The 12 megapixels Nikon D90 is compared to the 15 megapixels K20D. All images below are 100% unmodified crops from their respective cameras. Both cameras were set on aperture-priority mode with fixed ISO and tungsten white-balance. The remaining settings were left on automatic. The D90 had the Nikkor 18-105 F3.5-5.6 VR lens while the K20D had the Pentax DA* 50-135 F2.8.

Although both cameras meter identically, images from the Pentax are slightly darker which also looks more highly saturated. Actual colors are somewhere between the two, so neither camera got the tungsten lighting right on AWB. Noise levels start low on both with the Pentax being considerably sharper in exchange for more image noise. As in the outdoor crops, the D90 fights noise back using increasing softness as ISO is increased. The K20D simply gets more noisy. Still, the Nikon D90 can pull off prints better than the K20D which throws in the towel at its maximum ISO. Noise is only a real problem at ISO 3200 and up on the Nikon, demonstrating above average performance in terms of noise-control. Note that the crops are only one version of the story because both the Nikon D90 and the Pentax K20D have customizable noise-reduction settings. On the D90 the default is Low, while on the K20D the default is Off.