high iso

Does dual native ISO on the Panasonic S5 beat the Sony A7S III in low light?

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The Sony A7S series has always been considered the leader in low light at very high ISOs. But at just 12 megapixels, it’s a big sacrifice in resolution to get there especially in the 8K age.

The main thing that strikes me about the current 24 megapixel full frame sensors is they are CLEAN. Certainly ISO 3200 on my Panasonic S5 looks very similarly clean to ISO 3200 on the new Sony A7S III. I’ll be exploring this with my own test soon.

Read moreDoes dual native ISO on the Panasonic S5 beat the Sony A7S III in low light?

Masters of darkness – Panasonic GH5S and Sony A7R III in extreme low light

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Note: My camera is running firmware version 0.2! If the performance changes when updated, I will re-do the test

Does the Panasonic GH5S finally achieve full-frame like performance at ISO 12,800 against the best of the competition?

Here I put the little nocturnal fox in the ring with the Sony A7R III, A7S II, Nikon D850 and the plain old ‘non-video-orientated’ GH5.

Read moreMasters of darkness – Panasonic GH5S and Sony A7R III in extreme low light

Canon develop positive locking EF mount for new low light camera (Canon ME20F-SH)

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[pullquote]Comment on the forum[/pullquote]

Just over 2 years ago Canon reported the testing of a prototype low light camera which I covered on the blog. Now they have commercialised it for $30,000 and it shoots 4 million ISO. Missed however by almost everyone is the fact this camera has a locking EF mount. Isn’t this something the Canon C300 Mk II should have had?

Read moreCanon develop positive locking EF mount for new low light camera (Canon ME20F-SH)

Low light test of 5D Mark III raw vs H.264

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[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/66206596[/vimeo]

The 5D Mark III is already a very capable low light camera. In its factory guise whilst not quite as clean as the Canon C300 or Sony FS100, it is the best DSLR for low light shooting (though the Nikon D5200 puts up a good fight).

But that was before the latest developments with ML Raw.

Has low light improved even further?

Read moreLow light test of 5D Mark III raw vs H.264

Optimising the GH2 for ISO 12,800 – a video tutorial

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[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/35275238[/vimeo]

The footage here is shot with the EOSHD Intra-esting patch (AVC Intra at 88Mbit), which you can download here. Edit in Premiere CS5.5 on an AVC-Intra timeline for best workflow performance.

Myth busting time! Yes the GH2 really can do clean, detailed ISO 12,800 in low light, and it is the best current DSLR for low light shooting, with an organic fine grain noise pattern like the Canon C300. How? It all depends on picture profiles, as EOSHD shows in this video tutorial.

Read moreOptimising the GH2 for ISO 12,800 – a video tutorial

Which is best for low light? Sony NEX 5N or NEX 7 and A77?

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(Click the ISO 12,800 sample image above to enlarge to 1:1). Original samples from http://www.imaging-resource.com

Will Sony’s decision to put 24MP in the NEX 7 and A77 backfire? It certainly seems so.

The mid-range 16MP NEX 5N has by far the better image quality at high ISOs despite being half the price. It’s the Fuji F31fd of DSLRs!

Read moreWhich is best for low light? Sony NEX 5N or NEX 7 and A77?