new K-X review + High ISO tests

moving_comfort said:

My guess is that Pentax is adopting the Nikon approach to jpeg processing with this sensor, a strategy that has helped sell a lot of D90s. Kudos to them for that if that's the case.

Click to expand...

I think you've hit the main point, that it's the default NR strength more than anything that's at play here. Set it to strong and everyone one goes "ooo ... low noise!" set it to weak or off and everyone complains about the high ISO performance.

Fortunately the settings are fine-tunable (not just on-off anymore) in most cameras so it's a non-issue for the informed.

That was a strange review. Some really odd comments that make you wonder if the reviewer knows anything about cameras at all:

"On board 12bit A/D conversion has also been used for speedier transfers."

and

"the new PRIME (Pentax Real Image Engine) II processor has been used in the new camera meaning the larger file sizes of the higher resolution can be downloaded quicker"

really, what planet again?

Richard Murdey said:

That was a strange review. Some really odd comments that make you wonder if the reviewer knows anything about cameras at all:

"On board 12bit A/D conversion has also been used for speedier transfers."

and

"the new PRIME (Pentax Real Image Engine) II processor has been used in the new camera meaning the larger file sizes of the higher resolution can be downloaded quicker"

really, what planet again?

Click to expand...

ya...I wonder if he meant "transferred quicker", as in a quicker transfer and processing to the memory card?

Hey I found some more photos on Flicr that have different ISO settings and he was using the Kx, some very nice shots. It does not say if they are JPEG or RAW, but I am assuming the are jpeg.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29738823@N02/sets/72157622410764903/

mead76 said:

Hey I found some more photos on Flicr that have different ISO settings and he was using the Kx, some very nice shots. It does not say if they are JPEG or RAW, but I am assuming the are jpeg.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29738823@N02/sets/72157622410764903/

Click to expand...

ISO 3200 looks pretty good:

moving_comfort said:

I knew this would happen. That's the updated version of the D90's sensor, the current aps-c high-iso leader (at least in jpeg.)

My guess is that Pentax is adopting the Nikon approach to jpeg processing with this sensor, a strategy that has helped sell a lot of D90s. Kudos to them for that if that's the case.

I'm sure raw will not dissapoint either. Right now I'd highly recommend the K-X to anyone starting out with DSLRs, something I wouldn't have done with the K-M.

Click to expand...

I am considering the K-x as my second/light-weight dSLR. The body is reasonably priced at ~$600, good shooting speed @ 4.7fps and the ISO performance looks really good. My question is, how does noise performance in JPEG differ from RAW? One should be able to take a RAW image and produce the same noise reduction in software as the camera does on-board. Right? Or, am I missing something?

Also, any insights into how it's siblings perform in shooting birds/sports with respect to AF/servo AF?

Thanks!

new processor/firmware rocks[in K-x].

hope we see at least minor updates to K-m firmware too[flash control, AF artefacts and etc].

sj2 said:

moving_comfort said:

I knew this would happen. That's the updated version of the D90's sensor, the current aps-c high-iso leader (at least in jpeg.)

My guess is that Pentax is adopting the Nikon approach to jpeg processing with this sensor, a strategy that has helped sell a lot of D90s. Kudos to them for that if that's the case.

I'm sure raw will not dissapoint either. Right now I'd highly recommend the K-X to anyone starting out with DSLRs, something I wouldn't have done with the K-M.

Click to expand...

I am considering the K-x as my second/light-weight dSLR. The body is reasonably priced at ~$600, good shooting speed @ 4.7fps and the ISO performance looks really good. My question is, how does noise performance in JPEG differ from RAW? One should be able to take a RAW image and produce the same noise reduction in software as the camera does on-board. Right? Or, am I missing something?

Click to expand...

.

Yes - in fact, once you learn how to optimally apply NR, you should be able to get even better results on raw-converted images.

It's just that up until now (maybe, we'll have to wait for formal reviews on the iso performance) Pentax has lagged behind Nikon and probably Canon in the NR implementation in-camera - something which gave Nikon the 'best low-light camera' tag in a lot of people's minds. If the K-X has caught up, Nikon loses that particular advantage.