Comments on: Canon 5D Mark II and Nikon D700 High ISO – Quick Comparison

By: Shay

Shay — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 08:20:47 +0000

I agree with PC,
“When you under expose a picture it adds much more noise than a properly exposed picture”. But there’s more to it….

Under exposing even by a 1/3 stop can make a Huge difference in the noise seen. Many Pro photographers suggest that when shooting at high ISO, be very careful as to not underexpose your shot. Also, Shoot in Raw and over expose by half a stop and then bring it down in post if needed.

I have seen images from a 50D @ ISO 3200 where the Noise looks allot better than these specific images of the 5DmkII. (no noise reduction or post processing done).

In addition, you will find it interesting to note that the lenses used also make a difference in Noise and exposure. Higher quality lenses like Canon L lenses or even the 17-55 2.8 IS show less Chroma noise. And for the latter, you must be wondering “Exposure?”… There are many instances where there are differences in exposures levels between different lenses at the same F, shutter speed and ISO on the same camera, in some cases as much as 1Stop of light.

So all these testes that specify the “settings” or “setup” used and specify the Same F stop, Shutter speed and ISO are less than 85% accurate.
More over when you take into account that there is a difference in exposure levels in Cameras of the same manufacturer as well.

By: PC

PC — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 00:14:33 +0000

There is one problem with this test.
When you under expose a picture it adds much more noise than a properly exposed picture.
you have to dial up the exposure about 2/3rds
I have done this test with my 5D Mark II and my mom’s D700 and the difference is not that big but the D700 still wins, it’s just the margin is not that big.
I also used a Nikon lens adapter, so we even used the same lens.

By: Tomek

Tomek — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:08:31 +0000

Great comparison otherwise!

By: dirk

dirk — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 23:34:46 +0000

Nikon vs. Canon, Sony vs. Olympus. I think, the lenses and accessories in your camera bag are probably the deciding factor if you have been eyeballing this pair of cameras. Behind the Camera is a photographer and befor the light. For many years, this technik was a wonderfull dream for every photographer. – Now – make pictures, from Cologne, Dirk Baumbach

By: Severin Sadjina

Severin Sadjina — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:19:02 +0000

This test is a little in favour of the D700 for a couple of reasons:

1.) Exposure is better on the D700 and underexposed on the 5DmkII. Noise in digital cameras is exponentially higher in dark areas, so it is absolutely crucial to get the correct exposure!

2.) The WB is off on the 5DmkII shots, it is to orange, also increasing the noise in the final image.

3.) Comparing shots at 100% is uninteresting. What should and does matter is how the noise is visible at the full image, print or on screen. I can’t think of any application where per pixel noise is of importance!

That being said, if you repeat this test again with correct WB and exposure I am almost certain you will end up getting virtually indistinguishable results when viewing the full images (in print or on screen).

Best regards!

By: nikon

nikon — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 15:37:44 +0000

Men,you couldn’t post iso comparation between a camera set in correct wb,for the nikon,and a canon setted in incorrect white balance for the reason that the noise in an incorrect wb register the light in a spectar,that could influence the cmos noise due to termal noise

By: zach Ameen

zach Ameen — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 14:10:24 +0000

D700x probably be about $700 more expensive then MKii. So for me pricing is every thing because for that difference I could buy a better lense. Majority of us do portraits and and land scape so there is no need to spend extra money for little non-noticable difference in picture. The Pixels are every thing because you can crop the picture at will to point where D700 can’t touch it.

By: zach Ameen

zach Ameen — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 14:04:09 +0000

Well this comparison is not fair because when you take close ups from the distance vs taking pictures from distance with telezoom , you will see more noise if its a closup. so this comparison is nothing more then bull. Distance, zoom, and light should be same in order to compare plus the lense.

By: Eric

Eric — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 03:38:32 +0000

@JF – It’s your lucky day. I did improve the comparison. See the following post:

http://www.photographybay.com/2008/12/27/canon-5d-mark-ii-vs-nikon-d700-in-depth-iso-comparison/

By: JF

JF — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 03:29:25 +0000

This comparison would be improved if you changed the layout so that I could see the relevant image pairs side by side.