Originally posted by BigMackCam Please post your results, or at least your opinions? @MJKoski has what I believe are valid concerns around the noise reduction on slightly-out-of-focus detail. I don't consider the issue to be as bad as he does, but it's a subjective assessment. I think the effect is there, even if (in my view) it's quite minor. It would be interesting to see if it affects your star photos...
I've been following the various threads with @MJKoski - in particular the white dot issue. His work and opinions have been very helpful to me. I do ambient low light night landscapes. With that I have been wavering on if I should upgrade to the mkII or just stay with the K1. A bird in the hand is worth how much in the bush. I did have some concern with DPR's findings - I just read them the other day, after getting back from Alaska for a couple of weeks. I saw the forum's comparison of the K1 vs mkII and there is a slightly better difference. I think it was you, who characterized it as removing a veil.
I posted this image previously, but I'll post it again as a place holder. I drove over an hour to this site, but there was a cowboy who had his truck and fifth wheel horse trailer right where I usually park. I needed to walk around his campsite to get to where I wanted to shoot from (essentially right at the edge of his campsite). After driving out I just wanted to get a few test shots and slide on out with out waking anyone up or spooking his horses.
- At the end of January, the day after I received my new 15-30/f2.8 - I scooted out to test it at Oh dark hundred (0400) in the morning (right after the moon set and right before astro twilight). This is from the K1, DFA 15-30/f2.8 @ f2.8, ISO 800, 2 minutes. It's a stitch of 4 frames. No moon.
There is some noise in it. When you are out in the dark, no moon, just what ever ambient light there is from the stars, and perhaps some (reflected) lights 5, 40 and 60 miles away. You are going to get some noise - there is just no way around it. I was hoping someone would do some testing across the two bodies in pretty dark conditions (long exposures - essentially bringing out the noise at reasonably low ISOs).
I'll see what I get tonight.