[minahasa]

Now, I have K20D. I'm going to K7. Comparing the two, do you think that there will be an improvement on high iso performance?
I've seen my friends K-r high iso performance, awesome.

[calsan]

I thought the K20d and K7 were the same sensor?

[Adam]

Now, I have K20D. I'm going to K7. Comparing the two, do you think that there will be an improvement on high iso performance?
I've seen my friends K-r high iso performance, awesome.

You'll basically get the same performance, maybe a bit better if you stick to in-camera processing. The K-5 is the way to go if you want low-noise images

[elliott]

It can't come anywhere near a K-r or K-x, those have great low light sensors. The K20D and K-7 are reasonably close in ISO performance, the sensors are almost the same, just tweaked to allow video on the K-7. Some have said the K20 is marginally better at high ISO.

The K-r is not too far behind the K-5 in high ISO capability. I've been learning how to process ISO 12800 shots from my K-5 to get acceptable results, which is mind blowing to me.

[minahasa]

It can't come anywhere near a K-r or K-x, those have great low light sensors. The K20D and K-7 are reasonably close in ISO performance, the sensors are almost the same, just tweaked to allow video on the K-7. Some have said the K20 is marginally better at high ISO.

The K-r is not too far behind the K-5 in high ISO capability. I've been learning how to process ISO 12800 shots from my K-5 to get acceptable results, which is mind blowing to me.

I'm enjoying long exposures lately, K20D really lags behind K-r on this.
K5 is a bit steep hop, meaning I should wait a little more to fill up my piggybank
..but then, I suppose I should really wait..

[amoringello]

If you're going to switch, save your pennies and get a K5. Probably not worth it to get a K5II or K5IIs.
While my K5 was in repair I had to use my old K7. There is no comparison between it and the K5.
It was fine for most daylight and studio shots, but if I had to adjust exposure to any degree you could really see the noise come in.
Even in rather well exposed areas at low ISO, there is sufficient noise in the K7 that will be noticed once you are used to the K5.

[Zav]

The K-7 high iso is cleaner than the K20, no purple stuff. It's more usable but still at the same level. If you handle it with care, it's doable. I have some good shoots of the K-7 at ISO1600.
The 16MP is much much cleaner.

[Rondec]

I don't think there is significant difference between the K20 and the K7 with regard to high ISO, the differences had more to do with video, frAme rate on the K7, and a lot of other things. I liked the K7 body style a lot better and the K5 is about perfect. I suppose the K5 II has just refined it from there.

Anyway, if you can save for a used K5, I think you would be the happiest.

[Macario]

To say it simple, it is bad as you want it to be. If you want clean looking shots at very high ISO, then yes, it is very bad.
But you could also turn this into something positively. Instead of moaning about how bad it is above certain ISO, just think, hhhhhmmmmmm I will get noise, how can I make it work in my advantage.
Personally I do not find noise to be a problem, I know it is there, so I work with it. Also when I know there will be noise, I won’t have any billboard sized prints made. I will just print smaller (even on a A3 print when you hang it on a wall and look at it from your couch, the noise won’t look bad. And isn’t that what it is about, and not look with a loupe just to proof a point that there is noise).

This set is made during a dance show. Shot with a K-7 under less than ideal lighting conditions. Some shots were at ISO3200, and atleast 1.5 stops under. But it does bring out some mood because of this. Podium westland - a set on Flickr

This set mainly has long exposure shots. And I find that noise is not an issue at all, pretty clean shots.
night time - a set on Flickr

[amoringello]

To say it simple, it is bad as you want it to be. If you want clean looking shots at very high ISO, then yes, it is very bad.

Well put, and that is all fine and good if you're allowed the artistic freedom to play with that.
But this is not the 1950's any more, expectations have changed. If you're offering services to a customer, moaning about how bad the K7 is will not get you paid either.
You'll simply need a better camera.

[airtraffic]

I was a Pentax fan ever since I got my first Pentax DSLR by accident when a neighborhood Ritz camera store closed down and sold me the K10D at a fire sale price. I liked the K10, and thought the K20D would be even better. I hated the K20D. I sold that and bought the K7 when it came out and LOVED it! (Still do!) I have not noticed noise to be a big problem. Yes, the autofocus hunts in low light, but I still love the images I get from it. Now that the K5 II has driven the prices down to about $750 on the K5, I picked one up from Adorama to try it out.

I shot the K5 side by side with my K7 for the last week or so. To me, it seems the upgrade price is not worth switching from the K7 to the k5 or the K5 II. I plan to take my K5 back to Adorama today and keep shooting with the K7. That's knowing I could sell the K7 for about $400-$450, making my final cost of a K5 about $300-$350.

If I still had my K10 or K20 I'd either get a K7 at a great price or upgrade to the K5 if money were not an issue. I've shot the K7 up to about 800 ISO and really not had any adverse noise issues. (I don't plan to shoot regularly above 800.)

[Lowell Goudge]

The k7 in theory should be slightly better because it w optimized thermally for movies, which means the sensor could be cooled better, but otherwise it is pretty much the same.

As for high ISO shots

The first post in this thread is a K7 at 1600 also hand held at 1/40 with a 500mm lens

Decide for yourself
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/lens-sample-photo-archive/164135-pentax-k...4-samples.html

[Zav]

If we should give example:
All sizes | Belly Tango | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
@1600

[paulh]

This might be useful to you: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-dslr-discussion/106600-k-7-high-iso-success.html

[RBellavance]

You will not see a noticeable difference between the K20d and the K-7. If high-ISO IQ is your only reason to get the K-7, you should reconsider IMHO. Any of the Sony 16mp based cameras (K-30, K-5, K-5 II/IIs) is a very big improvement in IQ at higher ISO, however (2 stops by my tests, i.e. ISO 6400 on a K-5 II has equivalent IQ to ISO 1600 on the K-7).