Image Quality

With such an impressive spec, build quality and price tag, the K10D and GX10 appear to be every photographer’s dream, but if you’re a novice looking for your first DSLR these cameras might not be for you. The reason is, both require a little work to ensure things come out ‘right’.

The 16-segment multi-area metering is readily thrown by highlight areas so you need to keep an eye on the histogram if you want print-ready JPEGs, or edit your images ‘after the event’. Better still, a rudimentary knowledge of when and why you might want to use centre-weighted metering will help no end.

It’s a similar story with the white balance, which can deliver cool-looking images when left to its own devices, while the pre-set WB settings aren’t always the answer either – giving overly warm results in overcast conditions, for example.

However, when it comes to noise we have no complaints whatsoever. At the lower end of the scale (ISO 100-400) images can be considered ‘noise-free’ up to an A3 print size, while at ISO 800 noise isn’t an issue with a 300ppi A4 sized print. Even when viewed at 100% on screen it’s luminance texture, rather than coloured (chroma) noise that starts to creep in.

What impresses us most, though, is that at ISO 1600 the images don’t ‘fall apart’. There is some base texture in darker areas of A4 prints, but this is by no means obvious, or indeed disruptive to detail. Also, as the noise is primarily luminosity noise rather than chroma noise, photographs have a ‘filmic’ appearance rather than a telltale digital look.