K10D - I got mine!

wooo hoo! what luck!
I decided to call a local camera store this morning to see if any K10D's happened to saunter in lately. There was one listed on the computer, but when I got there they said they couldn't find it
BUT, a shipment of assorted products had just arrived while I was on my way over to the store... they told me to browse a bit while they rummaged through the boxes to see if it was in there... and it was.
I've just been spending time reading the manual while I waited for the battery to charge. I have taken a few shots through the window and chased the cat around a bit to 'test' the camera a little, and get used to the new shutter sound - *f-clack* ... I like it.
But I plan on heading out in the morning to do some real shots with it and test the quality of the images.
One thing thats annoying... my RAW file program Aperture doesn't recognize the PEF file yet so I need to wait for that update (neither does the ACR). But I can use the DNG selection and use this in ACR for the time being. Photobrowser/Laboratory is WAY too slow.
I'll post some pics tomorrow if anyone is interested, I know there's quite a few shots already available for studying online. But let me know if there's anything specific you want to know and I'll see what I can do.

Are you sure Apeture doesn't support DNG? It's an open standard, anyone has access to the specs.

Arthur,

Yes, Aperture does support DNG... just not from cameras that are listed in their "supported cameras". Strange? You bet it is! The DNG's open in my ACR Ver2.4 and in Lightroom Beta 4, but not in Aperture. It dont make sense... this is the sort of problem the DNG format was supposed to eradicate. But it's definitly a problem on Apple's end... they need to get their act together if they want Aperture to be everything they advertise it as being. I'm sure they'll update soon and I can get to using PEF format from the K10D.

Ok, did some quick shooting this morning. Nothing fancy, wanted to try the SR feature and I posted some previews below with a link to the full size image if you want to download and examine it.
The first image here is just a simple shot on tripod with the DA16-45... and I must say, the CA on this lens really stands out on this camera especially at f22.

The last 3 were shot with my A70-210 f4... handheld, all at the 210mm with SR on.
I closed the aperture to f16 so I could bring the shutter down to 1/45 or 1/60th. ISO was 100.

Here's one interesting note: the DNG files are around 16MB but the PEF files are around 9MB!!! I tested the 2G card to see how many DNG's I could fit: 120. I need to try the PEF and see what happens. I know that on my istD the camera counter said it would hold 70 on a 1G... but I could always get about 90 on there. (incidentaly, 9MB from the K10D is lower than what my istD produced - 12MB) I need to do more testing in PEF.



Full size 3.5MB http://www.hakinphoto.com/pentax/_IGP0256.jpg



Full size 4.3MB http://www.hakinphoto.com/pentax/_IGP0313.jpg



Full size 4.1MB http://www.hakinphoto.com/pentax/_IGP0327.jpg



Full size 4.8MB http://www.hakinphoto.com/pentax/_IGP0334.jpg

Joshua,

The PEF's are apparently now compressed PEF files, which should account for the file sizes.

I'm really jealous, and hope that Chris of SRS does get his delivery tomorrow! I think my trousers are about to burst with anticipation (or something!)


B.T.W Like your B&W gallery

Thanks Joshua

Main thing I noticed was the amount of detail left in the highlights and the lack of noise in the shadows

Can't wait!!
Matt

I have been promised mine sometime this week.

Kim

There sure is, I resisted the temptation to tweak in the RAW converter, but I could easily pull out a lot more detail... plenty of headroom in the raw.
The last one of the ducks I adjusted slightly with levels in PS... but just a tad. The rest are o'natural.
The full sized ones here I noticed a bit of "grain", but that is only because of saving in a slightly compressed jpeg to keep the file size down... the original raw is smooth and clean.

Even the cat is impressed with the new camera...
(I cant put it down!)

I noticed a bit of CA in the tail area of the foreground duck and down the back of the rightmost one.

Try PTLens to correct.

Otherwise fantastic shots, I hope to get my K10D next weekend as long as SRS gets their delivery this week.

Yes Mannesty,
The CA really shows up on this camera, the DA16-45 is quite bad in the corners for this. I never noticed it being to bad on the *istD though.
So, lenses I have that I thought were great are showing up some flaws. I'm gonna check my M50mm 1.7 just out of curiosity.
I think this camera is gonna need those new * lenses! Darn!

Oh well, never mind. Life is sometimes cruel that way.

Have you tried to correct them with PTLens or similar?

Cheers,

surely images taken with the same lens and printed at the same size should have the same CA?

I would say that the CA was always there in the first place as it is simply a function of the lens design, subject, & lighting, not the body. With the increased dynamic range and higher resolution of the K10D (lucky so and so), defects in the lens, as well as the good bits, are going to be more defined and hence easier to see.

I'm guessing the surface of the CCD could also make a difference - the coating perhaps, and almost certainly the thickness of the filter in front of the photo-sites.

But I think the main cause is purely the fact that we look at images like never before - when we had slides we looked at them through loupes, and projected them on screen 6 foot across (and looked at them from 10 feet away). But now we see each pixel when we look at the images at 100%, magnifications far higher than we would have looked at slides or prints.

I think the CA was always there, but we just weren't seeing it to the extent we are today because the majority of us weren't looking. 10mp images show even greater magnification.

I know digital sensors have their own issues with light falling at oblique angles etc, but I know that when I first got scans of my slides done, I was surprised at the amount of CA evident. And I know that what I've said above oversimplifies things, but you get my drift at least, hopefully.

Dan

Of course there's no difference in the lens... it's the same as its always been.
But Daniel makes some valid points: it's our ability to scrutinize with higher fidelity.
There are certainly plenty of ways to fix it in PS should it ever be a problem, with PTLens or Lensfix for Mac. I'm not too worried.

Interesting point also by Daniel about the coating on the CCD... the K10D has a different coating to aid in dust control... it's possible this would also increase the aberration effects... but that's just a guess.
Either way, it's a fine piece of work this camera, and the 16-45 is still just as sharp as always.