[rawr]

The above image is an example of exceedingly poor noise reduction

Why do people always forget that they are talking about ISO 6400 images, at close to 100% ...

[Deedee]

Definitely not me. I may be obsessive, but not that obsessive.

I somehow fail to believe you, here is the video...

You Tube

You Tube

It is EXACTLY the same setup. So yes You are the guy....

[robgo2]

The above image is an example of exceedingly poor noise reduction, which is why the red cloth shows so much detail. It's easy to accomplish this, if you choose to leave the noise largely untouched, in which case the choice of software is immaterial. I have yet to see anyone post a clean example with good retention of detail. Perhaps DxO 9's Prime NR can do the trick, but it does not yet support the K-3. I might give it a try on a K-5 sample from IR.

Rob

Below are 100% crops of IR's ISO 6400 raw samples from the K-5II. The first was rendered with Photo Ninja/Noise Ninja 4 and the second with DxO 9/Prime NR. In both cases, the programs' default settings were used except for noise reduction, in which case I sought to achieve a balance between noise removal and detail retention. Unfortunately, the web jpegs do not do justice to what I see on my monitor. My take is that the DxO file is cleaner, but blotchier, and shows less detail, especially in the red cloth. The Photo Ninja file has a fine, even grain pattern and more detail. It is also brighter, which is a function of PN's superior default settings. In any event, it should be pointed out that the K-5II has significantly less noise than the K-3, and thus requires less aggressive NR. Also, I think this removes any doubt about Pentax DSLRs generally being unable to render detail in bright red subjects. The results are actually pretty decent for ISO 6400. I will continue to work on the K-3 sample and hope for something better than what I have gotten previously.

Again: Top--Photo Ninja/Noise Ninja 4
Bottom--DxO 9/Prime NR

Rob

[wahid_satu]

The results are actually pretty decent for ISO 6400. I will continue to work on the K-3 sample and hope for something better than what I have gotten previously.

Glad you've finally worked it out. In my own comparisons of IR raws (some posted here sometime ago) at 6400 the red cloth does look better on the K-52 compared to the K-3, the D7100 and the 70D. It is even almost as good as the 5D3! The K-3 is slightly less detailed than the D7100 and the 70D. However, since both the D7100 and 70D images are also slightly underexposed compared to the Pentaxes-indicating slightly different actual ISO sensitivity-I would say that against 20MP+ APS-Cs the K-3 is on par regarding the red color rendering performance.

[robgo2]

OK, I have been working some more (wasting time?) on the K-3 ISO 6400 sample and have come up with a reasonably good result using Photo Ninja/Noise Ninja 4. At 100%, it is not totally smooth/clean, but at normal viewing size, it is quite acceptable with a pleasing film grain look. For me, this is one of the strengths of Noise Ninja 4. The trick was to set color noise reduction as low as possible, i.e. eliminate blobs of yellow and purple but no more. Below is the 100% crop.

Rob

[robgo2]

I somehow fail to believe you, here is the video...

Nikon D800E vs Pentax K5 II Resolution Test part 1 - YouTube

It is EXACTLY the same setup. So yes You are the guy....

I'm going to take this a joke. HA HA!

But now you have piqued my interest, so I will have to watch the video.

Rob