Camera Labs

Well i already own Pentax K10D, and I like it, i bought it because i thought that the quality of photos is much better than of a Sony A300.. sony has several features that i extremely like such as tilting lcd and liveview,
but could anyone tell me, comfort me or encourage to act,
what about image quality? noise levels which camera is better?
thanks.

_________________
sincerely,
Mystic-grapher
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14258831@N00/
Pentax K20D;
AF-540GZ flash;
Pentax DA 12-24mm f/4 AL ED [if]
Pentax DA* 50-135mm ED [if] SDM 1/2.8
Pentax FA 28-105mm f/3.2-4.5 AL [if]
Sigma 70-300mm APO DG Macro;

I don't think you'll find a noticable difference in image quality.. In terms of noise levels, Sony, Nikon, Pentax and Olympus all perform similarly on an entry level..Only Canon is better than the others in this respect.

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Sony A200
Sony A700
Tamron 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II
Minolta AF 50 F1.7
Minolta AF 50 F2.8
FLICKR

Have you seen the D300 and D3's results at high ISO? Wow, Nikon's done a great job at noise control on those models.
To answer your question Mystic, I don't think it would be worth the investment. The A300 is a very nice camera, with great features, but it's only a small step from the K10D. You'd better wait and save for a higher end Alpha DSLR with similar features, I think.

- Bjorn -

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Street and documentary photographer | Google+ | Twitter | Blog | Tumblr

Leica M9-P (my article on Camera Labs) | Leica D-Lux 5 | 50mm Summilux

The advantage you would have with sony is that they are growing ver fast and slowly catching up with canon and nikon. I personaly think its better to invest money in camera's and lenses with a company that is dominant in the market.

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Tobywuk personal website || My Flickr
Gear: Sony a700! || CZ 16-80mm! || Sony 75-300 || bag: Crumpler PB xxxl / Lowepro slingshot 200

thanks all for your replies;
Pentax K10D is not an entry level dslr, it's considered as semi-profesional, that is the reason i bought it, instead of a sony..

however i'm realizing that i need live view and a tilting lcd to compose more creative shots..

i could sell my pentax, if the quality of sony photos would equal pentax..
I know, that they use same sensor, but what about the noise?
i've heard that sony has some problems with ISO from 400 and up.. how are you, A300 users perceiving/dealing/solving that?

_________________
sincerely,
Mystic-grapher
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14258831@N00/
Pentax K20D;
AF-540GZ flash;
Pentax DA 12-24mm f/4 AL ED [if]
Pentax DA* 50-135mm ED [if] SDM 1/2.8
Pentax FA 28-105mm f/3.2-4.5 AL [if]
Sigma 70-300mm APO DG Macro;

yep, the A300 would in some ways be a step down from K10D like big VF, weather seal and build quality, but as you mentioned it's a semi-pro whereas the A300 is entry level. I don't see the K10D as a camera for the masses, more like a enthusiast camera mainly because it's the camera brand of choise for old manual focus lenses. (if only you could get a C/Y adapter for it ) If I where you I would keep the K10D and buy the A300 use them both for a couple of month and then sell one of them.

Both cameras have CCD sensors so I would expect similar image quality. Only the CMOS seems to have less noise. The A100 had more noise than the Nikon that used the same sensors due to a weaker anti aliasing filter which meant that the A100 had higher resolution. That was probably not the smartest move from a marketing perspective They have changed that in their new line up so A200/A3x0 has less noise but with a trade off.

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Minolta primes: 2.8/20 2.8/24 1.7/50 2.8/135
Minolta zooms: 28-135 35-70 70-210(beercan) kit
Minolta cameras: Dynax 5D 7000
M42: Pentax Asahi S-M-C Takumar 1.4/50 and 2.8/105 Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 2.4/35 Industar-61L/Z Kiron 2.8/105 Macro

I have an a100 and noise is a bit of a pain if I start going over ISO 400 however I find I stay below this 99% of the time anyway.

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Tobywuk personal website || My Flickr
Gear: Sony a700! || CZ 16-80mm! || Sony 75-300 || bag: Crumpler PB xxxl / Lowepro slingshot 200

On paper at least, the basic specification of the K10D doesn't seem that different from the mainstream Sony offerings.

Regarding the high iso noise, if you haven't already, look at the cameralabs review which gives side by side examples against a Canon 450D. While there is a difference, how much and if it is acceptable will be down to the shooter. Whichever camera you have (of APS-C sensor size) will have reduced quality at higher ISO levels. While there are small differences between them, personally I don't think they're that significant.

To my personal preferences, I'm happy using up to ISO400 routinely on the higher resolution A350. If I'm in control of the environment, I'd try to keep within that zone. I only go higher if motion blur becomes a bigger problem than image noise, such as in low light situations at longer focal lengths.

To stick clearly in the semi-pro category, how about the Canon 40D? This gets you the live view although not the tilting screen.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

Appreciate your thoughts ideas and proposals.
thanks all.

i'll have the migraine until i decide for sure.

to own simultaneously both, would solve the problem however it is too expensive for me ..

Currently many of my shots go up to ISO 1250, and i like the results.
well i'll be weighting all positive and negative facts, and then decide.

Comments from all of you, were very halpful in seing the problem from a different perspective.
thanks you, kind people.

_________________
sincerely,
Mystic-grapher
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14258831@N00/
Pentax K20D;
AF-540GZ flash;
Pentax DA 12-24mm f/4 AL ED [if]
Pentax DA* 50-135mm ED [if] SDM 1/2.8
Pentax FA 28-105mm f/3.2-4.5 AL [if]
Sigma 70-300mm APO DG Macro;