Quote: JohnBee: We really should't hijack this thread into a noise discussion, however... there are a number of issues in this demonstration regarding noise performances from the Kx vis-a-vis a K20. The first and more obvious is that all Pentax camera's apply NR at higher ISO.
However what really stands out here is that the illustration is based on desktop NR rather than RAW data detail. thus negating the possibilities of drawing an objective conclusions from the sample.
Another issue(possibly) is that I don't see a Kx vs K20 in these samples. I mean... for what it's worth, I could post very good ISO4000 K20D output as evidence that it is somehow better so long as there is no Kx equivalent.
Nevertheless.. the only way to to draw accurate conclusions from this would be to see samples in RAW with NR off on both camera's under the exact same shooting conditions. Otherwise... the results remain up in the air.
PS. I find the comparometer to be a very good source of such tests online. If you head out there and grab the RAW/DNG NR0 ISO3200 and 6400 samples for Kx and K20D, you will quickly see that the kx out resolves the K20 by a wide margin of detail. And this is coming from as die hard K20 fan.
Nice picture btw!
It is our thread--I did entitle it "Pentax High ISO Gallery"--I could ammend it with the 2 words "& discussion."
I agree though, I do not want to turn this thread into an all-out "My Camera is Better Than Your Camera." So, after this explanation of my above post, I will not contribute any more commentary on high ISO for these 2 cameras--here.
Thanks for your response--mucho appreciate it. Ok, firstly, I shot this in Raw with NR off, then converted the image in a downsize for forum--no PPing whatsoever. Then, iin the 2nd image, I ran the original Raw through Neat Image first, afterwards downsizing for our forum with no other PPing. I just want to be clear about this--sorry if I wasn't in the original post.
Next, I was going to post a Kx sample as well, but realized it would do little to actually objectify the discussion. After all, as I clearly state in my post,
"I think the high ISO performance of the K20d is ay least as good as that of the Kx." This is my opinion--nothing more. I realize there are many more opinions which will never agree with mine and my post is not intended to convert anyone.
As we all know, you can not create "accurate connditions" for real world shooting--not really, anyway. I often visit the Image Resource and its "Comparometer" to get general feelings on a particular camera's ISO look. But, above all else, we must bear in mind the conditions they create are artificial, and are not real world shooting. ISO has been and probably always will be a hotly debated topic. for this very reason.
I did spend a good deal of time researching the Kx for its ISO capabilities. I was thinking of picking one up soley for this purpose. But my research ended in the conclusion that the Kx is no better at higher ISO than is the K20d. I engaged some earlier discussion at this forum here:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-dslr-discussion/90731-kx-advice-sought.html
I do not see people posting KX High ISO images, in %100 crops too often--I do welcome any here in this thread, with or without noise reduction--thanks.
Thank you for your insightful commentary and for your compliment,