Pentax *ist DS vs Pentax K10D vs Nikon D3 vs Pentax K1

Hello all,

Inspired by some of John Riley's excellent write-ups and comparisons of different lenses, I tried photographing the same object, Goldring cartridge (first photo here), with an *ist DS, a 10D, a Nikon D3 & K1.

It didn't turned out as structured as I had planned, with different focal lengths used and different levels of light over three days. But thought I'd share anyways.

Pentax K10D
Pentax SMC-A 50mm f/1.2
1/350
ISO 100
50mm




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Pentax *ist DS
Pentax 35mm 2.8 macro limited
f/2.8
1/1000 sec
ISO 800



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Nikon D3
Carl Zeiss Milvus 50mm f/2
1/1000 sec
ISO 640




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Pentax K1
Pentax f/2.8 macro
1/320 sec
ISO 500

Nice comparison, it might not be the strongest in terms of blur but the bokeh and result from the K-1 gets my vote.

The DS' warm rendering is lovely.

K10d for me

Myself also as it comes closest to the Carl Zeiss lens on the D3
I would like to see that Zeiss lens on the K1 if thats possible.

I'm with Rick on this, the K-1 has the edge for me.

It's a good idea, and it should be doable with a Nikon F mount to Pentax KAF mount, but it would mean, I think, 100% manual operation + I'm not sure if the quality will be as with the native mount.

It would have been nice if Zeiss had produced the Milvus series with Pentax mount (in addition to Nikon & Canon mount).

If someone has any experiences (with convertors either way), I'd love to hear about them