Ok, first, I don't dare post this over at DPR in fear of my life. I'm not trying start anything here, I just think people are really over emphasizing this deal.
Let me first say I really like the way this camera images a scene,whether in RAW or Jpeg. With all the cr*p flying about soft jpegs, something I read kept tickling the back of my mind. That this is precisely how the camera is suppose to be.
I recall reading somewhere that Pentax's market research indicated that the target customer for the K10D prefered to do at least some post processing on their images, so they designed the images to respond well to PP.
This is an excerpt from one of the interviews, I'll post a link after.
"Q
Relative to image rendering, default setting is now “natural”, nevertheless, overall image/colour rendering now appears to be more straightforward. What has changed?
A
Basic concept never changed since *istD. However, the performance of image processing engine has been improved and the higher degree of edge compensation for example has become possible. In edge processing, it does not appear too thick (rather fine) which might be making images look more refined. By using new processing engine, different image processing from before became possible, hence easier tuning."
Now, I read this as they designed edge sharpness to be responsive to USM in PP. Am I right, or all wet?
Here is the link to the interview.
TatamiyaInterview