Pentax K-S1 Review – Image Quality

On the whole, the level of image quality produced by the K-S1 is pleasing.

Thanks to the APS-C sensor and the removal the optical low-pass filter, Raw files deliver an impressive amount of detail. That being said, due to fairly aggressive noise and artefact reduction JPEG files don’t quite meet the same high standard.

In terms of dynamic range, the K-S1 also delivers fairly solid results in line with other, equivalent APS-C DSLRs. As the ISO increases, the level of dynamic range recorded decreases due to noise levels, although it still performs well at the middle of the range.

The metering system performs you might expect from a Pentax DSLR. The model preserves highlight detail well, and although the images might seem a touch underexposed a simple adjustment of the exposure compensation settings should tend to this.

In terms of image noise, at the lower settings between ISO 100 and 1600 there’s very little sign of noise whatsoever. At ISO 3200 noise does begin to appear, and at ISO 6400 it becomes more of an issue, hampering fine detail. The settings above this are particularly poor, and are probably best avoided unless they are absolutely needed.