Trust only your own eyes:
Instead of waiting for anybody else (either biased or as much amateur as yourself), you should judge your maximum in practise/reality usable dynamic range yourself. And it is easy.
Just use the software at hand with some synthetic forcing.
Raws download:
Pentax K-1, ISO 100:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/image-comparison/download-image?s3Key=a603629a71f044f988ac7e56e9bc5088.dng
Nikon D800E, ISO 100:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/image-comparison/download-image?s3Key=5d257f5854094401834d4c2931e350de.nef
Nikon D810, ISO 64:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/image-comparison/download-image?s3Key=510425d005ed4ed8809e3eeda1987ca7.nef
Canon 5DSR, ISO 100:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/image-comparison/download-image?s3Key=9ac17c472e5541b0a4e2960f540ba818.cr2 Then: - Load into Lightroom.
- set the default software color noise reduction for Canon and Nikon to zero (the Pentax DNG is automatically this way)
- All four images set
- exposure +5
- depths +100
- This will inevitably force noise even into ISO 100 shots. Now zoom into 1:1 viewing
- center view on the three bottles at the bottom, especially the shadows between the bottles
Result: - Predictably, the Canon is .. well ...
- D800E noise is a small bit coarser and slightly stronger, shows a little more chunky color noise as K-1. Still of course on a very high level already.
- Between the D810 (ISO 64) and K-1 (ISO 100) shots there is no difference
Side note:
Using the same settings the brightness of the exact same exposure parameters seems to be off a little as the D810 in LR shows a lot more blown highlights (no headroom left) than the K-1. Reducing the EC from +5 to +4.5 makes it look more similar.
This is hinting at the two cameras actually being virtually identical with real ISO rather than advertised lowest ISO.
Maybe another hint at using the same sensor (but who cares if the results are same or better
)?
Using the term "worse" on this high level is not really warranted as they all perform on an astoundingly great level and are quite ISOless at least in the lower ISO area.
The D810 has no better maximum dynamic range than the K-1 at each lowest ISO.
But if you want to go really, really pixelpeeing, the
Pentax K-1 could even be considered the winner (I don't think that has any relevance for any actual photography though, just for spec sheet junkies).
This falls well into place with the
high ISO performance, where the K-1 wins over the D810 with just this tiny bit (again probably not real life relevant) of advantage. See for yourself here:
Studio shot comparison: Digital Photography Review
A job well, done Pentax.
The K-1 seems to be up there with the best for any shooter who wants to max out their dynamic range capabilities, such as landscape photographers who not always shoot in the perfect optimal lighting situations and now and then have to pull up shadows, or use fast lenses wide open with heaving vignetting where vignetting correction alone pushes shadows in the corners up by +3-3.5 EV and any actual general exposure adjustments come on top of that (that's what happens on the Sigma 35 Art with its severe vignetting wide open:
Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Lens Vignetting).
Last edited by beholder3; 05-08-2016 at 02:55 AM.
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