Originally posted by yustr Just got back from a weekend visit to MD. Took some shots on Sat = bright and sunny, and Sun = gray overcast. Took some at the same time and same subject as Mrs. yustr did with her new Nikon S6000 P&S. And upon downloading back home her's look better. More vibrant both color and contrast. Sharper too. Her's done in various auto mode JBGs, mine in RAW. Exposures are fine there's just no punch to them.
I'm guessing its my lens (kit 18-55, Promaster (Tamron) 70-300 and Sigma 28-70.
Somebody help before I put the whole kit up for sale and get a E-PL1
First of all, Welcome aboard.
Second, if you think that selling the camera and buying a different one is going to change things that much, go for it.
Now that my rude and snarky comment is out of the way (hope you're still reading), Comparing RAW files to camera processed JPGs is rather pointless. If you want your photos to have snap, crackle, and pop, you have to provide it in post processing. Camera settings mean nothing when it comes to the RAW files. Only when the camera generates the JPG will it matter.
The K10d, in my experience, Always underexposes some. Personally, I like it that way because it always helped me avoid blowing the highlights. I always left mine at Natural for in camera JPG processing because, if the colors aren't bright, plastic, and over saturated, then I didn't want them captured that way. I think I'm alone in that respect though.
As for sharpness, I never was very impressed with the K10d Kit lens. So unimpressed in fact that I sold mine a couple weeks after getting the camera (which meant I could no longer return the kit). With the Promaster however, if it is in fact a Tamron equivalent, you should be able to get a decent photo...
I don't know anything about the Sigma..
I'll guess that you already know the advantages of an SLR over a P&S so I won't bore you with listing them out (and I believe the list is long). However, let's see a point and shoot do this... (composition problems aside)..
or this..
All done with a K10d (
bottom two with an FA31 Limited)
None of the above isn't anything anyone else hasn't already said, here's another. It would help us help you if we could See what your issues were. Post some examples.