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Which new body for high ISO?


chris_andro

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Before everyone says "D700", heres the question.

 

I now have a D70s and am using a 17-50 f/2.8 zoom for my shooting in Jazz clubs and other live music events with

poor lighting....(No flash allowed). My 50 f/1.4 prime often wont help because I can't control my distance from the

subject.

 

Because many of the photos are printed at 8x10, I don't go beyond ISO 800 with the D70s.

 

Here are my 3 questions:

 

With a new body, D90, D300, D700.......

 

How much can I raise the ISO to get good results for an 8x10?

 

How much differance will it make from my current D70s?

 

Since cost is a factor, how much difference is their relative to my ISO concern between these 3 new cameras?

 

Thank you all in advance, you're answers are always a big help.

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a D300 will be a HUGE upgrade in HIGH iso capability over your D70s, and HUGE upgrade overall.

 

and you get to keep your DX glass...

 

I'd say you can comfortable shot a D300 at 2000iso and get about the same as you get with your D70s at 800... anyone !!??

 

 

of course, if you can afford a D700 or D3 with new FF glass, hey... can't beat that..!!

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Juarno is correct - the D300 is a large advancement upon the D70s. Keep the excellent 17-55mm DX lens and shoot freely in dim light at ISO 1600+ with the D300. I have moved on from the D300 to D700. The D700 is yet another small step ahead of the D300 for low noise at high settings up to ISO 3200 in dim light but you would have to replace your current 17-55mm Dx with an FX lens to gain enough resolution for reliable good quality 8 x 10 prints (ie. don't shoot in DX mode on a D700 with a DX lens) If you wish to keep your 17-55mm Dx lens then the D300 is an obvious choice to me.
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It appears the D90 will give you very similar high ISO performance to the D300. Autofocus performance of the D300 is superior to that of the D90. You can get a used D300 for a little bit more than a D90.

 

By shooting RAW and using advanced post processing software (I recommend DXO), you should be able to easily get great looking ISO 1600 shots with your current gear. DXO, like many other image processing programs, offer free 30 day trial versions.

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I don't have a D300 or a D90, but I have also been looking at a purchase of either of these or a used D200. If

you compare jpegs converted from RAW, at most I see a 1 stop improvement in noise over the D200 (from various

comparison posted on-line). D3/D700 gets you two stops. Maybe with JPEGs it's more pronounced. If you compare

noise in images, also compare detail. If you're not already doing some noise postprocessing, you can probably

get more out of your D70 than you already are.

 

In any case I would suggest you get another fast prime or two rather than a new body. Sigma 30 1.4, Nikon 85 1.8

or 1.4.

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If your D70 gives good enough auto focus perfomance and price is a big factor I would look at the D90 as it seems to have the same ISO performance as the D300. If you want better auto focus as well then you should look at a D300.

I upgraded from a D70 to a D200 and am really happy with the features of the D200 except for the ISO performance so for me it will be a D300 if I upgrade in the near future.

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Rob, Its been a while since I have used the D70. I use manual focus a lot with my D200 but I think its better than the D70. From what I have read the D90 and D200 share the AF module. The D300 has more cross type AF sensors which may make a signifigant improvement at narrow DoF critical focus. Personally I use MF in these situations. I have been finally getting to do some bird photography with my 500mm f4 P wide open and that is also a narrow DoF. IMHO the D300 is the best at price vs performance.
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