Nikon D3100 Samples

The 14 megapixels Nikon D3100 is compared to the 16 megapixels Pentax K-5
Pentax K-5. All images below are 100% unmodified crops from their respective cameras. ISO, aperture and white-balance were set on the camera, the remaining settings were left on automatic. The D3100 had the Nikkor AF-S DX 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6G VR
Nikkor AF-S DX 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6G VR lens while the K-5 had the Pentax DA* 55mm F/1.4. Unfortunately we only had this lens for the D3100. The scene was first shot at F/8 which resulted in extremely soft images. Stopping down to F/11 makes quite a difference but this raises some serious issues with the kit-lens. Despite custom white-balance registering perfect white on a target white-balance card, colors still look off in certain areas. This indicates an uneven color response from the D3100.

Noise levels from the Nikon D3100 are quite good. ISO 100 to 800 are really clean, but take note of the overall softness. This is in part due to the kit lens and the stronger noise-reduction applied by the D3100. At ISO 1600, a fine noise-pattern is barely visible. ISO 3200 limits maximum print sizes a bit but is definitely usable for medium-sized prints. More noise is present as 6400 but even that setting is usable for small prints. ISO 12800 for a dark scene such as this one would be best avoided.

Nikon D3100	Pentax K-5
ISO 100	ISO 100
ISO 200	ISO 200
ISO 400	ISO 400
ISO 800	ISO 800
ISO 1600	ISO 1600
ISO 3200	ISO 3200
ISO 6400	ISO 6400
ISO 12800	ISO 12800
	ISO 25600
	ISO 51200