# which camera strictly on IQ at high iso.



## enerlevel (Oct 1, 2011)

hi everyone,
i owe a canon 550d. i am usually using it for night group photos without flash and without tripod... therefore i end up using high iso for more light . i am not very satisfied with the grains produced by 550d at high iso...... which camera whould you choose strictly on high iso low noise...

canon 7d
canon 600d
canon 60d

i have a 17-55mm f2.8 and a 70-200f4 L lens ... which is why i am not considering nikon as i will have to change almost everything.. however if shifting to 
nikon d5100 
nikon d7000
will really solve my problem by a large margin, then i will surely shift to nikon.
thanks...

ps:- i am not worried about ergonomics or weather sealing etc... just want it to be better in IQ in high iso.


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## Hickeydog (Oct 1, 2011)

It looks like the sensor is the same across that line.  They will all yield very similar low light performance.


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## jake337 (Oct 1, 2011)

Add D3S and pick that one!


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## Overread (Oct 1, 2011)

Late night - low light - no flash and group shots I wouldn't be looking at any of those cameras. Instead I'd hit the market for a second hand/reconditioned 5D (5DMII would be the perfect tool if you had the funds) which would give a larger angle of view for those group shots and also have high, clean ISOs to work with. You would have to look to replacing your 17-55mm lens since the fullframe bodies won't take EFS mount lenses, but otherwise that would be the ideal tool for the job. In addition the 5D will have a better, bigger viewfinder image to work with which will help with those low light focusing and composition factors.
A prime lens or two might also be worth considering - an 85mm, 50mm type lens with a good fast aperture, if not to shoot with (tiny depth of field) but at least to make focusing and composition easier with a brighter viewfinder.

Otherwise the 600D or 7D would produce very similar results; sharing the same/similar sensor though the 7D will have the considerable edge with focusing and would be my ideal choice. Further whilst its still crop sensor the 7D will have a generally bigger and better viewfinder image to work with.


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## analog.universe (Oct 1, 2011)

The 7D, 600D, and 60D all use the same sensor, so they will be very similar.  The metal body of the 7D will help you a little, but not significantly.  However, if you can afford a 7D, you can likely afford a used 5D MkII, which has much better ISO performance than the 3 you mentioned.  From sample photos I've seen, the 5D MkII at 3200 looks really nice, and still alright at 6400.  Probably about 1.5 stops better than my 60D, from a subjective standpoint.  You can check out dxomark for actual tests.

Also, if you're running into ISO limitations, neither of your lenses is helping you out much.  An f/1.4 prime would be 2 stops faster than your 17-55 (and cheaper than a high performance body).  f/1.4 at ISO 1600 gets you the same shutter speed as f/2.8 at ISO 6400.

I think personally I'd be looking at a 24mm f/1.4L, instead of a new body.


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## jaomul (Oct 2, 2011)

As already said your camera is pretty much as good as it gets for a crop sensor. You will prob only improve it by going full frame so see if you can improve the speed of your lenses


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## enerlevel (Oct 2, 2011)

jaomul said:
			
		

> As already said your camera is pretty much as good as it gets for a crop sensor. You will prob only improve it by going full frame so see if you can improve the speed of your lenses



thanks for the opinions everyone..... these pics are just random family gathering shots or friend shots. just a hobby not a profession therefore getting a mark II or d3s is a little bit too much money involved for a hobby... 
also getting a 50 f1.4 will not get my problem solved as i need to take group photos , f1.4 will get too narrow to focus 3-4 ppl in a frame.


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## analog.universe (Oct 2, 2011)

This is why I recommended a wide 1.4.  24mm focused 2.5m away at 1.4 gets you over half a meter of field.  50mm is also tight for groups on a crop body.


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## jaomul (Oct 2, 2011)

One thing you could try is set your 17-55 at 35. If its wide enough for what you want there is an EF35 f2 which is a stop faster than your zoom and its not overly expensive. There is also a 28 f1.8 which may suit. The EF24 1.4 woud be nicer but its a massive price to pay for a lens if your not a pro IMO


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## analog.universe (Oct 2, 2011)

jaomul said:


> its a massive price to pay for a lens if your not a pro IMO



You do have to kind of draw an arbitrary line to decide what's massive and what's not.  I only suggested it because the OP seemed to be considering a 7D, which is even more expensive.


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## Derrel (Oct 2, 2011)

How about this "dream camera"???


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## enerlevel (Oct 2, 2011)

analog.universe said:
			
		

> You do have to kind of draw an arbitrary line to decide what's massive and what's not.  I only suggested it because the OP seemed to be considering a 7D, which is even more expensive.



the 7d is still get able for me but d3s or d3x is too much.  humm so changing thr camera will have no effects on high iso noise...... right?


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## jaomul (Oct 3, 2011)

analog.universe said:


> jaomul said:
> 
> 
> > its a massive price to pay for a lens if your not a pro IMO
> ...



Was not dismissing your suggestion, just giving a more cost effective (but probably not as high quality) alternative suggestion. But in my opinion (IMO) the 24L is a lot of money unless you can relatively easily afford it or you will make money from photography


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## jaomul (Oct 3, 2011)

the 7d is still get able for me but d3s or d3x is too much. humm so changing thr camera will have no effects on high iso noise...... right?[/QUOTE]
Different cameras have different specs and more modern ones are getting better with noise and full frame are better than crop,but lenses that are a full 1, 2 or 3 stops faster than what you own will allow you use an ISO 1,2 or 3 srops lower. You would be hard pushed to find a camera that will give a cleaner image than your own set at 3 stops ISO higher


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## enerlevel (Oct 3, 2011)

jaomul said:
			
		

> the 7d is still get able for me but d3s or d3x is too much. humm so changing thr camera will have no effects on high iso noise...... right?


Different cameras have different specs and more modern ones are getting better with noise and full frame are better than crop,but lenses that are a full 1, 2 or 3 stops faster than what you own will allow you use an ISO 1,2 or 3 srops lower. You would be hard pushed to find a camera that will give a cleaner image than your own set at 3 stops ISO higher[/QUOTE]

i do have a 50mm f1.8 but whenever i try to shoot it at 1.8 for more light, i always end up getting too much dof and 90% of the time shots are blurry


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## jaomul (Oct 3, 2011)

I have that lens also and find it great. I have a 50D,the 550d you have supposedly has better IQ than this. At f1.8 if you focus on something near the far away items will be blurred and vice versa. This is unavoidable but if you are a distance away such as at a concert or something you will probably find the focus plane is big enough to get away with a large aperture. Unfortunetly there are also conditions that any camera is unable to get a usable shot. I think with what you have you are fairly well equiped to capture low light shots. If 90% are blurred with this lens it could possibly be faulty, or if you have a dodgy filter attached it can fool the focus, this happenened to me with a cheap polaiser


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## Big Mike (Oct 3, 2011)

The 5DmkII, is down to $1999 CDN at a store in my city.  Might that put it close to your budget?


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## jaomul (Oct 3, 2011)

You have it good there probably because of customer base. Cheapest here 2050 euro or 2846 Canadian dollars


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## Big Mike (Oct 3, 2011)

The usual price is $2699 or $2749....but it's being deeply discounted now...for some reason.  In another thread, I speculated that maybe it's because they want the stores to clear their stock in preparation of a new model coming soon.


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## enerlevel (Oct 3, 2011)

Big Mike said:
			
		

> The usual price is $2699 or $2749....but it's being deeply discounted now...for some reason.  In another thread, I speculated that maybe it's because they want the stores to clear their stock in preparation of a new model coming soon.



if i do happen to stretch my budget to mark II , problem is my 17-55 and 55-250 is not compatible with FF.... so its like changing the whole setup


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## Big Mike (Oct 3, 2011)

You're right...that would be a silly thing to do.  

By the way, do you want to buy any of the following lenses;
EF-S 18-55mm
EF-S 17-85mm
EF-S 10-22mm
Tamron 17-50mm F2.8
Sigma 30mm F1.4

(I made _that_ mistake and upgraded to the 5DmkII)   :x


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## enerlevel (Oct 4, 2011)

Big Mike said:
			
		

> You're right...that would be a silly thing to do.
> 
> By the way, do you want to buy any of the following lenses;
> EF-S 18-55mm
> ...



thanks, i will message u if i need any of them...... anyone got any first hand experience with the d7000 vs the processors used in 600d,60d and 7d? i have seen many reviews saying the noise on nikon d7000 is actually better then the canons...... is it really true or is it just a fanboy thing ?


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