A Reason to Shoot RAW

Sample files of the new Pentax K-3 are now being released to the Internets. Imaging Resource does a great job of taking test photos under controlled conditions for the pixel peepers to pore over. And while I'm a proponent of the idea that the greatest variable in any photograph opportunity is the photographer itself, I get caught up in the 100% pixel peeping war like everyone else.

And so I was a little worried when I compared the new K-3 to the older Pentax K-5iis and Nikon D600, looking at a particular patch of red fabric that's particularly challenging. At ISO1600, it looked like the K-3 was blurring the subtle reds into one:



But then I took a deep breath and five minutes to download the ISO1600 RAW from the Pentax K-3:



Phew, that was close! Looks like the detail is still there in the RAW file.