Which has better low light performance - Canon 5D mk3 OR Nikon D800?
Which has better low light performance - Canon 5D mk3 OR Nikon D800?
Here is a good source
Not knowing what low light conditions you're referring to I can only surmise you mean either in home or sports at night.
In either case, without the right light and knowledge of how to properly operate a dslr camera, regardless of model or make, you'll get poor results. Low light shooting of any kind demands certain lenses and certain skills with a camera to get suitable results.
It depends on your definition of "low light." As it is, here s side-by-side comparison of the Canon 5D MK III and the Nikon D800. Change the ISO settings and see the differences in resolution.
http://www.dpreview.com/...ark-iii/27
Low light performance can be assessed in different ways. The simplest is to compare highest ISO limits. The higher the ISO can be set on the camera, the more it can capture in the dark. Quality of that low light shot is another thing and we have specialized technical pages in the internet which I'm sure my fellow answerers will gleefully provide. The last is more difficult because luck can get in the way. Depending on user ability, one can capture a technically terrible shot in the dark but make it artistically fantastic.
Both cameras are amazing specwise and I can only dream about them. Anywho, I'll just stick to user skill and do the best I can.
According to DxOMark testing, the D800 has about a 25% higher low-light score, which equates to about a 1/3 stop improvement.
So the D800 has better low-light sensitivity, but not significantly more.
In low light at high ISO, it's the 5D mark III.
Sorry but DxOmark.com scores aren't real. You need to dig into the data to get the real score, switch from "print" to "Screen" and even then, DxOmark.com scores aren't really measuring noise, they are measuring signal to noise ratios.
In the real world. The D800 image sensor is just a worked up Nikon d7000 APS-C sensor. The DxoMark.com scores are almost identical when you look at the real screen score. So would anyone ever say that the crop sensor Nikon beats the 5D mark III? Of course not, but for some reason the term full frame throws everyone off.
full frame does not always mean better. The original 5D from Canon and the Sony A900 are perfect examples of this.
Better than the 5D mark III is the Nikon full frame D700, D3, and D4.
As sound labs says it's not so simple. In the lab, the 5D3 and D800 are practically identical in ISO performance, however the mkIII can max out at 102400, whilst the D800 only gives you 25600, so the 5D gives you 2 stops extra flexibility. Add to this, Canon have a greater selection of fast lenses, by which I mean the 50mm f1.2, 85mm f1.2 and the 135mm f2 with USM.