Pentax K20D vs Nikon D700 at The Online Photographer

cateto · 12-01-2008, 05:04 AM

The Online Photographer is a reference site, this is no news for anybody here I guess.

Well, in their last entries, they are trying the Nikon D700; and in those comments, there is a very interesting and meaningful comparison between the Pentax K20D and the Nikon D700. And a surprising one, BTW.

No spoils here: just go there if you are interested.

The Nikon D700: the new 400

High ISO vs. Image Stabilization

Besides, Mike Johnston (owner of The Online Photographer) stated that he's about to post his last word on the K20D. Hence: stay tuned!

krs · 12-01-2008, 02:01 PM

An interesting read - thanks for posting!

*Jonson PL* · 12-01-2008, 02:28 PM

Thanks, very impressive. The K20 sure handles well.

*benjikan* · 12-01-2008, 04:54 PM

Being that I generally shoot at 100 iso and rarely at 400, the quality of the K20D (as I said in an earlier post) is as good as the Canon 1DS Mkll.

Ben

jsherman999 · 12-01-2008, 09:31 PM

Originally Posted by benjikan

Being that I generally shoot at 100 iso and rarely at 400, the quality of the K20D (as I said in an earlier post) is as good as the Canon 1DS Mkll.

Ben

The following quote from that article agrees with what you've been saying since day-1 regarding the K20D, Ben:

Ultimately, I suspect the image quality (IQ) of the K20D is better than that of the Nikon D700, as I shall try to demonstrate in due course. The Pentax has somewhat higher resolution and better detail; it has slightly tastier, richer color than I've so far eked out of the Nikon. But that's only if you're able to use the K20D within its limitations—meaning, at normal sensitivities. That's a big "if," turns out. Where the D700 just obliterates the K20D—and every other digital camera I've ever used, save the D3—is at high ISO's.

They go on to say at ISO 1600, 3200 and 6400, the Nikon D700 pulls away from everything else, But at ISO 800 and less the K20D is actually a tad better.

Nice.

.

*Gus* · 12-01-2008, 10:00 PM

Thank for you this post. The IS vs high ISO dilemma is exactly what kept me from crossing over to Nikon and buying a system that would be 4 times as expensive. While the D700 is surely a fantastic camera, and IS surely can't freeze motion, I still couldn't justify the cost for such a narrow advantage in speed.

I winded up upgrading from the K10D to the K20D for a very marginal difference in cost.

cpopham · 12-01-2008, 10:13 PM

Originally Posted by Gus

and IS surely can't freeze motion

And while it can't, it CAN do something high ISO can't - help when using a slower shutter speed to intentionally blur a moving object while keeping the scene sharp.

At exactly the most common usage scenario though.

vitalsax · 12-01-2008, 11:01 PM

I did a comparison with the k20d against all FFs and the k20d wins all the times.

here's the D700 vs k20d on the right side

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3286/...74311fe0_o.jpg

vic barper.

*Gus* · 12-01-2008, 11:06 PM

I'm guessing the K20D is the one on the left?

Edit: I messed up, again. It's the other left, the one on the right, right?

lurchlarson · 12-01-2008, 11:08 PM

That's why I'm saving my $. As soon as I can afford it (college is expensive) I'm getting myself one. Granted, by the time I've saved up the money for a k20 they'll prolly be on the k40...

.

I'm happy with the ME Super for now.

vitalsax · 12-01-2008, 11:20 PM

Originally Posted by Gus

I'm guessing the K20D is the one on the left?

Edit: I messed up, again. It's the other left, the one on the right, right?

k20d is the one on the right side( the one with more detail

*Gus* · 12-01-2008, 11:39 PM

Interesting difference. Of course, this could very well be lens dependent, but still impressive.

cateto · 12-02-2008, 02:04 AM

What I find rather shocking is that someone like Mike (whose prestige in the world of photography is out of discussion) states such a "sacrilege" (for some people) as that the image quality of the K20D outperforms that of D700 up to ISO 800.

It seems that the real connoisseurs are paying attention to the approach used by Pentax, instead of automatically buying the (supposedly) always best quality in canikons. Not bad.

Duplo · 12-02-2008, 07:31 PM

Originally Posted by vitalsax

I did a comparison with the k20d against all FFs and the k20d wins all the times.

here's the D700 vs k20d on the right side

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3286/...74311fe0_o.jpg

vic barper.

How did you process the images, from RAW or in camera jpg?

Originally Posted by cateto

The Online Photographer is a reference site, this is no news for anybody here I guess.

Well, in their last entries, they are trying the Nikon D700; and in those comments, there is a very interesting and meaningful comparison between the Pentax K20D and the Nikon D700. And a surprising one, BTW.

No spoils here: just go there if you are interested.

The Nikon D700: the new 400

High ISO vs. Image Stabilization

Besides, Mike Johnston (owner of The Online Photographer) stated that he's about to post his last word on the K20D. Hence: stay tuned!

Yes and another very reliable guy from LL stated that his G10 equaled his hassy 39MP digital back...

Does that mean the G10 is better than the K20D when used within its performance window?

:-)

mattdm · 12-02-2008, 07:57 PM

T.O.P. is a photography site, not a gear guide or number-crunching exercise. It rarely stoops to this pixel-peeping kind of thing, so in a way it's more interesting than average when they do.

The point of the exercise isn't really to compare the two camera bodies, but to answer the question: does low-noise high ISO sensitivity trump shake reduction?