What we do see is our chart reflects MTF charts floating around the internet for this lens. Tons of sharpness in the center, and it falls off as you approach the edges. In the end, the scene is best used as a judge for noise performance on the A77ii, and the center is the best part to compare resolution.

Apr 15, 2015*permalink

otto k

Similar mushy look in lower left part of NX1 low light shot. I can not even begin to understand the logistic nightmare these test must be. Don't laugh, but from what I have seen, the sharpest and most consistent and uniform lens in NX mount is the oldest, smallest and cheapest prime - 30mm pancake. At f/5.6 it's silly sharp even in corners.

Apr 15, 2015permalink

tinetz

Nice, thanks. However, just this day the new firmware arrived, so looking at preliminary results here?
http://www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/english/support/digital/ks2_s.html

Apr 15, 2015permalink

Zvonimir Tosic

It would be interesting to hear all the remarks about you, if people were judging you only by a badly taken passport photo. Which is about as much as these lab shot are — bad 'representative' photo of a camera.
Get some life, people — real life examples show K-S2 is nothing but outstanding camera, like many others are. There really isn't a bad camera out there anymore; all is differentiated in how much you like certain design philosophy. That's all.

Apr 15, 2015*permalink

JPEG is awful in Pentax. RAW is much better off by miles. I also stick to RAW for Sony cos they are known to have aggressive in noise reduction and blotchy.

Apr 15, 2015permalink

Interesting Results, while the RAW looks good, the JPEGS looks out of focus like. Other sites have posted pretty decent sample images which show enough detail and sharpness. Just wondering what the problem is here. Is the NR set to off, Bright setting adjusted for sharpness and was the new Clarity feature used? Would be good to know. Thanks

Apr 15, 2015permalink

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/image-comparison/fullscreen?attr18=daylight&attr13_0=pentax_ks2&attr13_1=fujifilm_xa1&attr13_2=sony_dscrx100m3&attr13_3=samsung_nxmini&attr15_0=jpeg&attr15_1=jpeg&attr15_2=jpeg&attr15_3=jpeg&attr16_0=100&attr16_1=100&attr16_2=125&attr16_3=100&normalization=full&widget=1&x=0.008844165227795383&y=0.31893349603893306

Even @base ISO, the Pentax K-S2 is worse than Fuji's low-end old A1.

Or even worse than 1" Sony P&S, or Sam Mini, even Pentax K-S2 uses fixed FL lens with F5.6.

Can some one find a worse APS-C sensor camera like this? other than K-S2's little brother Pentax K-S1.

Apr 15, 2015permalink

Zvonimir Tosic

It would be interesting to hear all the remarks about you, if people were judging you only by a badly taken passport photo.

Apr 15, 2015*permalink

@Zvonimir Tosic;

If you are not color blindness AND have much below average vision, you need to replace you monitor with a $100 one.

YES?

Apr 15, 2015permalink

iudex

Eagerly waiting for the complete review. The competition already posted the review and it was very positive, enthusiastic about the camera:
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/pentax-k-s2-dslr-review-27269#Verdict
However the reviewer is a Pentax user himself, so I better wait for an impartial review by DPR.

Apr 15, 2015permalink

Don Kiyoti

Another review here:
http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/pentax_ks2_review/

Apr 15, 2015permalink

SimenO1

You are being optimistic about that impartial part. DPR always treated Pentax less favorable then C and N. If there is a slightest negative ting, they will emphasize a lot on that. When C and N have similar negative things, its barely mentioned.

Apr 15, 2015permalink

Iudex, so would you take a nikon or canon users review of nikon or canon less seriously as well?

Apr 15, 2015permalink

iudex

jkhush05: not generally, but many users cannot be fully impartial, sometimes praising own brand (e.g. things, that are not generally better, but they are just acustomed to it). I am not fully impartial myself, anytime I put my hands on cheaper Canons or Nikons, I tend to laugh at no weather sealing, no pentaprism or miss the hyper programs typical for Pentax.

Apr 15, 2015permalink

Going by your own statement, most people who review cameras on sites are Canon and Nikon users, so we should then discredit their work too cause they are biased towards their own systems right? Or is your argument reserved only for someone who owns Pentax?

Looking at it another way, a user knows his gear and can give an objective review, if like people on this site hardly know how to use a Pentax and fumble with settings cause they are so used to only their gear, its not surprising they will never get the best out of the camera.

anyways, i started out at dpr because they used to give impartial reviews, now i go over to imaging resource for that. I just come here to enjoy reading the comments of people who have no idea what they are talking about 😊

Apr 15, 2015permalink

Pentax has issue problem with Red and blue colours in particular that is too strong in saturation or hue is off the chart either way. When I look at cloudy wb it looks too warm but looks much better than the wb awb in the ephotozine sample.

Apr 15, 2015permalink

colors comes down to personal taste, pentax colors work for a lot of people and in case you need to tweak it to taste, there are enough options within jpeg itself if not in raw

Apr 15, 2015permalink

robbo d

I will be surprised if the full review is not the typical affair, which is in the main, pretty good, but sprinkled with the usual un professional negative remarks about Pentax.
The marking system is accurate to within about 10%, where accepting reviewer to reviewer and human factors, they do tend to give Canon's high scores in certain areas.
I would also love to see a Pole done on what the average buyer thinks about video importance in relation to overall decision on purchase or use .....
So not having a touch screen and as good video quality will affect the overall score a little too much for my liking.
Love to be proven wrong and I will continue to say that it's not really worth Dpi reviewing Pentax anymore as they are more so akin to be called DP News .... not DP Review

Apr 16, 2015permalink

The skies colour will change all the time throughout daytime from sunrise to sunset. Even in changing weather can influence on the visibility and the colour of skies due to temperature, moisture etc. Also to do with how far are you from equator and the angle of the sun. It will never always be blue.

Apr 16, 2015*permalink

So you know something about physics, thats good, if thats what you were trying to prove

Apr 16, 2015permalink

Ok I downloaded one of sample of outdoor image from ephotozine and analysis the white balance, indeed the white balance was off. I did correct it and it was much better, much more realistic white balance. Pentax and Sony both are prone to have white balance error due to sensor from Sony. They could have done a lot better by fine tune the error tolerance of white balance. Nikon seems to be doing better job with white balance though so is Canon.

Apr 16, 2015permalink

Good for you if Nikons colors work for you, but it doesnt have to be the only one thats right. I and I am sure many others prefer the color of Pentax. It comes down to user preference. You can say it is not right for you, but saying it is totally wrong is going too far. Personally i find Nikon colors muted, unsaturated and lifeless, for me Pentax colors are richer and more pleasing.

Apr 16, 2015permalink

Im into weather/meteorologist subject since before teen and have understood on weather condition involves with pretty much everything including spectrum of colours in angle of light. I was using colour sample to analysis which result that darker shade of gas tank is RGB 126 124 135 (Bit too blue), on bumper further right of a car which is RGB 124 136 148 which is too blue again. What does that tell you? Blue cast. The white patch on poster on the door is 204 209 215, close enough to perfect. So I can safely correct it on the white patch the door to correct it. And the result looks better overall. Ah well its not only Pentax has issue with WB, same affecting Sony which I owns too.

Apr 16, 2015permalink

Like i said whatever works for you :) i see colors as colors and not numbers. You would know also that there is hardly any perfect color, it either depends on your camera output, your monitor, screens, printer settings, type of paper or surface etc. if you are into calibrating all this to that extent and nikon works for you, great, for most people, shades of colors, its quality and cast is a matter of artistic taste, not a science. Again, its not issue just because its an issue for you

Apr 16, 2015*permalink

chillgreg

Thanks. Still waiting for the Ricoh GR though... :(

Apr 14, 2015permalink

Leandros S

It got a Gold award in July 2013.

I never expected DPR to get around to adding older models to the new test scene, and while I seem to recall being told that I was wrong, history seems to be proving me right. Still prefer the old test scene - the parrot feathers were much more useful than anything here.

Apr 15, 2015permalink

Stefan san

As a GR and E-M10 owner:

Nothing really to see with the GR - to be perfectly honest, the JPEG engine kinda sucks (especially compared to Olympus) - it does not extract as much detail as possible from RAW (Olympus gets extremely close), not a great gamma curve, and the images have a very slight green tint which I can't seem to fix with WB adjustments.

This camera definitely benefits RAW shooters. The RAW files are great.

Lens is great as shown by lens reviews elsewhere.

Apr 15, 2015permalink

Scott Eaton

I'm noticing something RAWs in many cases actually look worse in terms of color than JPEGs. RAWs are actually blowing out colors in some instances while JPEGs are holding detail. Just look at the spools of thread and details on the Beatle's charictures compared to pretty much any other camera - the Pentax K-S2 in RAW mode is blowing out the colors very badly and detail looks sludgy. Maybe some of you should get off your smart phones and use a decent monitor. Why would I want a camera that seems to be using a 10yr old Canon color engine?

Apr 14, 2015permalink

This is the result of the default Pentax embedded profile in the DNG files. As soon as an Adobe Standard profile is available for ACR we will update the files. I am marking them as non-standard for now to indicate that we intend on updating their profiles.

Apr 14, 2015permalink

Eric Hensel

" Maybe some of you should get off your smart phones and use a decent monitor."
I get very tired of being told what to do by some punk on the web.

Apr 15, 2015permalink

turvyT

Jpegs's are worse than Nikon and Sony, about Canon quality. Raw's are in sharpness better than Sony and Canon, similar to Nikon, but color wise, they are best of all. All combined, with those lenses and settings, average jpeg's and best raw's.

Apr 14, 2015*permalink

D1N0

Are you sure you used the right jpeg settings? four stars I believe.

Apr 14, 2015permalink

3 stars is the max on the K-S2

Apr 14, 2015permalink

iudex

Exactly, 3 stars on lower models (same had my K-30) and 4 stars on higher positioned models (K-5 II, K-3).

Apr 15, 2015permalink

RobGx

Thanks!

Apr 14, 2015permalink

pacnwhobbyist

I think the Nikon D5500 is a little better for JPEGs. RAWs are pretty close in terms of resolution though.

Apr 14, 2015permalink

neo_nights

Why does the high ISO JPEG files are bigger than their RAW counterparts?!
(that goes for Pentax, Nikon and Sony)

Apr 14, 2015permalink

The randomness of noise patterns require more data, and less areas are smooth and monotone due to the noise which means less and less of it can be compressed.

Apr 14, 2015permalink

neo_nights

@ Samuel - Thanks!
I guess this is a pretty common thing and I never paid attention before hehehehe!

Apr 15, 2015permalink

http://www.amazon.com/Pentax-Series-16-50mm-Digital-Cameras/product-reviews/B000NO5QV6/ref=cm_cr_dp_qt_hist_one?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addOneStar&showViewpoints=0

The zoom seems has BAD QC issue as always:

Apr 14, 2015*permalink

I take that back, it seems JPEG engine is to be blamed. Using 50mm lens with RAW looks much sharper in Pentax K-3 and as above. Hrm

Apr 14, 2015*permalink

Lan

naththo: I had just come to the same conclusion myself; in JPEG the concentric rings at the corners are noticably softer than the competition; a disadvantage that vanishes in the RAW image.

I was initially wondering whether the ISO100 JPEG sample was slightly shaken, but it's the same at ISO200 - JPEG soft, RAW sharp.

Apr 14, 2015permalink

dagobah

Lan and naththo, interesting observation. I wonder if the "JPEG" setting has the lens geometric corrections applied, and it's the corrections that are decreasing the sharpness (though possibly improving some other parameters, such as barrel distortion).

Apr 14, 2015permalink

Lan

dagobah: It doesn't appear to be distortion correction; or if it is, it's being applied to both images - I just downloaded both the native SooC JPEG and the ACR JPEG, and the distortion is the same in both.

The ACR JPEG shows jaggies that are not in the SooC JPEG. Also the colour resolution appears better in the ACR JPEG. It looks like there's some minor NR being applied to the SooC JPEG.

I also prefer the colours from the ACR conversion, as the edges are better defined. Which I guess clinches it; it's NR!

Apr 14, 2015permalink

Don Kiyoti

Mike FL, what is the point of this comment and what does it have to do with this article? You choose to show only the 1-star, negative reviews. Why not the 36 out of 52 reviews with 4 or 5 stars?

Apr 15, 2015permalink

@Don Kiyoti;

What's your point?! You are just one of kind of people who "never get it".

Do you?

Yes?

Apr 15, 2015*permalink

Thats right Mike, one of those lens I looked at review in Amazon is not good by many angry customer. So it tells me its the quality control problem. The lens above used for studio sample is much better with fixed 50mm, its very sharp in RAW.

Apr 15, 2015permalink

@ Mike FL, we get it, you are a troll who likes to talk about stuff you have no experience with, you love to surf the net with the intention of finding stuff only which support your bias towards a product. Keep it up!

Apr 15, 2015permalink

@jkhush05;

I think you made that statement after inspecting the DPR LAB Testing results.

If so, I'm SO sorry to see you have very poor vision AND color blindness.

Get a pair of glasses for your poor vision, but I do not know what to do with your color blindness.

Again, sorry for your POOR eyes.

Apr 15, 2015*permalink

Please stop being ridiculous people! This is about sample images as above in studio comparison, please stick to this topic. You have insulted Mike so badly. Clearly Mike hit you back. So think twice before making a rather negative post.

Apr 15, 2015permalink

Alex Sarbu

naththo, check his posting/comments history before complaining that people are insulting him.
By the way, DPReview used the D FA 50mm f/2.8 macro, which is optically excellent - not the DA* 16-50 f/2.8. How is this "about sample images as above"?

Apr 15, 2015permalink

Lol Mike, is that the best you got, a school boy rant, whats next? Gonna call mommy and daddy? Grow up dude! And actually use the gear before spewing nonsense. But then again free speech right, yup even you can say whatever you want, no matter how infantile it is 😊

Apr 15, 2015*permalink

Nattho you have totally lost the plot and i have no idea how you are related to Mike, hit back eh, lmao 😄 i dont go around insulting prople or gear, i stand up for a brand i love because i use it, and i know its good and i am fed up of some smartass know it alls who go around repeating rubbish from biased sites with no first hand experience or respect for others brands as if mocking other brands will make you look better. If you want respect, you need to give respect. I can find so many things in other brands that's laughable but i do not go around making fun of them. But yes i do stand up for the gear i use.

I dont think calling a troll a troll is an insult, its stating the obvious. He was acting like one so i called him a troll. Sample images or full review, if you say irrelevant stuff aimed at dissing a brand, thats a troll in my book

Apr 15, 2015*permalink

@jkhush05;

Again I'm so sorry to see no one takes care of you (your poor eye).

Tell your mommy/daddy that you need to see an eye doctor.

Will you?

Apr 15, 2015permalink

Aww. Lil mike is hurt and cant think of another sentence 😄 lol try harder next time 😄

Forget vision, when you learn that real photography is about more than badly handled sample images in a lab, we can talk about resolution and sharpness and maybe even photography 😄😄

Apr 15, 2015*permalink

@jkhush05;

Look the bright side of your POOR eyes, it may save you some $$$ b/c you do not need to 4K cam, as well as 4K TV.

Forget about 8K TV you do not need it.

From what you can see from LAB Testing, you are color blindness at least, but do you see the difference between VGA and HD?

Tell us, it's OK.

Yes?

Apr 15, 2015permalink

😄😄 is that how you humor yourself? Sounds like you are insecure about your own vision 😉

Once you manage to get over your obsession with this sample image, maybe you can understand that this is isnt a very well done job to begin with. Other sites have done better jobs of samples and real world images (yes such a thing exists you know) 😄

Till you understand it even 8k will be of no use to you,

PS i really like this game, but i am getting tired of your immaturity and for the sake of others on this site, i am not going to comment anymore on your tantrums here 😊 besides what else are you gonna say other than ' oo yoour pooor eyes boo hoo '.

But i know you will comment anyways, so please go ahead 😄

Apr 15, 2015*permalink