Originally posted by justtakingpics Can you tell the difference with the eye? I don't really need video so if they are pretty close I could get the K20D. Thanks.
They are pretty close. The Samsung sensor is _essentially_ the same in the two cameras, so in principle the IQ is the same.
If/when you buy the K20D, there are some things you could try to check for the particular camera. Some owners have complained about the sensor exhibiting reticular noise on high ISO. Some owners also found that there was a band on the left side of the frame that would exhibit more noise than the rest of the image. RiceHigh has an
article referring to some posts here on the issue. I've seen it mentioned elsewhere too, but can't find the link at the moment.
My K20D exhibited both faults to some degree, but I didn't feel hampered by it. I may have had a good sample, or I may have ignored its shortcomings, I dunno. I do think that there's some sample variation, however, and that high-ISO performance is where it shows up.
Currently I have two K-7, and the files they produce are indistinguishable. Naturally I have checked to see if they exhibit the same faults as was reported for the K20D, and for my samples of the K-7 this is improved. The band is gone, and the reticulum is less pronounced.
To me, like many others have posted already, it was the _other_ improvements with K-7 that made a difference. But then again I don't shoot above ISO 800 very often.