[whzzz28 (Nathan)]

Alright so i have taken a few nightscape photos using my Pentax K5, which should have very good low light capabilities according to what i have read.

I end up with grainy images with not a lot of detail.
See attached photo as an example.

I am trying to understand how i can improve upon my images, or if i am limited by my gear.

The attached was shot with a Pentax K5 using a Sigma 8-16mm lens, at 10mm~ f4.5, ISO i can not remember, suspect 1600 @ 30 seconds.
Upping the ISO does not help, rather makes the noise worse. Lowering the ISO lowers noise, a bit, but obviously lose a lot more detail.

Am i limited by the fact that the fastest my lens can go is f4.5?
Should i be looking at an f2.8 or lower lens?
I understand processing will help here, but in this case i couldn't process it much without adding to the noise.

Any suggestions here on what i can do to cleanup the image? Or anyone want to venture forward with their work flow when taking nightscape images? (such as ISO 1600, 30sec sub etc)
Would be much appreciated.

Thanks.