Pentax K-70 Image Quality

Despite its slightly greater 24.2-megapixel resolution on paper, the Pentax K-70 turns in a very similar performance to the 20.1-megapixel K-S2 at base sensitivity. There's perhaps just slightly more detail in the K-70's mosaic label and fabric swatch, but the difference is slight. As is typical of Pentax's default settings, both cameras give the pink fabric swatch a magenta hue

Likewise, the comparison against the K-3 II is much as we'd expect: With near-identical sensor resolution, neither camera has a clear edge in the detail department. (The K-3 II's result looks just fractionally crisper, but that seems to be down to slightly stronger default sharpening.) And again, there's the magenta hue to the pink fabric swatch for which Pentax is well-known.

Finally, we come to rather more interesting comparison. At base sensitivity, the Canon T6i and Pentax K-70 derive similar levels of detail from their 24.2-megapixel image sensors, although higher default sharpening from the K-70 gives it a crisper look. Canon wins on color, though, especially on the difficult pink and red swatches. It's perhaps just a touch warm in the pink swatch still, and its colors perhaps are slightly more muted than the typical consumer's tastes, but they're certainly more true-to-life than those of the Pentax at default settings.

The Nikon D5500, too, has more realistic color at default settings than does the Pentax K-70. (They're not quite as good as those of the Canon, though, tending a little warmer in the pink swatch.) Like those of the T6i before it, the D5500's images look a little less crisp than those of the K-70, but that's down to higher sharpening from the Pentax. Look at the finer details, especially in the pink fabric swatch, and it appears that the D5500 is actually holding onto more detail.

The best of the bunch at base sensitivity, though, has to be the Sony A6000. Sure, it's pink swatch is rather too warm compared to the Canon T6i, but it is still closer than the Pentax K-70's magenta rendering. And the Sony definitely holds onto the most detail of the group, despite lower levels of sharpening. (Note the absence of halos in the bottle crop, where the Pentax cameras and Canon T6i in particular show noticeable halos around the printing on the label.) And for bonus points, the A6000 also has the best contrast in the difficult red fabric swatch.

With the sensitivity bumped up to ISO 1600 equivalent, we see similar noise levels from the Pentax K-70 and K-S2. The K-70 retains just a little more detail in the mosaic label, and both cameras struggle badly with the red fabric swatch, losing almost every hint of detail. It's close, but if we had to choose, we'd give a slight edge to the K-70 here.

Now here's a turnup for the books: With the sensitivity raised to ISO 1600-equivalent, the more affordable Pentax K-70 actually outperforms its flagship sibling in terms of noise levels (as shown in the bottle crop) and perhaps just slightly in detail too (per the mosaic label crop). The K-3 II does just fractionally better with the fabric swatches at this sensitivity, but it's a close thing. Apparently if you're a Pentaxian and high-sensitivity performance is your main deciding factor, you might want to consider the entry-level K-70 over its enthusiast-grade sibling. (Of course, the K-3 II will still outperform the K-70 in many other respects.)

At ISO 1600-equivalent, we see two very different approaches from Canon and Pentax. The K-70 has a pretty clear edge in both noise levels and detail, as you can see in the bottle and mosaic label crops. The T6i, though, clearly wins in terms of color and in its handling of that difficult red fabric swatch.

It's a similar story against the Nikon D5500, too. The Pentax K-70 clearly trails in the fabric swatches, but holds onto a good bit more fine detail in the mosaic label. Noise levels are pretty similar between the pair, though, as you can see in the bottle crop.

Once again, though, we find ourselves favoring the Sony A6000 even if it's not quite as resounding a victory as at base sensitivity. The A6000's noise reduction is a bit heavy-handed, showing some unnatural mottling in the mosaic label and pink fabric swatch, and to a lesser extent in the bottle crop as well. But the Sony still holds onto some fine thread patterns in the pink fabric swatch, has a good bit of contrast in the red swatch, and has fairly good color as well.

Interesting results if we dial up the sensitivity, then, but what if we go a step further? At ISO 3200, the Pentax K-70 looks to have more of an edge over its lower-res sibling, with both somewhat lower noise levels in the bottle crop, and a bit more detail in the mosaic label. Both cameras have now lost almost all detail in the difficult red fabric swatch, and still show a very magenta rendition of the pink swatch.

The trend continues in our comparison of the K-70 against its flagship sibling, the K-3 II. There's a pretty clear difference in noise levels between the pair, not to mention detail levels thanks to the effects of noise reduction. Where the K-3 II's image is starting to look rather mottled and ropey, the K-70 holds onto a fair bit more detail with lesser noise levels. The K-3 II does hold onto a tiny bit of red fabric swatch detail which the K-70 has lost, however.

And again, we see the trend continued with the Canon T6i: The Pentax K-70 has noticeably lower noise levels and holds onto much more fine detail, but the Canon Rebel has better color and manages to retain a bit of contrast in the red fabric swatch.

Of this group, the Nikon D5500 probably shows the most balanced approach at this higher sensitivity. Its color is noticeably more realistic than that of the Pentax, and it manages to hold onto a bit of detail in the red fabric swatch. The K-70 does better with the fine details in the mosaic label, and it's pretty much a wash in terms of noise levels between this pair.

Once again, the Sony A6000 shows that it has far higher default noise reduction. At first glance its bottle crop is cleaner, but then you notice an unnatural mottled, blotchy look that sometimes sees color bleeding across the boundary between bottle and background. The Pentax K-70 does far better with the mosaic label, but despite its blotchniness, the Sony manages better with the fabric swatches, although here too you can see colors bleeding between the two adjacent swatches.