Pentax Life

Here you can download two full size photos made with Samsung GX10 at ISO1600 sensitivity. This samples are from the preproduction camera with firmware version 0.20. Both shots were taken indoors.

I have tried to find some similar shots (ISO1600, indoors) made with Sony Alpha A100 and Nikon D80 which are the main competitors to the Samsung GX10/Pentax K10D and put them side by side. Also comparison with the previous Samsung’s 6Mp DSLR GX-1S would be interesting too.

Of cause, the “test” is far from scientific. It’s impossible to find photos made with other cameras in the same conditions and of the same subjects. But this fact could not prevent me from making some “pre” conclusions. The first thing that catch my eye is the very fine grain of the GX10. It looks like noise reduction works in a very merciful manner. Shots by A100/D80 are smoother but contains more noise reduction artifacts. I can’t say that GX10’s picture is worse but obviously not better - it’s just different.

The second thing is that the GX10 is not significantly noisier than the GX-1S (a.k.a. Pentax *istDS2). It’s amazing considering larger GX-1S’s sensor elements.

Don’t forget that this is preproduction firmware 0.20 - noise reduction could be changed dramatically in the version 1.0.