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04-07-2009, 04:17 PM   #1
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Pentax X70

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I finally got my X70 in the mail today, charged up the TINY battery and went outside to take some sample shots. These shots illustrate the HDR capability (3 shots -/+2EV exposure), and the zoom capabilities from the standard 26mm 1x zoom all the way to 624mm 24x plus up to 6.25x digital zoom.

Pictures are here:
Pentax X70 sample shots - a set on Flickr

Alex


Last edited by AlexM; 04-08-2009 at 10:23 PM.
04-08-2009, 05:34 AM   #2
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Nice set of shots and good persuader for me to get one of these. I've always had a bridge camera... and was quite excited to see the X70 released, but wondered how it might stack up against the others in its class. Looking good to me! It will make a decent baby brother for my K200D.
04-09-2009, 11:01 AM   #3
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Thanx Alex for the photos..howz the low light/high ISO ability of the camera? Is it any better than FZ28s and SX 10 IS's of the world? Can u post some high ISO images in low light for us?
04-09-2009, 02:28 PM   #4
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Here are some low light shots with specs:

ISO 100, F4, 1.3 sec, 17mm, manual mode, standard saturation, sharpening, contrast


ISO 200, F4, 0.6 sec, 17mm, manual mode, standard saturation, sharpening, contrast


ISO 400, F4, 0.3 sec, 17mm, manual mode, standard saturation, sharpening, contrast


ISO 800, F4, 1/6 sec, 17mm, manual mode, standard saturation, sharpening, contrast


ISO 1600, F4, 1/13 sec, 17mm, manual mode, standard saturation, sharpening, contrast


ISO 3200, F4, 1/25 sec, 17mm, manual mode, standard saturation, sharpening, contrast


ISO 6400, F4, 1/50 sec, 17mm, manual mode, standard saturation, sharpening, contrast


These were all shot at a 5MP size because the camera limits you to 5MP when shooting at 3200 ISO and above. Surprisingly, the 3200 ISO looks better to me than the 1600 ISO shot...weird...

Alex

04-09-2009, 03:09 PM   #5
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Full size sample of rose at night with flash

This is a sample of a full sized photo of a rose taken at night with the on-board flash. ISO 100, F4, 1/125 sec, 17mm. There is virtually no noise in the shadow areas.

This is a sample at 1024x768


The full sized pixel-peeper original is here:

Click here for the Full sized 12MP picture of rose

Alex
04-09-2009, 04:01 PM   #6
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Pentax x70

Alex,
What do you think of the pictures per second...and lag time between taking pictures. I loved your pictures and they are convincing me to buy this camera versus the Panasonic fz28. And what do you think of their image stabilization when using the long zoo? The main reason I am buying a new camera is for a trip to Alaska.

Melinda
04-09-2009, 05:12 PM   #7
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Melinda,

Like any camera with a long zoom, there are going to be limitations as to how much stability you're going to have at the long end. A combination of higher ISO and higher shutter speeds will assist you in achieving a stable and clear picture at the far end. The X70 appears to be stable even at the long end provided that you have good lighting.

As far as shutter lag time, it appears to be about 0.1 seconds after you have focused and then pressed the shutter completely.

Shots per second is interesting.... The X70 features a range of continuous shots from 11 frames per second, 16 frames per second, up to 21 frames per second, the difference being the jpeg compression quality (3 star down to 1 star). The limitation in this mode is that the camera shoots at 5MP, which is still not bad.... still 2592x1944 pixels.

Alex


Last edited by AlexM; 04-09-2009 at 06:01 PM.
04-09-2009, 05:25 PM   #8
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I'm ordering it tonight. Thanks for your input. I will let you know how I like it and post some pictures
04-09-2009, 10:50 PM   #9
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Thanx Alex...the high ISO noise is indeed extremely well controlled...very tempting indeed...BTW your X70 images are some of the first (and few) available X70 images on the internet right now!!
04-09-2009, 11:06 PM   #10
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If you'd like to see a specific series of shots, let me know....

Alex
04-10-2009, 10:16 AM   #11
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Thanx Alex. If you can spare some time:
-Compare different NR levels(Standard/On/Off) at ISO 400/800/1600 without any PP.
-I read somewhere that X70 images are "mushy". Can u show images to disprove that claim (http://www.whatdigitalcamera.com/equipment/compactcameras/1008/1/pentax-x70.html)
-How long does X70 shoot video? 30mins? or till the card is full?
Apologies for bombarding you with so many questions....photography is very interesting you see :-)

Last edited by danny09; 04-10-2009 at 11:42 PM. Reason: Fixed hyperlink
04-10-2009, 02:42 PM   #12
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There's no indication in the user manual that noise reduction can be turned off or have different levels. Remember that this is a point and shoot camera and a lot of those advanced features that are standard on a DSLR won't be available.

The pictures featured above in this topic that are of a gold turtle, are of different ISOs and you can see the effects of noise reduction at each level. The pictures have NOT been post processed. These are straight out of the camera as is with default settings.

Look at the first post in this topic and click on the link to my Flickr gallery to see the sample pics that I have taken. I have not seen much mushiness like you described. Take a look at the full sized rose in the above posts.

As far as video is concerned, the maximum file size per video is 2GB, with the actual length determined by the video picture size (from 320x240 to 1280x720).... an approximation with maximum 2GB files size would be about 32 minutes at 1280x720x15fps, 20 minutes at 848x480x30fps, 30 minutes at 640x480x30fps, 60 minutes at 640x480x15fps, 45 minutes at 320x240x30fps, and 90 minutes at 320x240x15fps.

Alex
04-11-2009, 09:16 AM   #13
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Pentax x70Alex,

Alex,
Can you add a filter to the lens? I should get mine next Friday and can't wait to use it. Also have you found any one other than Pentax that carries extra batteries? Also, what MP were the pictures that you posted.
Thank you,
Melinda
04-11-2009, 10:11 AM   #14
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From what I can see, there is no provision to add a filter.... there are no filter threads. It doesn't mean that someone won't come up with a way of adding one though. The size of the lens opening is about 41mm.

All my pix were at taken at 12MP unless otherwise indicated. Views, however were resized for the web. The one of the yellow rose has a link to see the full sized version at 12MP.

As far as extra batteries (which I think is an absolute MUST), there are generics available for cheap compared to the $52+ price of the Pentax OEM battery.

This link will point you to the eBay seller where I bought my batteries from... I bought two from this seller for around a total cost of $25 including shipping. I ordered them on April 2nd, and it was shipped out on April 7th via air mail. I should get them soon. I'll let you know how their performance is compared to the OEM. The specs on the generics say that the capacity is 1000mAH compared to the 925mAH of the OEM, which would indicate that you could take more shots with the generics. This remains to be seen.

Battery D-Li92 DLi92 for Pentax Megazoom X70 D Li92 New - eBay (item 280328843502 end time Apr-29-09 23:29:58 PDT)

Alex

Last edited by AlexM; 04-11-2009 at 10:42 AM.
04-12-2009, 01:28 AM   #15
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Alex
Thank you for your patience with all our questions. Your answers and insights are reason Pentax can survive this recession...even without a canikonical marketing budget....a happy pentaxian inspires hundreds more :-)
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