With the introduction of the new 14mp Pentax coming out I think that it's about the best time to post a comparison with my 6mp Pentax K100D and my 14mp Sigma SD14.

I modified a Pentax M-Mount 50mm f2 lens to fit both cameras, by removing the aperture leaver and the plastic ring around it.
Here's the before picture

after

This mod also allows you to use AV with the K, and M mount lenses on a Pentax camera.
Which is what I did with this test.

Everything was shot on the same tripod, without moving it, ISO 200, F8, and pop-up flash. In AV making my life a little easier.

The raw files were saved as JPG, without any processing, and then re-sized to 800 pixels (posted size), or 2500 pixels, pixel peering size.

K100

for the pixel peepers

SD14

for the pixel peepers

K100

for the pixel peepers

SD14

for the peepers

I don't think that I can possibly make the test more fair, at this time.

I'll be watching my band width, and might remove the large images some time next month if it looks like I might exceed it.

Just a quick edit, the Sigma has a crop factor of 1.7, vs the Pentax 1.5
This is why they appear a little larger

[Sailor]

Thanks, Stu. A useful real-world comparison, which once again demonstrates that effects of going from 6-10 to 12-14 mp are pretty subtle under most circumstances, since doubling resolution requires quadrupling the number of mp. My bleary old eyes'll not register the difference, I'm sure. However, how the new sensor handles noise is another issue - if it beats my DS2 and K10D in this regard, I may be tempted by a K20D or its inevitable successor.

Jer

[little laker]

I'll do a couple of natural light tests today. And post them tonight some time, in a new thread.

Hey Little Laker - How do you like the Bogen 3047 tilt/pan head?

Mines really the Manfrotto #029 MKR version Tom, and I love it.
I think that they are pretty well the same thing.

The only thing that I don't like at times is the weight of it, while going for hikes. I usually use a Walmart Special Samsonite for that.

It easily handles my Mamiya 645 film camera.

[davemdsn]

Stu, either way the Foveon sensor is pretty cool technology, making it all the more interesting that the K100 holds up so well against it. Can't wait to see more images. Yay Pentax!

[egordon99]

Stu - You do realize that when you use the pop-up flash with an M-lens, the flash always fires at FULL power, so you'd have to do some guide number/distance calculations to determine what f-stop/ISO to use at different distances. That's why the shot of the P&S is quite overexposed. I'm with d.bradley, can't really tell anything from this test.

Since you're using a tripod and static subjects, how about just take shots without flash?

[little laker]

egordon, removing the aperture leaver like that allows you to use AV. Which is the setting that I was shooting in. So the camera was metering it's self.

I set the other settings to zero.

I wanted a quick and simple test which anyone could try on their own, with identical lenses. Which in my opinion is where the image quality comes from.

I could have easily altered one cameras settings or another with just the simple press of a button, but that wouldn't be fair.

I do have a couple of natural light pic's from earlier today, which I still have to look at.
There was at least the same amount of difference between them, however I'll process them a little this time, so the exposures look similar.

Plus I'll be setting up a light, and try taking some pic's of a basket with tomorrows pasta sauce ingredients in it.
If the Sigma's colours are as good as they claim the Pentax will have troubles in this test

[egordon99]

I'm not disputing that the shots were actually taken at f/8, but the camera doesn't know WHAT f-stop is being used, so P-TTL doesn't work. As such, the built-in flash will always fire at full power. As you were fairly close to the objects, you got some overexposure. I think if you stopped down to f/11, the Pentax shots would have been exposed better.