Joe, I was asking which controls these were. Which controls that you use regularly are buried on the new mid-body?
Now, seeing as how the Pentax 6MP offerings are strong performers, comparatively, in terms of noise, why assume that they'll forget how they did all that when making the new body? -Aaron -----Original Message----- From: Joseph Tainter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subj: Re: K10D Date: Sat May 13, 2006 1:42 pm Size: 2K To: [email protected] So then share -- what are the problematic layout issues with the mid-level camera? And are we certain that the software is the same as the D200, and how do we know this? -Aaron ---------- Mid-level camera: As with the DS, it looks like some controls will be buried down in electronic menus. From the photo that was on the Russian web site for a few hours, it looked like it will lack some of the physical controls that the top model will have. This is to be expected. The DS achieved some of its cost savings over the D by taking manual controls and making them electronic. Most controls are still available, just harder to access. This is a design feature of concern to me, since there are some controls that I access often, and I want them to be physical controls. That said, the mockup of the D+ (K10D?/D successor) seemed to suggest that even it will not have all of the external controls that the D has. Sensor output is a matter of signal-to-noise ratio. With more pixels in a sensor of the same size (10 mp vs. 6 mp), pixels are smaller. There will be less signal and more noise. The Nikon D200 uses a Sony APS-C 10 mp sensor that is about the same size as the Sony 6 mp sensor in our cameras and the Nikon 6 mp models. The 10 mp is reported to be noisier than the 6 mp. Nikon has implemented some noise reduction software for higher ISO settings, but it noticeably softens images. Pentax has refused to say which sensor it will use in the D+. But a Pentax exec said something along the lines of "You won't be surprised." That sounds to me like it will be the Sony 10 mp sensor. I love the nearly noise-free images I get with my D at ISO 200. But I want shake reduction, and I want shake reduction in a camera that has the external controls of the D. So I will probably buy the D+. Will Pentax's programmers find a better way to reduce noise without softening the image than Nikon's programmers did? I will be pleasantly surprised if they do, but Nikon's employees/contractors have good brains, and I see no reason to expect Pentax to do better. Shake reduction seems to give about 2 EV reduction in useable shutter speed, perhaps a bit more with wide angle lenses. I am expecting that we will lose at least 1 EV in ISO setting due to higher noise (i.e, noise at ISO 1600 on the D will be about like noise at ISO 800 on the D+). So the 10 mp with SR will give us a net gain of 1 EV in shutter speed. For $2000 or so, a net gain of one EV in shutter speed will be disappointing. But I will probably want to buy the camera anyway. Joe
