Sensor Sensitivity

[jriepe]

I've seen it stated more than once that the D7000 is good in low light and honestly I never knew what was meant by that. Think though I may have found out today but someone please correct me if I'm wrong. My D7000 is in the repair shop with a bent shutter blade so today I went out macro shooting with my back up D80. For macro I shoot in manual with two SB600 speedlights and it seemed I had to increase the flash output or use a higher ISO than with the D7000 to get proper exposure. I assumed I would get the same exposure with the same settings with either camera but it doesn't seem so. So did I learn something today or am I way off base?

Jerry

 

[TheKenTurner]

If a camera is good in low light, it means it has less noise at a high ISO

-ken Turner

 

[Trever1t]

off-base.

The D7000 allows a higher ISO with less loss of quality.

 

[TheFantasticG]

I assumed I would get the same exposure with the same settings with either camera but it doesn't seem so.

The D80's exposure capabilities are way below the D7000's. I would expect them to meter differently.

 

[2WheelPhoto]

ISO on my D80 matched my D7000 perfectly when using the same lens, set the same (speed and f/stop) and in the same ambient light. ISO 100 was ISO 100 exposed the exact same.

 

[jriepe]

Maybe it just seemed that I had to have different settings with the D80. As the Temptations would say, "It was just my imagination." You younger guys probably don't know that song.

Jerry

 

[djacobox372]

The difference is you get about the same noise at iso 6400 on the d7000 that u get at iso 800 on the d80.

 

[jriepe]

The difference is you get about the same noise at iso 6400 on the d7000 that u get at iso 800 on the d80.

Yeah, I know about the noise because I can see a big difference when having to lighten up an image that is underexposed. Not very long after getting the D7000 I was invited to the birthday party of my nephew's one year old son. When taking pictures I didn't allow enough time on some shots for the speedlight to recharge and the images were way underexposed. My first thought was to delete them then my second thought was to play around with them. I was amazed at how well they came out with no noticeable noise after editing them. After that I did an experiment comparing the D80 to the D7000 and the difference was rather large.

Jerry