Pentax may have finally found the solution to its “noisy” problem through its multi-coloured Pentax K-x. But I’m pretty sure the colour of the camera body has nothing to do with it 
As a Pentax K-7 user, I will have to admit the camera is somewhat noisier at high ISO no matter what others may say about the K-7 getting the right balance between noise and details, or that Pentax is approaching the noise-detail issue in a much more liberal way by giving freedom to the users to decide the level of noise reduction they want to apply.
Having said that, it is important to note that I decided to buy the camera even after I’ve seen the amount of noise at ISO 1600 and above. It’s a personal decision and I have no regrets.
On the contrary I would have regretted it had I gone ahead with either a Canon EOS 500D or Nikon D5000.
Back to the noisy issue, the question that keeps on popping in my mind is this: is Pentax incapable of producing a camera that is capable of producing noise free images up to ISO 1600? If others can, why can’t Pentax?
Why is it that the brand is yet to be associated with high ISO performance after all these years? Is Canon and Nikon too far ahead for Pentax to catch up?
Pentax K-x the noise breaker?
But Pentax may have finally found the answer to these questions and is putting it to good use in the new Pentax K-x. It looks like the camera is able to handle ISO 6400 quite well.
K-x... finally a high ISO shooter from Pentax?
I believe something substantive is happening here and Pentax is really into the race for high ISO performance and is now able to proclaim that “I too can do ISO 12800″.
If Pentax can now do high ISO, the guys behind it must have eaten the forbidden apple.
On a serious note, now that Pentax is able to keep the noise down at high ISO, perhaps it is also a good time to consider updating the firmware for the K-7 to tweak the way it handles noise.
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Looks like Pentax will be giving the big boys a run for their money! and well done to em too.
I have seen some of your images taken with the K7 and very impressed although i hate the multi coloured new models ahhhhhhhhhh what sort of naff gimick is that? still if it performs well most people will put up with the colours LoL they can alsway wait until dark before venturing out with it LoL
Cheers
Brian
I think the K-7′s successor — I’m sure there will be one within the next couple of years — will be a very interesting camera with this new development in Pentax.
As for the K-x, I still prefer the traditional black.
If only it were as simple as updating the K-7′s firmware. The K-x sports a Sony sensor, while the K-7′s is manufactured by Samsung. Pentax have done very well in the past with Sony sensors (think K100D and K10D), and I hope the K-7 is the last Samsung chip they ever use.
I’m sure you’re aware of the many people that are foregoing the K-7 in favour of the K-x solely because of the latter’s high ISO performance. That’s just wrong for Pentax; they are losing sales of their flagship to their entry-level model. Many Pentaxians are requesting a K-7x: A K-7 with the Sony sensor from the K-x. I don’t know that an Asian camera company will have the guts to do this, but it would make so much sense.
I too loved the look and fell of the K7 but was not pleased with High ISO noise. After adjusting for this in-camera, still wasn’t happy and returned it to the vendor. And a shame too because the K7 is a dream to handle. It fits snugly into the palm and makes a natural extension of the eye. If it only shot High ISO like the Kx, Pentax would have done something that no one else has done, a mini D700 for <$1000. The K7x (as some call it) would have been a monumental shifter in the DSLR category. Go Pentax!
Well Brian, let’s wait to see what Pentax presents at the Photokina 2010 this Autumn. It’s pretty much all over the internet that Pentaxians want a K-7x. I’m going to need a new camera before the end of the year, so I hope Pentax delivers.