Noise levels/fringing with K10

Anyone got any theories around noise levels and/or fringing on the K10?

I just notice it from time to time - particularly blue skies.
I usually use ISO100, no exceptional apertures (f8-22)

Lenses are a mix of full frame Sigma EX and Pentax M so shouldn't be them.

Maybe it's me, but comments appreciated.

Thanks!

i noticed a couple of pics in gallery lately taken with k10d taken at low iso 200 400 that have been quite noisey.

---

just keep snapping,

http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/scottbenson

http://s727.photobucket.com/albums/ww272/scottthehat/


CAMERAS = k200d + battery grip.
nikon d300 + battery grip.
LENSES = tamron aspherical DII 18-200mm f3.5/6.3,
nikon 18-200mm afs vr f3.5/5.6 g dx
sigma 150-500mm apo dg hsm os
sigma 170-500mm apo dg
FLASH = samsung sef36pzf flash + more.

Could you post something for us to see?

Do you shoot RAW or jpegs? What image processing do you use?

Best wishes, Kris.

---

Kris Lockyear
It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera… they are made with the eye, heart and head. Henri Cartier-Bresson
Lots of film bodies, a couple of digital ones, too many lenses (mainly older glass) and a Horseman LE 5x4.
My website

Even at ISO 100, there is always some noise to be seen on blue skies when you zoom in 100% to pixel peep. It's just a question of how much, how bad, and what you want to do about it (if anything). Sharpening can increase noise, so be careful about that. And noise reduction can smear detail, so be careful about that too.

Noise increases with the lengh of exposure as well as ISO setting. Also apparently later model revisions of the K10D were less noisy than the first version. You can find out which you have by opening an image with a program called PhotoMe.

Fringing? If that means purple fringing or CA, that is mostly down to the lens. Sigma EX and Pentax M lenses are not immune from CA.

I haven't found the noise levels too bad on my K10D, though I would like lower still - and that's one of several reasons why I'm upgrading to the K20D. Apparently it's less noisy at high ISO settings.

---

~Pete

I worried about noise levels with my K10d at 400 and higher ISO, especially in darker areas of the picture that I lighten in PS. I take many pictures in museums and Cathedrals where higher ISO is essential as I don't use a tripod.
I now shoot exclusively in RAW whereas I used to shoot mainly in JPEG. This improved things but lately I realised that the more processing you do in the RAW converter before going into Photoshop to finish the job, the better the end result. In just the last week I've gone back to some earlier images and have been able to improve on the noise levels considerably just by trial and error and making a note of what level of manipulation works best for each picture. I'm still not perfect at this but getting better.
david

---

PPG: http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/artists/davidtrout