Advice for buying a low light camera

[Rogereh]

Both the D5 and Z6ii are really good choices for low light, it really comes down to which type of camera gives you works best for your type of shooting. For action, a Z6ii is OK, but it's no D5. However, if you shoot more static stuff, I think the Z6ii and it's "all over the frame" AF system is a better choice. Of course, there's frame rates, buffers, EVF vs optical, etc etc to consider as well.

As for the D5 - check KEH or UsedPhotoPro - both offer a return period and are very reputable.

Steve, I followed your suggestion and found a D5 in my budget level. Been watching for D5's and Z6II. Looks like the Z6ii are nearly extinct due to the virus. Found a D5 with low shutter count for $3100 on eBay and took a chance. Now the long wait for the mailman to ring the doorbell.
Thanks for the advice.

 

[Steve]

Steve, I followed your suggestion and found a D5 in my budget level. Been watching for D5's and Z6II. Looks like the Z6ii are nearly extinct due to the virus. Found a D5 with low shutter count for $3100 on eBay and took a chance. Now the long wait for the mailman to ring the doorbell.
Thanks for the advice.

Congrats! That camera has served me well over the years, I'm sure you'll enjoy it

 

[Rogereh]

Congrats! That camera has served me well over the years, I'm sure you'll enjoy it

Steve, I thought that I remembered you had a review of your D5 and your menu settings for shooting wildlife somewhere, but all I can find is your D6 review? Am I not remembering correctly? So far I'm not overly impressed with the low-light photos that I took last evening. Hoping I just need some setting tweaks. Sort of wish that I went for the Z6ii now. I feel that my Z7 has cleaner night sky images than the D5 so far. I'm hoping that I've missed something important in my settings.

 

[Steve]

Steve, I thought that I remembered you had a review of your D5 and your menu settings for shooting wildlife somewhere, but all I can find is your D6 review? Am I not remembering correctly? So far I'm not overly impressed with the low-light photos that I took last evening. Hoping I just need some setting tweaks. Sort of wish that I went for the Z6ii now. I feel that my Z7 has cleaner night sky images than the D5 so far. I'm hoping that I've missed something important in my settings.

I actually didn't do a D5 review - there wasn't much interest in the camera when it came out.

Unless you're shooting Jpeg, there really aren't any tweaks for ISO. It is what it is. I can tell you in every test I've ever done and seen that the D5 is always a bit better than the Z7 - even with the Z7 downsampled. The D5 sensor is a bit of an odd duck though and may not like longer exposures as much as other sensors. It's optimized for low light and high ISO work, but I'm not sure how it responds to longer exposure times.

 

[Rogereh]

I actually didn't do a D5 review - there wasn't much interest in the camera when it came out.

Unless you're shooting Jpeg, there really aren't any tweaks for ISO. It is what it is. I can tell you in every test I've ever done and seen that the D5 is always a bit better than the Z7 - even with the Z7 downsampled. The D5 sensor is a bit of an odd duck though and may not like longer exposures as much as other sensors. It's optimized for low light and high ISO work, but I'm not sure how it responds to longer exposure times.

Thanks Steve. I'm wanting to like it but the images are not what I expected from a top of the line Pro camera. But I've only had it since yesterday afternoon. There's a lot that is different from my other Nikons. One is the much lower rez photos and the unexpected noise levels at higher ISOs. But I tried the higher than normal ISO setting to see what I would get. I have a small family of deer that come out of the woods and into the field to eat around dusk so I was hoping for better photos than what I was getting with my D500 and D850. Probably my expectations were too high. Thanks for responding.

 

[EricBowles]

The catch with low light and ISO is the differences among current cameras are so small. The big leap was with the D3 and the move to large photo sites and full frame. Since then, we've had small incremental improvement. Still, the difference between a really good camera and an okay camera is a half stop or so.

Go to the chart at www.PhotonstoPhotos.net . Compare any cameras you want at ISO 1600 or so. The differences are remarkably small with an FX camera.

When looking at images, be careful about looking at a 1:1 or 100% view. That penalizes a higher resolution camera. Resize all files to the same output and you'll have a better idea. Cropping an image also makes a difference. Cropping a D850 image to a DX crop (cropping out 1/3 the image) means you lose about 1 full stop of ISO performance. Every time you crop 1/3 the image you lose 1 stop more.

The D5 is as god as it gets for low light, but be realistic. You're gaining a half stop over your D850 at equivalent ISO.

Consider two other ideas:
If you really have low light, use a faster lens. A 200 f/2 or 400 f/2.8 might be better than buying a faster camera.
Also consider how well you can focus. The Z7 tends to be more accurate with focus in low light - and you can zoom through the EVF to check or refine focus. There may be a tradeoff between focus and ISO performance. The D5 AF is faster because it has a separate AF processor, but the Z camera focus is more accurate as it incorporate different technology for focusing.