For the English speakers: Below two test images that were made with the new Pentax K-1 mark II. Images were taken from a Sirui tripos with a Sirui filter graduated filter to control the sky. No adjustments at all in photoshop, just layered on top of each other.
PS Print the image for a real world look & feel.
Last week I exchanged 1 of my Pentax K-1 bodies for the new Pentax K-1 mark II. I had already gained experience with the excellent ISO performance of the Pentax KP, the little APS-C brother.
The “Image Accelerator” that first appeared in the KP has now also found its way into the Pentax K-1 mark II. Time to put the ISO performance to the test, especially since I often work in nature during twilight.
For this test, the Pentax K-1 mark II was placed on a Sirui tripod. The cloudy sky is kept under control with a Sirui 0.6 ND gradation filter.
Camera set to aperture priority with a fixed aperture of f11. After each shot, the ISO sensitivity is doubled.
The images were opened in Photoshop without any editing and were merged into separate layers. The full picture is here to find.
For this second test, the Pentax K-1 mark II was set up with Pixel Shift resolution enabled. In addition to better resolution and detail, this setting normally also gives better high ISO performance.
Again using the Sirui 0.6 ND gradation filter.
Camera set to aperture priority with a fixed aperture of f11. After each shot, the ISO sensitivity is doubled.
The images were of course also opened in Photoshop this time without any form of editing and were merged into separate layers. The full picture is here to find.
For me personally, the ISO properties of the K-1 mark II seem to be improved by 1.5 to 2 stops. Where I previously had my personal limit around ISO 6400, I will now not hesitate to use ISO 12,800. Previously a value we could only dream of!
As an example, an edited image from the series at ISO 12,800
