Noise and the K7

As per Gareth's answer above. I have the K7, but Lightroom 3 is very good at helping reduce noise from the RAW file
Andy

Noise also tends to be a lot worse when, as well as using high ISO, you additionally underexpose the image.

Inevitably, it's the featureless shadows that end up the most underexposed, and that's where the noise will be most obvious.

You might take a look at the histograms for some of the examples you're referring to, and see if you could have given them a bit more exposure.

Exposing to the right (and shooting RAW) will give you the best chance of minimising the noise at any ISO.

My K7 noise minimisation tips:
- Shoot RAW and use LR3
- Go for strong chroma noise reduction (the coloured specks), and go lighter on luminance noise (which looks more like a film-like grain).
- Make sure you do not underexpose, as readjusting the exposure in PP will make noise really bad! If possible, slightly overexpose and let your highlights clip ever so slightly (you may be able to recover them in Lightroom).
- You can use layers in Photoshop to apply hefty noise reduction to parts of the image while leaving other parts unaffected... where there is detail the noise is less visible and the detail is reduced by noise reduction, but solid areas like skies show noise quite obviously while being less adversely affected by strong noise reduction.
- Do not pixel peep too much! By the time you have resized your shot for the web or printed it, noise which was clearly visible at 1:1 will not (in many cases) be visible.

There's no doubt that in an overexposed image, especially when it's so overexposed that the highlights have started to clip*, you'll lose detail, so it won't be as clear.

But you won't lose detail if you expose as much as possible to the right of the histogram, provided you don't start clipping the highlights.

It's better to reduce the exposure on the computer than in the camera, if what you want is a slightly less bright image that lets you see the detail in the bright bits (especially on some very bright monitors). This will give you more latitude to selectively bring up the shadow areas if you need to.
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*if you don't know what clipping means, I'd *really* recommend reading something like this and also this.

What others said: avoid any underexposure on the K-7 above 800. If anything dial in a permanent bit over

Basically it means to set the exposure compensation permanently to say 1/3 or 1/2 or maybe 2/3 above the normal metered exposure. I don't know which mode you usually use the K-7 in, but the +/- button allows you set exposure compensation which remains at what you set it to.
Andy

I had the K-X which was great for high ISO levels.
I read about the K-7 before upgrading and was aware of it. It is a negative, I do use the exposure compensation.
Besides that I really like the camera, I was thinking beforehand how handy would the top lcd screen be. But I love it and always glance at that now. Also the extra buttons on the top are extremelly handy and allow very quick access.
and the other extra features (images on rear screenmoves if I rotate camera 180%) make it great.

I don't think you should worry too much about noise Maria given the results you are obtaining with your pics. I haven't noticed it being obtrusive in any of them and if anything it adds to the atmosphere.

Regards
David

Someone on the other Pentax forum suggests setting the High-ISO Noise Reduction (Custom menu 3, option 19) to 3 (High), as well as High-ISO Noise Reduction Starting Sensitivity Level(option 20) to 3 (ISO400). This is apparently very effective for those of us shooting jpegs.

Regards