Another help me pick a DSLR.. specific questions inside.

[reznap]

I kindof am set on it (i love it in white) lol, but the numbers seem too good to be true almost and im really worried that there will be this huge "ohhh thats why" moment after I buy it.

if the xsi was in stock I probably would have jumped on that though

I think that the focus points don't light up to confirm correct focus in the viewfinder of the K-x. That, along with maybe the ergonomics, is the biggest complaint I hear about the camera. Both of those are subject to personal preference though, especially ergonomics.

 

[PASM]

There's your answer LOL_Slamball

I LOVE my pentax. The IS is great

You're moving up form a P&S anyhow so - pixel-peeping over noise issues might not be so crucial.

 

[LOL_Slamball]

I LOVE my pentax. The IS is great I like that you can use almost any lens that they have ever made except the old screw mount ones of course.

I went from a Pentax k-m and I was going to save up and buy the K-7 but I don't need the video so I decided to buy a used K20d and i'm very happy with my decision. If you want to see some results of the K20d I just just posted this thread. http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...-gallery/232587-first-boudoir-shoot-nsfw.html

Pentax is a little noisy-er but it leaves more detail so if you want to remove the noise in PP you can do more and loose less of the image detail.

Thanks, I was just looking at those before I opened this thread...theyre awesome!

Having no working knowledge of "noise" my understanding is that at higher ISO the noise is worse? so if im shooting ice hockey i think the ISO will have to be pretty high, so more noise vs canon?
that being said the ISO goes higher vs the XS so at 1600 would the pentax be better because the XS would be "maxed out"? or is that where I would see the advantage of a canon?

or am i just 100% wrong about all of the above lol.

 

[PASM]

Having no working knowledge of "noise" my understanding is that at higher ISO the noise is worse?

It's becoming amplified.

so if im shooting ice hockey i think the ISO will have to be pretty high, so more noise vs canon?

Most likely.

that being said the ISO goes higher vs the XS so at 1600 would the pentax be better because the XS would be "maxed out"?

Possibly true. I haven't seen comparitive test data/images.

Maybe think of it like this: The Canon is a better quality receiver. Signal to noise. But the Pentax covers a wider waveband. So if you want to listen to 100 MHZ - you'd choose the Canon. But if you need to listen to 125 MHZ, and the Canon doesn't go that high, you'll use the Pentax even if the reception isn't so good.

 

[3bayjunkie]

sell some stuff on eBay

 

[LOL_Slamball]

Thanks PASM completely managed to explain my rambling lol. Im going to head down today to check out the feel of both cameras.

 

[MissCream]

All those pictures I shot were at ISO 800 and were pretty grainy but I used the noise reducer in Lightroom and it worked well

 

[psyclop]

I kindof am set on it (i love it in white) lol, but the numbers seem too good to be true almost and im really worried that there will be this huge "ohhh thats why" moment after I buy it.

if the xsi was in stock I probably would have jumped on that though

I think that the focus points don't light up to confirm correct focus in the viewfinder of the K-x. That, along with maybe the ergonomics, is the biggest complaint I hear about the camera. Both of those are subject to personal preference though, especially ergonomics.

Yes you're right about that, I am a new Kx owner, one big point about the Kx
it take nice pic at high iso, very compact and light, the remote control is a little touchy, and the automatic white balance is kind of off.
I'm glad I bought it.

 

[hawk232]

love my kx as well. only complaint is the lack of focus indicators in the viewfinder. I extensively researched before I bought and this forum is VERY biased towards canon and nikon (but its great otherwise, hence the reason im still here!) so dont let this be your only source of info. pentax gets excellent reviews and there are comparison shots out there between the kx, the d3100 and the t1i and the canon did worse in almost all the shots, the kx and nikon were pretty equal. The kx main praise is image quality at high iso I regularly shoot up to 1600 with no problem, 3200 gets grainy. research of the kx will turn up similar results. I have a friend that bought a d3100 the day before i bought my kx... since then we have gone and shot together (that same subject) and compared and they are so similar that the outcome is based on the photographer, not the camera. As for lenses, a quick look on b&h shows like 135lenses available in pk mount and like 23X ish for canon and nikon. so if you buy NEW lenses then yes, selection is limited. When it comes to used, however, you will find pentax lenses everywhere, and you wont need adapters to use them. I would read up well on the kx, it is alot of camera for the money. Also, make sure that you wont need the focus indicators, i didnt think i would since its my first dslr, but wish i had them now! If you are searching more "real world" info there are pentax specific forums...

 

[PASM]

I agree the TPF has a Nikon/Canon bias, but not without good reason in this DSLR age. They make the best cameras in the market and most of the best optics.

 

[PASM]

there are comparison shots out there between the kx, the d3100 and the t1i and the canon did worse in almost all the shots,

Please post a link to these shots.

 

[PASM]

dpreview K-x review...

The K-x does quite well in this test. It can't quite keep up with the EOS 500D's higher nominal resolution but is on par with the Nikon D5000 and the Olympus. At higher frequencies the Pentax shows some signs of moiré. The Canon produces not only the highest resolution but also the cleanest image in this comparison.

Pentax K-x Review: 27. Compared to (Resolution): Digital Photography Review

The resolution figures of all camera increase when shooting RAW but some gain more than others. Both the Nikon and Pentax improve significantly and in terms of absolute resolution almost catch up with the Canon EOS 500D.

Pentax K-x Review: 28. Compared to (Resolution): Digital Photography Review

 

[DerekSalem]

I LOVE my pentax. The IS is great I like that you can use almost any lens that they have ever made except the old screw mount ones of course.

I went from a Pentax k-m and I was going to save up and buy the K-7 but I don't need the video so I decided to buy a used K20d and i'm very happy with my decision. If you want to see some results of the K20d I just just posted this thread. http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...-gallery/232587-first-boudoir-shoot-nsfw.html

Pentax is a little noisy-er but it leaves more detail so if you want to remove the noise in PP you can do more and loose less of the image detail.

Thanks, I was just looking at those before I opened this thread...theyre awesome!

Having no working knowledge of "noise" my understanding is that at higher ISO the noise is worse? so if im shooting ice hockey i think the ISO will have to be pretty high, so more noise vs canon?
that being said the ISO goes higher vs the XS so at 1600 would the pentax be better because the XS would be "maxed out"? or is that where I would see the advantage of a canon?

or am i just 100% wrong about all of the above lol.

I'm going to give a slightly better explanation of your questions...

Basically the noise-to-signal ratio gets higher the "faster" your ISO rating. What I mean is the higher the ISO number, the more noise that will be apparent in your final product. Different camera bodies handle it differently: A P&S with a tiny sensor might have pretty bad noise at ISO200 while a Canon 1DMkIV will be almost completely noise-free at ISO6400 (with very little at ISO12800). It's different for *every* body.

As for shooting ice hockey...it depends what level it's at. If you're shooting professional or semi-pro...you won't need high-ISO at all. I've shot professional hockey at ISO100 and still had enough shutter speed to stop movement (around 1/800 or so). That brings me to my second point...different camera bodies have different ISO ratings. My Canon 7D can let more light in at ISO1600 than a Rebel can at ISO1600. That means I can use a lower ISO rating to get the same picture. This isn't usually a huge difference (even the difference between a 1D4 and XT is probably less than 1 full stop), but it's there...which means it's hard to compare evenly.

Now...for the "maxing out" question...no. Just because a camera has a range that says, for instance, ISO200-12800 doesn't mean that range is completely usable. It may start having severe noise issues at ISO400 (not that it does, but just explaining a point). The total range is almost useless in real world. There's a reason that "highest ISO" is usually listed separately...it's usually not even part of the standard ISO range. You almost always have to enable it somewhere in a deep menu...and there's really almost no reason to since that ISO rating is almost *always* completely useless (unless you've metered *perfectly* and it's the only way to get the shot). I *have* taken shots at ISO12800...but even on my camera (which costs 3-4 times as much as that Pentax) it only produces usable shots if I can spend some time PPing out the noise.



Now as for the actual comparison. Don't look at the specs at all between the 2. It has a slightly larger sensor, built-in IS, face-detection via Liveview (useless), and a few other things...but none of that should really matter when comparing cameras. The thing that matters is "How good are are the pictures?"...and in this case? The Rebel kills that Pentax.

That's not to say the Pentax makes bad pictures or there's something wrong with the camera...but the Canon will almost *always* take better shots in the same condition. Add to that that the quality of lenses available will almost always be better with the Canon...and that *should* be your inkling I'm putting down subtly.

Either way, it's definitely your decision. Go out and try them both. Try them using every ISO setting, every lens you can get your hands on, and play around with the menus and settings. See which one *YOU* like, because that's what matters in the end.

 

[enzodm]

Canon and Nikon make the better DSLRs. Better imaging technologies inside.

Not always true, in particular at the entry level:
DxOMark - Compare sensors (and this, though I own a Rebel Xs ).

 

[zbo2408]

I didn't read everybody's response so sorry if this has already been covered.

I have the XSi and in low light situations at 1600 AND 800 there is noticeable noise. So using this camera with the kit lenses (18-55 & 55-250) might be a little bit difficult to get good indoor hockey shots.

Overall I am very happy with my XSi it is my first dslr and I when I was getting it I already figured 1600 would have noise but I was really disappointed when I would take indoor pictures at 800 and they had a ton of noise.