Just Posted: Pentax K-30 resolution and dynamic range test samples: Digital Photography Review

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Parliament

Any plans on posting a full review?

Oct 10, 2012permalink

Professor999

Just saw this field test of the K30 for anyone who may be interested,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RMfSRpEASg&feature=relmfu

Sep 10, 2012*permalink

waxwaine

I guess the next comparizon between them will be how they work under the shower, near a volcano or with manual lenses?

Sep 8, 2012*permalink

waxwaine

No sense to me this comparizon since it is like compare the deep of the grip or the height of both flashes, concluding: "Yeah, they are almost the same so go for Canon because everyody does, so has to be better ".
On Digital Photography Review site, the K-30 will suffer similar lucky than the revolutionary(ignored) Pentax Q?
Don't bother, I already order one.

Sep 8, 2012permalink

RienOnVanIsle

The Sony A55 is an obsolete model. How does it compare to the current A57?

Sep 7, 2012permalink

Simon97

Good detail retention at high ISO without being too noisy. Probably as good as it gets at this price point.

I still think Pentax needs a more entry level model like Canon, Nikon and Sony. One can purchase a kit for $500 these days at any department store. The entry model is a gateway into a system for many folks.

Sep 7, 2012permalink

Gesture

Exactly. I'm sure this is a great camera but $700-1,000 is a lot of money. But Pentax only wants $400 for the 18-135mm lens. Right now, there is only 1 OVF model in the lineup.

Sep 7, 2012permalink

Jonathan Lee

hum... how many would buy their lens whom buy a $400 cam? don't get me wrong, their lenses are very good to excellent, except the price... :(

Sep 8, 2012permalink

Carlos Henrique

When I decided to enter the DSLR world I almost went for Pentax K-5. It has everything I wanted in a camera at that moment. However, I noticed that Pentax lenses had a huge price increase lately so I gave up and went for another system.

Sep 8, 2012permalink

peevee1

For some reason K-30 is not quite to the standard of K-5, although the sensor is apparently the same.

Sep 7, 2012permalink

pixelsmithy

It is a similar sensor, although apparently not the SAME sensor as the K-5. Also, the K-30 only does 12-bit RAW as opposed to the K-5 with 14-bit RAW. More data to work with, which you see especially in the superior dynamic range of the K-5.

Sep 7, 2012permalink

LensBeginner

@ robbo d
Let's just hope that they don't limit themselves to that rumored K5MkII...
I'm itching to see what aces they have in their sleeves...

Sep 7, 2012*permalink

robbo d

Whilst I find the rolling review disjointed and disappointing, is it playing into Pentax hands ?
At least its k30 time every couple of weeks.
Soon the Canikon fanboys will be claiming dpr is on Pentax payroll......Lol. Ironic?
Will be an interesting time after photokina with so many products coming onto the market.

Sep 7, 2012permalink

pentaxination

yawn.

Sep 7, 2012permalink

Barney Britton

The 'rolling review' is intended to do two things, primarily. Firstly, to To fill the (frustrating, we know) gap between preview and review, so you're not waiting around for anything beyond our first impressions.

Secondly, to offer a degree of transparency - we are working on your pet camera. There is a review on the way.

Sep 7, 2012permalink

fisherman_lol

I hope you do the same thing to Canikon too. But I doubt it since Canikon are the favorite of this website. By the time the full review of this camera if at all comes out it will be obsolet.

Sep 7, 2012*permalink

robbo d

@Barney
I thought my post added a little light hearted humour to balance out the criticism of some Pentax die hards who think yr on Canons payroll.
The K30 isn't my pet camera, but I do find the response time compared to other major dslr reviews more than a little odd.
I happen to think the 650d review was a good read,especially as it all came at once.
The K30 is significant model as the 650d, so I guess some have a right to be suspicous of your motives, despite their blinkered thinking. The K5 reviewed as one of the highest scores ever, so I am still believing in a balanced viewpoint.

Sep 8, 2012permalink

Heie2

I find the 3 months it is taking to review this camera and the ensuing "trickle" of sections within a complete review (which gives none of these "installments" any substance and context) insulting - how many cameras have you guys reviewed in the mean time?

DPReview - Fair and Balanced, right?

Sep 7, 2012permalink

LKJ

I wouldn't put up with it. You should demand satisfaction.

Sep 7, 2012permalink

GeorgeZ

Yep, a ton of previews and samples, many recent reviews are done by Jeff Keller- one has to wonder (again).

Sep 7, 2012permalink

Rachotilko

Compared to previous years, the quantity (& partly quality) of DPR's reviews has dropped recently.

They have probably cut costs, and therefore lack the competence and/or productivity of staff.

Sep 7, 2012permalink

senn_b

Nikon D3200: announced April 19, 2012; reviewed July 2012
Canon EOS 650D : announced June 8, 2012; reviewed Aug 2012
Pentax K30D: announced May 21, 2012; still not reviewed at September 7, 2012

Sep 7, 2012*permalink

ET2

Well May isn't that bad. They never reviewed A57 that was released back in March.

Sep 7, 2012permalink

nenoanen

Yeah, its been 5 months now. The A57 is never gonna get reviewed here I fear. Too bad, it's a damn fine camera for its price. :(

Sep 7, 2012permalink

pentaxination

yet another pointless reply.

Sep 7, 2012permalink

Digital Suicide

> senn_b
Not correct statement. I believe DPR are not reviewing pre-production models.
So, time should be counted from when it's AVAILABLE to buy - not from when it was announced.

Sep 7, 2012*permalink

HDF2

What the hell is wrong with you people? I know that your mommies made you feel like the center of the universe and that me, me, me is all you understand.

DPReview is a privately owned entity that charges you nothing for the privilege of reading their content. There are hundreds of cameras that come out each year and it is simply financially impossible to review all of them with any level of detail.

They make decisions to review cameras based on the criteria they deem most reasonable and provide that information for us to enjoy (or not). If you don't find your personal favorite here, tough luck.

I'm sick of all you whiners who feel entitled to have your toy reviewed for free and then moan about it if isn't, or whine about it when DP's opinion doesn't match your own.

Go back to mommy who will tell you all is well in the world and that you are the most handsome and smartest one in the room - and leave the rest of us who appreciate what DPR does the hell alone.

Sep 7, 2012permalink

gillamoto

don't forget 645D, announced sept 2010 and still not reviewed at this time. only a brief preview posted months ago..

Sep 7, 2012permalink

Barney Britton

These arguments are annoying, and I'd rather divert the effort required into addressing them into doing something more constructive but for the record... we are a small team. But we're bigger than we've ever been before. Costs have not been cut and nor has the quality of our product.

Reviews take a long time, because we do it right. So we have to prioritise what we review, and when. We have to have a schedule and inevitably, people get pissy if their camera/brand ends up being kicked down the road a little way. Sorry - it happens.

Our best-laid plans can get changed dramatically, often virtually overnight, by new product releases. You know all those previews? Yeah.

So why aren't we reviewing more cameras? Well, it turns out that WE ARE. We've published 30 camera reviews this year (if my quick count-up is accurate) which is more than ever before in the same time period.

You're welcome. Let me know if you want your money back.

Sep 7, 2012*permalink

In hydraulis

@nenoanen,

If we count from announcement dates:

K-30 announced 21st May.
21st June - 1 month post-announcement.
21st July - 2 months post-announcement.
21st August - 3 months post-announcement.
21st September - 4 months post-announcement. But we're not there yet.

So, at present, we're at 3.5 months or so since the K-30 was announced. Not 5. You lose! Good-day sir!

EDIT: I can't believe it. Really. You can't count to five? You have fingers, right?

Sep 8, 2012*permalink

Edmond Leung

One of the purposes for bigger sensor and bigger pixel size is achieving wider dynamic range. I'm wondering if the dynamic range of K-30 is that, comparatively, narrow... Do we need to carry such a bulky DSLR?

Sep 7, 2012permalink

Philip Goh

These graphs are for JPEGs. If wide dynamic range is important to a scene you're shooting, you'll be shooting RAW. Shooting RAW is where you get to leverage the sensor in cameras like the K-5, K-30 and D7000.

If you're content with JPEGs, you could argue that there is no need for a bulky DSLR.

Sep 7, 2012permalink

ET2

Sorry but this isn't true. A bigger sensor will give you better image quality, regardless if you are raw or jpeg shooter.

Sep 7, 2012permalink

Philip Goh

Way to miss the point. If you limit yourself to JPEG, you're going to get roughly 8 stops of dynamic range. You might get a bit more due to the curves applied by the camera's JPEG engine, but the 8 stops comes from the 8 bits per colour channel of the resulting JPEG. This is regardless of sensor size.

Point is, if you want to see the full dynamic range these new sensors are capable off then you need to shoot RAW.

Sep 7, 2012permalink

Edmond Leung

If we follow your logic, do you mean this camera has a poor JPEG engine?
If it is necessary to shot RAW in order to get the JPEG image closer to its competitors ... then it really wastes a lot of time.
Why not buy a camera with better JPEG engine?

Sep 7, 2012permalink

Philip Goh

How will the camera know what sort of curves to apply? How will it know what sort of look you're attempting to achieve? The best setting on the K-30 that maximizes highlights and shadows is the last option in the dropdown, "Highlight On - Shadow High", but it's never going to give you a file that matches the RAW conversion of someone who has a clue.

Let's play a silly game. On the dynamic range tool, replace the Nikon with the Canon 5D Mk III and the Sony with the Canon Powershot S100. Enable "Highlight On- Shadow High" on the K-30 and have "HTP On" for the 650D and 5D Mk III. For the S100, enable DR400.

Notice how similar those graphs are? Notice how "well" the S100 is doing despite having a sensor that is a small fraction the size of the 5D Mk III?

If you're concerned about image quality and all those graphs, shoot RAW. If you want to know what the dynamic range of the camera is like when shooting RAW, look at DXOMark.

Sep 7, 2012permalink

pentaxination

No, Edmund, you should not get one. Use your cell phone.

Sep 7, 2012permalink

zkz5

"but the 8 stops comes from the 8 bits per colour channel of the resulting JPEG. This is regardless of sensor size."

You can express any dynamic range at all with 8 bits per channel. You can do it with only 1 bit for that matter. Here's a way to encode 20 stops of dynamic range in only 1 bit: 0 = some arbitrary level of brightness; 1 = a level of brightness 2^20 brither than it.

If you've ever looked at an HDR image on the web, those are 8 bit JPEGs that express more than 8 stops of DR.

Sep 7, 2012*permalink

Rmano

IMHO, dynamic range means nothing if you do not define what the lower limit of noise is. If the minimum significative variation you can appreciate over noise is, say, 1, than having 8 bit (256 values) gives you 8 stops. But if the lower 3 bits are noise - think a small sensor camera at high ISO - then the minimum significative variation is 8 and you have 5 stop of dynamic range.

Sep 7, 2012permalink

gl2k

Maybe this is what Pentax cams are famous for. I'd guess that no other cam would survive this treatment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo61t5fH6Qw

Sep 7, 2012permalink

LKJ

"no other cam"?

Right.

Sep 7, 2012permalink

Heie2

Other cameras can - but not for the same price point as what Pentax offers.

Sep 7, 2012permalink

Edmond Leung

The dynamic range of K-30 looks bad when compared with others.

Sep 7, 2012permalink

Zvonimir Tosic

Graphs are probably for JPEG. However, take a better look at DXO mark. K5 was amazing and best performing APS-C camera for quite a while, and K30 is even better in sensor department.

Sep 7, 2012permalink

pixelsmithy

Last time I looked (yesterday) Dx0Mark had not evaluated the K-30 yet. Has that changed? *LOOKS* Nope, all they have is specs. K-30 is 12 bit and K-5 is 14 bit. No way is the K-30 going to surpass the K-5.

Sep 7, 2012*permalink

iudex

Nice that you put K-30 next to it´s real peers (not 60D& Co. like in the studio samples).

Sep 7, 2012permalink

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