[68wSteve]

Howdy,

So while at the Korea Tuning Show today i went with a friend that had a Nikon D90. Needless to say i was quite impressed. All he had was the kit lens 18-135 kit lens. I had my K20D with DA* 18-50 and 50-135 through out the day. I was also using the 540flash. Some of his pictures were flat out gorgeous compared to my setup. He was not using a flash on most pictures as well. The color balance was amazing compared to mine on most shots. With this said, it really made me think about nikons more. One of the reasons i didnt go Nikon to start was their lenses are quite expensive and it was nice being the different one in the crowd by being pentax. Check my signature for my full setup and please share why you would stay pentax instead of switching over. I know people have reasons thats why they are here.

Thanks

Steve

[rparmar]

The reason he was getting good shots had nothing to do with the brand of camera. There is nothing wrong with the colour rendition of Pentax. Quite the opposite; it is often said to be the finest. There is nothing wrong with those lenses or the camera's ability to capture a scene.

Perhaps, though, you need to learn your tools better. One example: You used flash but he mostly didn't. Do you know how to use the flash to balance ambient sources? So that it doesn't overpower and wash out a shot? (I'm just guessing and suggesting, since there's little in your post in the way of concrete facts.)

[NorthPentax]

He is a better photographer than you?

Nikon D90 is a better camera than the K20D...
Did you compare the images on the back LCD screen?
Nikon D90 have a 3" screen with 920000 dots/pix.
K20D have a 2,7" screen with 230000 dots/pix.

Nikon have very good camera's, Pentax too. I would buy Nikon if I sold all my Pentax gear, but I will wait until I know more about the new K7(?).

[Jasvox]

Agrees with above (rparmar)...and...Can you, or is it possible for you to rent a D90 and a comparable lens for a few days and see what you can do wit it, versus what you can or cannot do with your current gear?

Jason

[TaoMaas]

... is it possible for you to rent a D90 and a comparable lens for a few days and see what you can do wit it, versus what you can or cannot do with your current gear?

That's kinda what I was thinking, too. Maybe they could swap cameras the next time they go out shooting together.

[khardur]

I could understand wanting to switch of you had a really cheap zoom on or something, that's what I was expecting to see when I read the title of this thread.

But let's be honest, with the K20D and those DA* lenses - there's no blaming the equipment there if you're not happy with the results. (Except maybe with the DA* 16-50 - so many bad copies of that lens being reported).

If you're having white balance issues - bring yourself a gray card of some sort and set it manually. Those big trade show venues have lights that look fine to our eyes, but probably aren't daylight. Did you ask or notice if the other guy did a custom white balance from time to time?

[aleonx3]

It is so easy to blame the equipment and not the user. I have friends using C***n 5D and L glass but still couldn't use flash properly. Do you honestly think that it is the equipment? Think again. With the K20D and DA* lens setup you have all the tools to get decent images, but you need to know how to - that is my suggestion.

[jsherman999]

Howdy,

So while at the Korea Tuning Show today i went with a friend that had a Nikon D90. Needless to say i was quite impressed. All he had was the kit lens 18-135 kit lens. I had my K20D with DA* 18-50 and 50-135 through out the day. I was also using the 540flash. Some of his pictures were flat out gorgeous compared to my setup. He was not using a flash on most pictures as well. The color balance was amazing compared to mine on most shots. With this said, it really made me think about nikons more. One of the reasons i didnt go Nikon to start was their lenses are quite expensive and it was nice being the different one in the crowd by being pentax. Check my signature for my full setup and please share why you would stay pentax instead of switching over. I know people have reasons thats why they are here.

Thanks

Steve

I tend to get more accurate color and more 'pop' from my K20D than I do from my D90 - were you shooting jpeg, or RAW, and was he? If so, what settings?

There really isn't a vast difference in sensor quality between the two, and the lenses you had were definitely better, so I think the difference you saw could be attributable to processing.

Also, were you both using flash, or just you? If it was just you, that may be why your images looked so bad - flash, unless done expertly, tends to make DSLRs look like point & shoots.


.

[Ratmagiclady]

Yeah, ...also remember the out-of-the-box JPEg settings are less aggressive in the K20d, in order to be more post-processing friendly: I actually run with at least my in-camera sharpness and fine-sharpness cranked a little, due to lack of much computer facility in both senses of the term. Major bonus of the K20 is I can always hit the RAW button as well as convert those files in the camera.

[Wheatfield]

Most of what you are seeing is probably in user configuration settings. If you are viewing images on the back of the camera and making qualitative judgements based on that comparison, you are making a pointless comparison.
The Pentax glass you have is arguably quite a bit better than the Nikon glass that you mentioned.

At this point, with the quality of equipement from brand to brand really being very close, if one camera is getting better pictures, it's probably got more to do with one photographer having a better handle on setting up his camera and being a better photographer than anything that can be pinned directly on the equipment, although on camera flash is probably to blame for more fugly lit pictures than any other single reason known to man.
This does presume that you weren't missing shots because the K20 isn't quite as fast as the Nikon.

[FullertonImages]

How about you post some of your pictures. What flash techniques were you using? Where you just using direct, on camera flash? That would explain it. Was your flash gelled to match the ambient ligh? That would explain it.

Howdy,

So while at the Korea Tuning Show today i went with a friend that had a Nikon D90. Needless to say i was quite impressed. All he had was the kit lens 18-135 kit lens. I had my K20D with DA* 18-50 and 50-135 through out the day. I was also using the 540flash. Some of his pictures were flat out gorgeous compared to my setup. He was not using a flash on most pictures as well. The color balance was amazing compared to mine on most shots. With this said, it really made me think about nikons more. One of the reasons i didnt go Nikon to start was their lenses are quite expensive and it was nice being the different one in the crowd by being pentax. Check my signature for my full setup and please share why you would stay pentax instead of switching over. I know people have reasons thats why they are here.

Thanks

Steve

Camera equipment *does not* contribute as much to good pictures as one might think. In fact, about 99.9% of the time it is the photographer who makes mistakes or sets a wrong setting on the camera. The gear only does what you tell it to do, if the ISO was left to 3200 on the last shoot and was forgoten for the next-day outing, can't blame the camera...

Check your custom-function menus, manual, and also try "toying" around with the K20D with various lenses. It is likely that you will find, say, a little check-box marking a certain setting which wasn't optimum for a particular scene.

What White-Balance were you using?

Some of his pictures were flat out gorgeous compared to my setup

Gorgeous? As in very sharp / crisp? Bright? Natural colours?

And importantly, what subjects? D90 has 4.5 FPS burst compared to K20D 3 FPS.

Used properly, both cameras are very premium-quality.

I agree with the previous posters comment about comparing images on the camera's respective LCD screens -- the NIKON D90 wins hands-down. That doesn't mean the PENTAX K20D is a piece of junk (not at all), it only means that the LCD is a K20D's "weak spot". Suppose it was pouring rain, K20D would mash D90.

Any examples of shots which you can upload to help better understand your question?

[roentarre]

Nikon D90 has stunning high ISO performance. However, the actual images do have that flat look to them all regardless what nikon lenses are used.

That bothers me.

However, it is a very good camera if the flat looking image rendering does not bother you.

Flash photography is an art with taste. Not easy to get a good grasp. So I suggest to explore further in pentax realm before making a switch to Nikon.

[edl]

I'll borrow a Ken Rockwell line here:

Your skill as a photographer is more important than your choice of camera.

I took a quick look at your gallery - some of the car girlie shots are done at ISO 2200 and up - I don't think you can get good IQ at those levels. If you're using the 540 there's no need to pump the ISO's so high.

I'm also a little confused - 1/90th, F/2.8, ISO 3200 on this photo? I'm pretty sure you can shoot on any city street at night with only one stop more. Was there that little light inside?

I think it would be worthwhile to review the settings your friend was using.

[mickey]

Howdy,

So while at the Korea Tuning Show today i went with a friend that had a Nikon D90. Needless to say i was quite impressed. All he had was the kit lens 18-135 kit lens. I had my K20D with DA* 18-50 and 50-135 through out the day. I was also using the 540flash. Some of his pictures were flat out gorgeous compared to my setup. He was not using a flash on most pictures as well. The color balance was amazing compared to mine on most shots. With this said, it really made me think about nikons more. One of the reasons i didnt go Nikon to start was their lenses are quite expensive and it was nice being the different one in the crowd by being pentax. Check my signature for my full setup and please share why you would stay pentax instead of switching over. I know people have reasons thats why they are here.

Thanks

Steve

Do you honestly believe it's the equipment?
Have a look around the pentaxgallery for users of the k20.

The skill is with the user.

Harsh reality is that you're friend is a better photographer.

Sell all your Pentax gear and buy a d90, only to realise your friends pics are still better.

You've got some good Pentax equipment. It'd be a shame to sell all that cus you believe Nikon is better...but so be it.