Theres nothing wrong with the camera,
The histogram is simply unbalanced and the dynamic range too small, the histograms show it all.
I have played with both images for less than 10 seconds each, using levels to spread the histogram more fully, Lifted the digital haze using unsharp mask and lifted the contrast by a tiny amount. Im seeing brilliance and pop in these images.
This was in no way an image optimisation and is much less than I do for most of my images. It was just a quick and dirty test.
Oldbayrunner has it right, the images are simply not optimised for the conditions you were in.
IMO point and shoots are configured to deliver good looking images out of the camera so you can print immediately, perfect for the casual shooter, a dSLR is not so configured, the brightness and contrast are generally lower enabling more post processing latitude and options for a superior image.
I think this is at the root of your dissatisfaction.
Last edited by Imageman; 08-03-2014 at 09:19 PM.