Should i be gutted?

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alphamale

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Matt
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Hi,

Bought my first DSLR (Sony A200 with 18-70mm kit lens) and was proud as punch yesterday.

My mate came round today with his Pentax K10d with a lens he describes as (not that expensive) and we rhymed a few shots off and put them on my pc.

Im absolutely blown away by the Pentax shots , soooooooooooo much sharper, clearer, better quality, punchier its untrue. I thought it might be me being a beginner so he did his thing with mine and a little better quality but still way behind the pentax.

Is this down to the lens do you think (so the sony would produce near the same quality given a better lens on it) or is it that the sony arent that good?

Gutted :bang:
 
Just called him and he says its a Pentax 18-250mm F4 and cost him just over £320

So if i put a £320 lens on the Sony would i get similar great quality compared to the not so great 18-70 sony kit lens??
 
The kit lens is just a 'get you started' lens. Fine for many people, but they're usually built to a price. Spend a bit more and with a few exceptions the quality increases the more you spend.
 
Theres a bit more to it than that, what settings are you using? most cameras have custom ajustments, he might have colour and sharpness turned up on his camera, your camera may be set to RGB which can look a lot "duller" check out the handbook first. Wayne
 
Should it not be on RGB?
Im just worrying for nothing probably. Just dont want to have bought the wrong thing as im going to be buying other stuff for it and dont want to be in a "system" thats inferior
 
you both took the same shot, but did your cameras? what exposure did you give them, what f did you shoot at what was your iso set at, did he use creative mode and did you use one of the programme modes?
 
fragdude said:
you both took the same shot, but did your cameras? what exposure did you give them, what f did you shoot at what was your iso set at, did he use creative mode and did you use one of the programme modes?
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We were both at F8 and same shutter speed as we were both in manual mode.
 
Pentax is far superior to Sony so I am not suprised you can see such a difference.

Ok, to be honest the 18-250mm f4 Pentax is very good and no way can be compared to any kit lens. It is basically the Tamron 18-250mm but with the smc Pentax coating. Get something similar and I am sure you will do just as well.
 
Mike.P said:
Pentax is far superior to Sony so I am not suprised you can see such a difference.

Ok, to be honest the 18-250mm f4 Pentax is very good and no way can be compared to any kit lens. It is basically the Tamron 18-250mm but with the smc Pentax coating. Get something similar and I am sure you will do just as well.
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Without starting a war on why its better....What makes pentax better?
 
right , lol

So you would say they are all pretty similar in quality given the same lens quality?
 
alphamale said:
right , lol

So you would say they are all pretty similar in quality given the same lens quality?
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I don't see why not. I have never used a Sony before but have seen plenty of shots taken with them .. they seem as good as anything else in that price bracket. As I said its an unfair comparison between you kit lens and the 18-250mm plus it depends on what you camera has set for colour/sharpness etc compared to the K10D.
 
alphamale said:
We were both at F8 and same shutter speed as we were both in manual mode.
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weird then, ive not owned either but both have happy owners, did u both use the same focal distance?

i know if i compare my photos at 300mm (longest my lens goes too) they look softer than a sigma 50 -500 mm using a 300mm focal length, if that makes sense?
 
iirc the K10D uses the same 10.2Mp Sony sensor as the A200.
Of course there may well be setup differences (file quality etc.).

Alphamale look around at shops & you will see that you are paying probably about £30-40 for your kit 18-70mm over body only, realistically how good can it be?
Now, if you were to fit the Sony 18-250mm (again a modified version of the Tamron) you would see an IQ improvement over the kit (btw I can't see a Pentax 18-250mm f4 it's either smc DA 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 ~£350 or smc DA 60-250 f/4.0 ED (IF) SDM ~£850).
 
There's nothing wrong with the Sony lens at F8, and it's certainly up to any Tamron superzoom quality - if you were shooting JPEG's I suggest you listen to what Swanseamale said and check your in-camera settings for saturation, sharpness, etc, before splashing out cash and maybe finding out your images look exactly the same as before...
 
DekHog said:
There's nothing wrong with the Sony lens at F8, and it's certainly up to any Tamron superzoom quality
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From another Sony user on the 18-250mm

LINK

Quote: I have both of these lenses on my A100 and new A700. I love the 10-20. The Tamron is FAR better to me than the kit lens. After all, it's a $500 lens, and the image quality shows (to me). Not that the kit lens is a slouch.
 
I've heard many people rave about the Sony kit lens... they must all be wrong then. I don't think the quality of ANY superzoom can be that good anyway; they're too much of a compromise, otherwise they are all anyone would buy...
 
I don't think there is anything wrong with the Kit lens (well not mine anyway)

These were taken inside, hand held, with no flash. Exif and larger versions on Flickr

First one under bright lights and the second under less bright lights



 
DekHog said:
I've heard many people rave about the Sony kit lens... they must all be wrong then.
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In the days of 6Mp it was 1 of the better ones because of the extra range but the likes of the 14Mp A350 start to show up it's flaws (which is why Sony have just announced it's replacement).
It's also known for sample variation.
I don't think the quality of ANY superzoom can be that good anyway; they're too much of a compromise, otherwise they are all anyone would buy...
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try it, you might be surprised.
 
heidfirst said:
In the days of 6Mp it was 1 of the better ones because of the extra range but the likes of the 14Mp A350 start to show up it's flaws (which is why Sony have just announced it's replacement).
It's also known for sample variation.

try it, you might be surprised.
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But theoretically, it just shouldn't be better!

That's why primes are reputed to be amazing, because the lens only has to mess around with one focal length!
 
I'm not saying that a (good) superzoom is better than a (good) prime but irrespective of prime or zoom some are better than others (& some zooms are now approaching prime quality albeit at a cost).
The Tamron 18-250mm is a good design (the 55-200mm is quite remarkable for it's image quality compared to it's price) - the main drawback of the 18-250mm isn't it's image quality but it's poor max aperture (which is where they compromised) with it's knock on effect of slow focusing.

You also have to consider the sensor (see the comment about the 18-70 kit being OK on 6Mp but 14Mp showing up it's flaws) the reverse is also true & it's possible for a lens to outperform the sensors ability to show it.
 
it's a rebadge of the KM 18-70mm & came out with the 5D.
 
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