Originally posted by audiobomber K-x default NR starts at ISO 800, and Medium. This is very heavy NR, and causes an overly smooth plasticky look. Noise is reduced but so is detail.
True enough then, especially for JPG (those settings make no difference to RAW).
But many will attest that there really is little IQ penalty with the K-x in turning the High-ISO NR Start Level option off until much higher ISO's.
As I shoot RAW+, I still want some JPG's from the camera, so I have the High-ISO NR threshold set to 3200 ISO, and leave the NR strength set at Low past that point. SOOC JPG results are usually more than acceptable, with no 'plastic' and minimal detail loss. The in-camera Medium and High NR settings may be a different story, but I never need to go there.