I quote..
Links:
The Nikon D700
High ISO versus IS
I just checked Amazon.com, one costs $2399, the other, $750.
So if you don't need high ISO? The choice is clear.
I have to admit I'm a bit disappointed that the Nikon didn't do better here. Here are a few things that could be going on: Maybe 6400 is past the sweet spot for the D700 (that is, maybe the D700 would beat the K20D by more than two stops if there were more light and I were using both at lower ISOs). Maybe the newer (c. 2007) Pentax lens is better than the older (c. 1987) Nikkor (I did give the Pentax DA Macro a rave review when I wrote about it). Maybe I'm better at hand-holding 1/15th with IS than I am at handholding even 1/60th without it (I think it's pretty obvious that this is true). Maybe noise reduction and sharpening would change the results or at least ameliorate the differences. Maybe I messed up the test in some other way I'm not aware of.
To me, it looks like the K20D at 1600 compares favorably to the D700 at 6400it has better sharpness and more detail. This looks like a win for SR to me, for this kind of shota static scenic in extremely low light.
P.S. There's one criticism of this test you shouldn't make, and that would be to say that I could just use VR on the Nikon. Nope, because Nikon does not now and never will put VR in any of the lenses I want it innot a chance. That's why I like IS built into the camera body, because it's usable with all lensesincluding the ones I like. So the Nikon's only hope of competing is with higher ISOs alone.
Ultimately, I suspect the image quality (IQ) of the K20D is better than that of the Nikon D700, as I shall try to demonstrate in due course. The Pentax has somewhat higher resolution and better detail; it has slightly tastier, richer color than I've so far eked out of the Nikon. But that's only if you're able to use the K20D within its limitationsmeaning, at normal sensitivities. That's a big "if," turns out. Where the D700 just obliterates the K20Dand every other digital camera I've ever used, save the D3is at high ISO's.
Links:
The Nikon D700
High ISO versus IS
I just checked Amazon.com, one costs $2399, the other, $750.
So if you don't need high ISO? The choice is clear.