Best high ISO, low light body?

[mshea]

Hi All,

I've been working with the a9 and a7RIII for a few years now. I do a lot of high ISO, low light work and just wondering if anything out there has surpassed those two bodies in the meantime.

Thanks,
Merrill

[David Eckels]

Nikon Z7ii, ISO 10,000, rendered in DXO PureRaw, adjusted in LR, finished in PS with Topaz DeNoise applied to dark shadows and Smart Sharpen to highlights, hand held at 1/20 sec, f/8, Nikkor S 24-120 @ 31 mm. Focus spot on all the time. Matrix metering. Best I've ever seen, but others may know better. Can't speak to relative Sony performance.

[mcbroomf]

I like to use Photons to Photos to examine data from sensors.  Then go to the Studio Scene in DPReview to compare the high ISO raws looking at grain etc.  Careful noise reduction as David posted can make a big difference for any camera.

This plot gets a bit busy at high ISOs but you can turn lines on and off and change the scale.  Not a great deal of difference IMO
https://www.photonstophotos.net/Charts/PDR.htm#Nikon%20Z%207II,Nikon%20Z%209,Sony%20ILCE-1,Sony%20ILCE-7RM3,Sony%20ILCE-7RM4,Sony%20ILCE-9M2

[kers]

+1
Best in class is the phase one 150MP sensor, and then find a 1.4 lens that goes with it ( non existent)

- software is the best way up : dxo Pure raw and Topaz Denoise etc...
and use your excellent Sony at the highest ASA with good color... On a Nikon d850 i find that it is 6400 ASA.
use an excellent 1.4 lens - that is it.

[shadowblade]

Hi All,

I've been working with the a9 and a7RIII for a few years now. I do a lot of high ISO, low light work and just wondering if anything out there has surpassed those two bodies in the meantime.

Thanks,
Merrill

The A9's been surpassed on all these counts by the A1.

The A7r3? It depends what sort of high-ISO, low-light work you do.

Are you shooting at high ISO because your subjects are moving, or because you need to handhold the camera? Do you need to autofocus and track subjects in the dark, or just take clean shots?

If you're shooting at high ISO because you need to handhold the camera and don't need fast AF, the A7r3 is hard to beat. You can also shoot multiple images, align and stack them and lower your effective ISO that way in post-processing. If you need to freeze action but aren't reliant on AF, the A7r3 is also good. If you need to focus and track moving subjects in the dark, though, you want the A1.

[mshea]

This is primarily for sports where I have to shoot at f/2.8, 1000 sec. @ 12500 ISO and speakers at events with no flash (250 sec. @ ISO12500).Topaz DeNoise does a good job on the files, but I was just curious if anything had surpassed these two bodies.

[bobfriedman]

Nikon D5, D6

Example, ISO=12,800.

Nikon D5 ,Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4E FL ED VR
1/250s f/8.0 at 600.0mm iso12800


Example,  ISO=10,000.

Nikon D5 ,Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4E FL ED VR
1/500s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso10000