[Pentaxtic]

Do I really need the K5? Would I need the extra 6 megapixels for cropping? Would the dynamic range show better on the K5? When I did a long exposure, it does emit some random pixels which showed up a lot for another editing program sagelight but only a few manageable ones in lightroom. I did shoot near darkness so I don't think it was light through the viewfinder but I did not cover that up.

[interested_observer]

You have the age old question of what are you shooting?

There are differences between the two camera bodies. The K10 is a CCD sensor while the K5 is a CMOS. The 645D has a CCD sensor. Here is a quick comparison.

• To CCD or to CMOS, That is the Question | B&H Photo Video Pro Audio

_____________________

• Do you need the additional 6MP? - Do you crop a lot? If not then probably not.
• Would the dynamic range show better on the K5? Probably - I moved from the K20 to K5 and yes it did.

  • DxOMark - Compare cameras side by side

• On long exposures - random pixels? Hot pixels will appear in all sensors, and post processing utilities will fix them. Pixel mapping will also remove dead pixels in the camera.

I do a lot of ambient low light shooting and the K5 is terrific. ISO 80 and the dynamic range are excellent. On the other hand, CCDs have a nice image to them, are low noise, and 10MP is pretty nice.
_____________________

Note - I started with the K100 when it first came out - what 6 years ago. Its a 6MP CCD and I have kept it for the sensor and size, however I really do not use it that much. When I was able to get the K5 for a good price, I sold my 3 year old K20, since it was the newest and had value, but also, since the K5 is a CMOS sensor, I wanted to have access to both type. I was looking at some images from the K100 the other day, and they are excellent, even though I am use to the K5's resolution.

[ak_kiwi]

Buy a K5 to replace my K10d for long exposure?

In short - I can highly recommend it.
I have both the K10D and K-5 and can highly recommend the K-5 for long exposure and high iso work.
For portrait work with natural light I still prefer the K10D though - mainly for the differences in sensor that 'interested_observer' has eluded to.
On both camera's I prefer to shoot raw and maybe edit in After-shot Pro.
As for dynamic range of the K-5 - just what 'interested_observer' said - "ISO 80 and the dynamic range are excellent"

C

[adwb]

surely from a still camera point of view the difference between the two sensor types relates to battery consumption and max usable resolution vs noise?

I am luck enough to own a k5d and a K10d and have always , despite the high spec the k5 has, been of the opinion that the images [using the same lens] from the K10d are the best. now it might be my k5 but I also ave a Kr and still feel for my wedding and portraiture close up work the K10d images are better.

[interested_observer]

I think that for the most part the CCD - CMOS discussion was in the 2000 to 2006 timeframe. For the photographer in terms of images, here is an article that does a pretty good analysis of CCD.

• Starizona's Guide to CCD Imaging
• Langford's Advanced Photography: The Guide for Aspiring Photographers - Michael Langford, Efthimia Bilissi, Elizabeth Allen - Google Books

Today, I guess I would say the there is a difference in character. The astro cameras still use CCDs as well as the 645D, but the K5 appears to have found the secret sauce in dynamic range.

[Pentaxtic]

Thanks for all the comments. Looks like the K5 can serve better for Landscape photography as you can pull up the range better and do blend exposures with detail.

I do notice that with the k10d a little sharpening can produce some noise so the k5's extra megapixels will help in this department. K5, I can crop without losing detail.