Canon cameras and low light capability

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Carole
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Looking at this from purely the low light capabilities and ignoring boring things like cost (:lol:) which do you think is better at silly high ISO's.........the 50D or the 5D Mk ll. The full frame capability isn't vital to me (though nice to have sometimes) but the quality at high ISO is. I can only find comparisons between Canon and Nikon........and there is no way I could swap to the Darkside now, as I have too much dosh invested in L glass.

Any comments?
 
The 5D or 5D2 is a country mile ahead of the 50D.

Bob
 
Bob, 5D2 wins that one, but how would you rate it against a 1D3 for noise/high ISO? With its much better AF, would that make a good choice for an Aging Rock Chick?
 
5dII will be better than a 50d as it has a much lower pixel density, I think a 1dIII would be behind a 5dII as the 5d uses newer tech and a 1dIII has a 1.3x crop so a smaller sensor, but I don't really know

I have a 50d and theres a fair bit of noise at high iso (but 1600 is similar to 400 on my 450d), and LOADS at silly iso (like 12,800) but its expected cos if you go that high its to get the shot you couldn't else
 
Bob, 5D2 wins that one, but how would you rate it against a 1D3 for noise/high ISO? With its much better AF, would that make a good choice for an Aging Rock Chick?

The 1D3 is the cleanest of the bunch but this was achieved by clipping the bottom off the dynamic range. I think smokey dens of debauchery would lose some of their atmosphere if the whole spectrum couldn't be captured.

Bob
 
I agree that a 5D2 would be the way to go for low light with the addition of either a speedlight or ST-1 for infra-red focus assist.

Bob, 5D2 wins that one, but how would you rate it against a 1D3 for noise/high ISO? With its much better AF, would that make a good choice for an Aging Rock Chick?

I've actually read posts by a couple of users on POTN that own and use both cameras that rate the 5D2's AF accuracy when using centre point in low light over the 1D3's. :thinking:
 
"S-DoD" scene mode - that's what she needs! :D
 
really bob is that like the tone priority setting on the 50d but the other way round :O

The photosites are capable of distinguishing and capturing upto 14 stops of dynamic range but the darkest end is where the noise gets generated. Clip of the bottom of the range and the overall noise signature is reduced. It's down to the manufacturer to balance out DR and noise.
If you compare Canon and Nikon's top of the range offerings then Nikon win the noise battle but Canon have a slightly better DR. In reality, both sensors probably have identical capabilities and it's how to aim it at the market that sets the output levels.

Bob
 
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