Best Low Light Camera? And a bit more

danjoe01

danjoe01

Messages
1
Name
Daniel
Edit My Images
Yes
Ok,
So I currently own a Lumix G7 which is my first camera that I got only just last year and since then my photography level has kind of spiralled to a position I never intended or thought I would go with photography. So I feel my camera now can’t keep up with what I need it for...?

So at the moment I am doing Club Photoraphy in Edinburgh and at the moment having the prime lens on it works well and an external flash. But if I was to put on a zoom lens, the photos would look diabolical as the camera just it’s built for good low light performance... one because it’s micro four thirds, and two it’s an entry level camera performance... Also I don’t feel that I am getting the quality I intend to achieve from my photos and when editing the photo I feel there is a bit too much noise for my liking and sometimes lacking the detail I would like...

So I have been looking at full frame cameras, in paticular I have been looking at the Canon 6d mkii and Canon 5d mkiii (used?). With my budget being about £2000 and would preferbebally like to pick up a lens in that cost bracket too (I’m a student). But I was also looking at a few Nikon and Sony cameras as well, but I’m not too familiar with compatibility of lenses for these cameras etc. And know much more about the Canon setups. If someone would be able to recommend a decent full frame camera with good options of lenses that would be great. Lenses I have been looking at of Canon are like 50mm prime, 85mm prime and then like 150-200mm ish telephoto lenses. I understand the prime lenses from Canon are pretty pricy for a decent one but I will consider all options. I have heard that Nikon have a better range of lenses? Is that right?

Anyway any help would be greatly appreciated!

A little note - I am looking at going into wedding photography and other event photography in the future. And also spend a lot of time outdoors so do a lot of landscape shots. And I’m looking at this camera as a major upgrade to my G7 so the better the camera the better really!

Here’s the link to my Facebook which has most of my club photos and a link to my Flickr!

https://m.facebook.com/danjoephotography/

Thanks again
 
The Sony AR ii with £200 cashback would be £1000 new.

£1000 spare would get a couple a nice lenses.

There is a large range of lenses that will fit, don't worry about that.

The reason I say that camera is because it is kinda discrete in that its a compact mirrorless full frame,
very good in low light, many lenses available, comes in budget with spare for lenses and bits and bobs.

Do you really want to walk into clubs with full size dslr`s and pro lenses,
I would have thought it would scare off some people or worse get a violent response from a few drunks.
 
If your budget is £2000 total, you really should be looking at sub £1000 cameras, the original 6d isa great low light camera, but I’d definitely be thinking Nikon, the Sony sensors have been superior for a long time now.

Then a Sigma Art 35mm and a 24-70 2.8 is just about the budget wrapped up. All S/H of course, buying new isn’t generally the best step into any system.

Try the user interface of the Canon and Nikon, whilst there you can check the Sony mirrorless too. Buy what feels right, don’t be seduced by ‘features’ people have been taking great pictures on very modest kit for years.
 
Nikon D750 all day long. Better low light performance and dynamic range than the 6D and 5D3 with MUCH better AF system than the 6D and arguably equal AF system to the 5D3, although I believe the D750 can focus in lower light, -3ev compared to -2ev of the 5D3 (I’m sure I’ll be corrected if I’m wrong about the 5D3 ;)).

Plus you can pick the D750 up new grey from Panamoz for £1130 if you’re happy buying grey. You could then get something like the 35mm f1.8 and 85mm f1.8 and be well within budget. If you bought used lenses you could probably then get something like the SB700 flash/speedlight within budget too.

BUT, if you do prefer using Canon (which is really important) I would suggest used/grey 5D3 as the 6D’s AF system isn’t the best and you’ll find it much harder getting the shot imo.

Edit: Just be aware that DLSR's are quite different beasts from Mirrorless in some regards, and if you use the LCD screen to compose and shoot a lot (i.e. if you're holding the camera up in the air etc) then forget these DSLRs, AF in live view (LCD screen) is extremely poor, especially in low light.
 
Last edited:
danjoe01 said:
So at the moment I am doing Club Photoraphy in Edinburgh and at the moment having the prime lens on it works well and an external flash. But if I was to put on a zoom lens, the photos would look diabolical as the camera just it’s built for good low light performance... one because it’s micro four thirds, and two it’s an entry level camera performance...
Click to expand...

Just before you rush off and spend £2k on a camera and lens, a G7 should be capable of pretty good results but mount a f3.5-5.6 zoom on just about anything and in "low light" you're going to see the shutter speed fall and the ISO rise so I suppose a lot hangs on what level of light you call low and what ISO's are you using. Also if you're using flash I wonder what the low light hit is to your image quality?

What sort of settings are you using and how are you processing your results? For example if you're boosting the exposure post capture that'll have an effect on your image quality. Another thing to think about is that a MFT camera gives you deeper DoF, if using a FF camera and fast lens wide open you'll see an improvement in low light image quality but once you start stopping the FF lens down any lead may begin to narrow. MFT lenses tend to be ok wide open but that's not always the case with DSLR lenses. Anyway, I just think that more info and thought is needed unless you just want to move to FF.
 
Last edited:
Sony A7s
GreenNinja67 said:
Christmas on the Severn by Terence Rees, on Flickr






Low light photography on M43 is certainly possible.

In fact it's bloody good at it.
Click to expand...

I'm assuming from the OP that the issue is hand held high ISO stuff rather than long exposure.

Sony A7s is worth a look if ultimate low light performance is required. Nikon DF is superb for this stuff too. The 24mp sensors in the A7 and D610 and D750 are great too.
 
GreenNinja67 said:
Christmas on the Severn by Terence Rees, on Flickr






Low light photography on M43 is certainly possible.

In fact it's bloody good at it.
Click to expand...
It is possible and it is good, however at low light it's not in the same league as FF in terms of noise, dynamic range, and AF. If the OP's starting to do paid work for gigs/clubs FF would certainly be a wise option imo as light is generally low and also of poor quality. However, as woof woof suggests the use of flash may negate some of this as the OP may be using lower ISO and direct flash so it would be useful to see some examples of the types of shots (y)
 
gad-westy said:
Sony A7s


I'm assuming from the OP that the issue is hand held high ISO stuff rather than long exposure.

Sony A7s is worth a look if ultimate low light performance is required. Nikon DF is superb for this stuff too. The 24mp sensors in the A7 and D610 and D750 are great too.
Click to expand...

But why high ISO if using flash?

I suppose it depends what club photography means but with MFT it could mean 25mm, f1.8-2.5, ISO 400, 1/10, flash and away we go and if that's the case the results from a G7 could look quite nice :D For weddings and scenery things change but a quick look at what other people are doing with the same kit is often a sobering experience.
 
Plenty of good kit suggestions here. Also worth noting that even with the very best body and lens combo, you still need to have good technique in terms of shooting and processing low light/ high ISO images — I've shot plenty of howlers at low light/high ISO with very capable kit...
 
woof woof said:
But why high ISO if using flash?
Click to expand...

Sometimes needed to get reasonable background exposure. But yes, I do agree that sometimes we haven't wrung every last drop out of performance out of our kit before we write it off as unsuitable.
 
snerkler said:
... If you bought used lenses you could probably then get something like the SB700 flash/speedlight within budget too.

BUT, if you do prefer using Canon (which is really important) I would suggest used/grey 5D3 as the 6D’s AF system isn’t the best and you’ll find it much harder getting the shot imo.

Edit: Just be aware that DLSR's are quite different beasts from Mirrorless in some regards, and if you use the LCD screen to compose and shoot a lot (i.e. if you're holding the camera up in the air etc) then forget these DSLRs, AF in live view (LCD screen) is extremely poor, especially in low light.
Click to expand...
I agree about the D750, but I wouldn’t recommend camera Manufacturer flashguns nowadays, they’re so far behind the curve.
And my advice for anyone using a live view screen to compose in low light is just ‘stop it now and use your camera like a grown up :p‘
 
gad-westy said:
Sometimes needed to get reasonable background exposure. But yes, I do agree that sometimes we haven't wrung every last drop out of performance out of our kit before we write it off as unsuitable.
Click to expand...

It all hangs on the lighting, distances, the flash and the settings etc but exposing for a reasonable background and using the flash to both light and freeze the subject can be possible. Back when I used to take a lot of pictures at gigs with an SLR I used a zoom lens (fast prime? you're kidding me...) at f3.5-5.6, low shutter speeds and the camera flash (when I could) with ISO 1600 film and these days much better (and clearly much better) results will be possible with a Panny G7, ISO 200-800, 17 or 25mm, 1/10-1/40 (with flash) f1.8 to something like f4 or even narrower for a couple or group shot.

I just think it's worth thinking about how the shots are taken and processed before jumping on a DSLR and f2.8 lens costing £2k.
 
Last edited:
GTG said:
He put a link in his original post showing his club photography, hundreds of examples of
Click to expand...
ok
If we're talking small images for friendface and instapost what's the problem?

Or just buy the ff canera and a 28-70mm f2.8.

:D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top