I am wondering if anyone who has the new D800 has done any low ISO long exposure (1 min+) shots at night. I have heard that the higher megapixel sensors are not very good with noise on night work.
I've noticed a larger number of hot pixels in long exposures vs my 5DM2 but not an insane amount, and that's only with long-exposure noise reduction disabled.
Verdict (caveat: my POV):
On a tripod and in the range from base ISO up to ISO 6400 the D800 is among the best cameras (among those compared). In many cases it produces the best source material for post processing. Anectodal evidence with images above 1min don't change that "ranking".
It would be good to see some images and 100% crops shot for 2-3-4 minutes at ISO 800-1600 w/o any in camera NR.
10 to 30 second images really don't show what the camera will do in a long exposure / higher ISO situation.
I appreciate all the work that Andy has done for this comparative work (and Dan for the great image). I like to work with low ISO within the 2-4 minute range in dark sky and dark foreground. So far the results that have been shown are very promising.
Klaus Priebe wrote:
It would be good to see some images and 100% crops shot for 2-3-4 minutes at ISO 800-1600 w/o any in camera NR.
10 to 30 second images really don't show what the camera will do in a long exposure / higher ISO situation.
The D800 will do ok, but other models will do better
Checked with ISO 1600 and 2 mins. My ranking:
1) D3s
2) D700
3) D3x
4) D7000
5) D4
6) D800
Interesting, Andy. I downloaded the D700 (which I have) image and the D800 image from your ISO 6400 samples in the earlier post and at 200%, the D800 image had less noise and finer detail and color, particularly in the shadows. This also seemed to be the case for the Low ISO shots. Are you saying the images that you did at ISO 1600 at 2 minutes shows the D800 performing worse than the D700?
HarveyA wrote:
Interesting, Andy. I downloaded the D700 (which I have) image and the D800 image from your ISO 6400 samples in the earlier post and at 200%, the D800 image had less noise and finer detail and color, particularly in the shadows. This also seemed to be the case for the Low ISO shots. Are you saying the images that you did at ISO 1600 at 2 minutes shows the D800 performing worse than the D700?
Thanks!
Harvey, yes this is the case. The D800 performs admirably in the situations I shared some images with. Looking at High ISO long exposure shots the new generation cameras somehow remind me on the old D70 amp noise issue.
These images are only meant to show the difference between different bodies. You will not see these in your normal shooting. I tweaked the images to "enlarge" the area of interest. All cameras set at ISO 1600, 2 min exposure, long time NR = OFF, NR = OFF (in cam and in CNX2).
The RAW file in CNX2 was pushed by 2 EV. Upper end of the contrast curve was shifted down from 100% to 25% to make the differences visible. Original image resized to 900x600. Lens cap on body. Room temperature
Great, Andy! I appreciate your time on this. It is quite educational. I rarely shoot at over ISO 200 at night, and hope to acquire a D800 in the future, but I think I will stick with the D700 for now.
HarveyA wrote:
Great, Andy! I appreciate your time on this. It is quite educational. I rarely shoot at over ISO 200 at night, and hope to acquire a D800 in the future, but I think I will stick with the D700 for now.
You are welcome Harvey.
I've taken them out. It is way too likely the "internet" will spin this out of context.
