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Nikon D3, D300, D200 and Canon 5D High ISO Comparison
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Back to:      Nikon D3 Review           Nikon D300 Review            Nikon D200 Review        Canon 5D Review

Nikon D3 Nikon D300
Canon 5D Nikon D200
Canon 5D
Intentionally left blank.

I'll do better tomorrow.

For tonight, here's some fast shots at ISO 3,200. Some people were wondering about the lenses I used, so instead of using genuinely the best lenses, I used the lenses that people who don't actually own them think are the best. For the DX Nikons, that's the newest 24-70mm f/2.8 AF-s set to 70mm, for the D3, the 105mm f/2.8 AF Micro, and for the 5D, I used both my junky 70-210mm f/4 and my 70-200mm f/4 L IS set to 105mm. Lens choice doesn't really matter.

These are all crops from images at 100%. I didn't resize anything. All cameras were at their default NR settings.

All were made at about 5 feet (1.6m), f/5.6 at 1/30, tripod, manual WB set to a white card in very orange home lighting. Depth of field is narrow enough that the rear ear is out of focus, while all the head and nose fur is in focus.

I see the D3 as the clear winner. It's clean and sharp. The fur looks like fur and has real texture everywhere, as well as being clean. No noise and real texture means high signal to noise ratio, and the winner!

The D300 is as clean, but horribly softened from the noise reduction. The fur is just a blur. Even though the edges around the eye and the dark and light fur are sharp, the fur texture is replaced with noise. The D200 is much sharper than the D300, but softer than the D3 and far noisier than anything. It has the same signal-to-noise ratio as the D300; your preference will vary. Either of these two can be set to different NR strengths most likely to simulate the other.

The 5D, reigning champ, is trashed by the D3. It is as sharp as the Nikon D3, but noisier. Sayonara, 5D. The D3 is as sharp, but far cleaner.

 

PLUG

If you find this as helpful as a book you might have had to buy or a workshop you may have had to take, feel free to help me continue helping everyone.

Thanks for reading!

Ken

 

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