Mega pixel, High ISO, F stop Question..

[enerlevel]

hi all,
So my basic need is high iso performance, something which I can shoot at normal pubs, bars etc without flash. I have bought it down to two set of camera and lens and would like to hear what you guys would choose.

Nikon D610 + sigma 35mm F1.4.. I know the D610 doesn't really have the best iso performance but the sigma 35mm is one sharp lens and along with the F1.4, it is a decent low light performer.

Sony A7s + FE 28mm f2.. We all know the Sony a7s has one of the best iso performance but the lens I want or can afford is the 28mm and is f2.

So on one side I have a camera which performs ok on high iso but has advantage of f1.4 while the other is best iso performer but is limited to f2 lens. Which one would you guys choose ?

 

[PaulWog]

Double the light with f1.4 compared to f2.

Thin depth of field is still thin depth of field though. If always shooting at f1.4 is what you want.

The difference in iso performance is not much.

 

[Gary A.]

If it were me and I had to choose between Sony or Nikon ... I'd go with the Sony. Remember that the lack of mirror slap goes a long way for handholding at low shutter speeds and the Sony will be significantly quieter. With the Sony, if you find/budget/win/steal a few extra bucks, you can upgrade the lens, with the Nikon ... You're pretty much stuck with the camera unless you can find/budget/win/steal a lot of extra bucks.

The Sony has an advantage of using vintage glass via an adapter and manual focus. This may or may not be of interest to you, but it is something to consider.

 

[jaomul]

If you can't get a shot with a d610 and a f1.4 lens because the light is so low, the photo will probably never look good, low light/ low quality light etc.

Numbers aside, a shot taken with either and resized for print/ screen probably be closer in noise levels than elevated salesman numbers indicate.

I'd go Nikon, because there is more options lens wise. If it will be that dark I'd try save a bit more and try get the d750.

There's probably no wrong answer, all good options

 

[Braineack]

I know the D610 doesn't really have the best iso performance

It might not have the best ISO handling ( 6400 max native), but it's still an amazing low light shooter.

I'd compare the IQ from a high ISO shot between a D610 and A7s before you write it off, it's also very likely that they gave the sensor such range, because the EVF also leverages the amplification in order to display the image. If it was limited to 6400, then the image in your viewfinder would be black.

The D610 has (39) f/5.6 point focus (Seven of them being the f/8 points in the center):

The D750 is probably the better option for low-light shooting due to the AF Module and ISO handling. It has (11) f/8 focus points (51 total at f/5.6), and since it does shoot at ISO 12,800, that gives it an extra two stops of EV detection range over the D610. (max of -3EV)

Because the D610 only goes up to ISO 6,400, you're stuck at -1EV.

the A7s has 117 focus points, but in low-light you'll really be leveraging the (25) contrast detection points--they can focus at -4EV. Since the sensor can go up to 102,400 ISO, I'm assuming those (25) focus points are good to only f/5.6.

Then consider the lens: having an f/1.4 lens on the Nikon will give it a 1-stop advantage right off the bat.

I personally haven't had much issue shooting in low light. So long as there's some light on the subject I can grab focus -- and I'm using 2.8 lenses. But I know it's not the greatest out there, in those regards, but the resulting image is still pretty fantastic-- the sensor itself handles low-light well.

 

[astroNikon]

My main concern is shooting at f/1.4 and f/2 especially up close.
Your depth of field may be so thin that you don't actually get the shot that you want. Which may be worse than using a smaller aperture for better DOF and a higher ISO or post processing and pulling out the shadows more than normal.

Have you already tried this with some camera ? examples ?

 

[Solarflare]

For the record, according to DxOMark(*) the Sigma has a T-stop of 1.6, while the Sony has a T-Stop of 2.0. The advantage of the Sigma is thus only a 2/3 stop of light transmission.

(*) Which I despise but for such a simple measurement I guess its probably OK to use them.

 

[tirediron]

Rent some different body/lens combos and try them out.

 

[KmH]

Make sure whichever camera you get has a Sony Exmor image sensor.
The Sony Exmor has litle read noise which gives it excellent high ISO performance.
I know for sure the Nikon D5300 has that sensor and IIRC so does the D7200.
The D7100 has a Toshiba sensor and not the Sony Exmor.

 

[enerlevel]

Hi Thanks for the reply everyone. I have had both these cameras in the past but never exactly the same time to compare them properly. I think I know what the d600 is capable of as I had used them for two vacations in the Philippines where most pics are either in the sun or dark in pubs or comedy bars. I had a 24-85 vr kit lens but sadly most of the pics were soft. (Lens needed cal).
Unfortunately altho I have owned the a7s in the past but never happened to use it. Mostly just at home doing shots etc.
I don't have much problems with focus on both the cameras nor do I plan to buy 100 of lens mainly because I use it for just family memories and nor can I carry them around. That is why I have just narrowed my choice to sigma 35mm f1.4 and Sony 28mm f2.
So keeping that in mind, you guys think the difference between the two setup in regards to high iso will be barely noticible ?

 

[PaulWog]

Hi Thanks for the reply everyone. I have had both these cameras in the past but never exactly the same time to compare them properly. I think I know what the d600 is capable of as I had used them for two vacations in the Philippines where most pics are either in the sun or dark in pubs or comedy bars. I had a 24-85 vr kit lens but sadly most of the pics were soft. (Lens needed cal).
Unfortunately altho I have owned the a7s in the past but never happened to use it. Mostly just at home doing shots etc.
I don't have much problems with focus on both the cameras nor do I plan to buy 100 of lens mainly because I use it for just family memories and nor can I carry them around. That is why I have just narrowed my choice to sigma 35mm f1.4 and Sony 28mm f2.
So keeping that in mind, you guys think the difference between the two setup in regards to high iso will be barely noticible ?

The difference between f1.4 and f2 is noticeable in low light. Again, that's a full stop of light. That's the difference between ISO 6400 and ISO 12800. To be very clear: ISO 6400 and f1.4 will expose the same as ISO 12800 and f2.

Those are two fairly different focal lengths as well.

 

[enerlevel]

Hi Thanks for the reply everyone. I have had both these cameras in the past but never exactly the same time to compare them properly. I think I know what the d600 is capable of as I had used them for two vacations in the Philippines where most pics are either in the sun or dark in pubs or comedy bars. I had a 24-85 vr kit lens but sadly most of the pics were soft. (Lens needed cal).
Unfortunately altho I have owned the a7s in the past but never happened to use it. Mostly just at home doing shots etc.
I don't have much problems with focus on both the cameras nor do I plan to buy 100 of lens mainly because I use it for just family memories and nor can I carry them around. That is why I have just narrowed my choice to sigma 35mm f1.4 and Sony 28mm f2.
So keeping that in mind, you guys think the difference between the two setup in regards to high iso will be barely noticible ?

The difference between f1.4 and f2 is noticeable in low light. Again, that's a full stop of light. That's the difference between ISO 6400 and ISO 12800. To be very clear: ISO 6400 and f1.4 will expose the same as ISO 12800 and f2.

Those are two fairly different focal lengths as well.

This makes sense... so I guess the ability of the a7s over d600 setup will almost be the same due to the lens aperture. But times when I use f4 or higher , then the a7s will outshine the d600

 

[PaulWog]

No, it won't be almost the same. The two setups will be very different. For still photography, the noise (in low light) will be significantly less with the D600 at f1.4 compared to the a7s at f2.

I'm not sure what you're trying to really ask though. It sounds like you've already decided on the A7S. It's not like you can really go wrong with either choice.