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Low Light performance

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I think with Nikon D600 and Tamron 24-70 f2.8 VC, you can go higher ISO and get cleaner image compared to EM5 with the 25mm f1.4.

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carnifexdave said:
carnifexdave wrote:

Which would better in low light?

Nikon d600 ( without sensor dust) with a Tamron 24-70 2.8 VC
or an Olympus OM-D E-M5 with a Panasonic Leica 25mm 1.4?
Click to expand...
The difference between f/2.8 and f/1.4 is two stops.

The D600 scores 2980 on DxoMark's low-light ISO rating. The EM-5 scores 896. By my calculations that is nearly three and a third stops difference.

Additionally, the D600 is 24mp while the EM-5 is 16mp. That means you might be able to use more aggressive noise reduction with the D600 than the EM-5 before you start losing detail.

The D600/Tamron combo wins, easily.

Interestingly, the Depth of Field of the D600/Tamron combo at f/2.8 is nearly the same at 50mm as the Olympus/Leica at f/1.4. At 20 feet distance from the subject they both have about 8.5 feet DOF from near-to-far limit.
 
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E-M5 wins, simply because that's the one that I use.

No dust on FF? Yeah, dream on.
 
LincolnB said:
LincolnB wrote:

The D600 scores 2980 on DxoMark's low-light ISO rating. The EM-5 scores 896. By my calculations that is nearly three and a third stops difference.
Click to expand...
If the numbers are for "max measured iso with acceptable noise", then the D600 would need 4*896 = 3584 for two stops and something like 10000 for three and a third stops. So according to the DxO numbers, the E-M5 is slightly ahead.
 
LincolnB said:
LincolnB wrote:
LincolnB said:
carnifexdave wrote:

Which would better in low light?

Nikon d600 ( without sensor dust) with a Tamron 24-70 2.8 VC
or an Olympus OM-D E-M5 with a Panasonic Leica 25mm 1.4?
Click to expand...
The difference between f/2.8 and f/1.4 is two stops.

The D600 scores 2980 on DxoMark's low-light ISO rating. The EM-5 scores 896. By my calculations that is nearly three and a third stops difference.

Additionally, the D600 is 24mp while the EM-5 is 16mp. That means you might be able to use more aggressive noise reduction with the D600 than the EM-5 before you start losing detail.

The D600/Tamron combo wins, easily.

Interestingly, the Depth of Field of the D600/Tamron combo at f/2.8 is nearly the same at 50mm as the Olympus/Leica at f/1.4. At 20 feet distance from the subject they both have about 8.5 feet DOF from near-to-far limit.
Click to expand...
Fire up dpreview's studio scene comparator and you'd see that the Nikon 3 stops up (say 25600) looks nowhere near as good as the Olympus (say 3200). Two stops and they look about equivalent (say 6400 vs 25600). This suggests that the DXOMark doesn't scale linearly (edit: per Ulric's post, it *does* scale linearly, which is exactly why 3.something x the score equals less than 2 stops advantage rather than over 3 stops advantage!) and that the two sensors are about technically equal, area for area--and the big zoom on the Nikon should do about as well as the small prime on the Oly in low light--except there's stabilization available on the Oly combo.

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with some dust noise to boot :-)
 
EM-5 is more discrete and the IBIS in low light has to be experienced to be believed. In practical terms, I think that puts the EM-5 a nose ahead.

You can shoot church interiors without flash and without getting busted and still get great dynamic range at 6400.



 

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Ulric said:
Ulric wrote:
Ulric said:
LincolnB wrote:

The D600 scores 2980 on DxoMark's low-light ISO rating. The EM-5 scores 896. By my calculations that is nearly three and a third stops difference.
Click to expand...
If the numbers are for "max measured iso with acceptable noise", then the D600 would need 4*896 = 3584 for two stops and something like 10000 for three and a third stops.
Click to expand...
I believe you are right; I stand corrected.
Ulric said:
So according to the DxO numbers, the E-M5 is slightly ahead.
Click to expand...
If budget and system size were not primary issues, I'd still pick the D600. Better dynamic range, better color depth, higher resolution. But, for this low-light comparison, I'd team it with a 50mm 1.4 instead of a slower, more expensive 2.8 zoom.
 
carnifexdave said:
carnifexdave wrote:

Which would better in low light?

Nikon d600 ( without sensor dust) with a Tamron 24-70 2.8 VC
or an Olympus OM-D E-M5 with a Panasonic Leica 25mm 1.4?
Click to expand...
D800 + 50/1.4
 
alfa said:
alfa wrote:

EM-5 is more discrete
Click to expand...
"Heavy is good, heavy is reliable. If it doesn't work you can always hit them with it" (c) BtB.
 
exdeejjjaaaa said:
exdeejjjaaaa wrote:
exdeejjjaaaa said:
alfa wrote:

EM-5 is more discrete
Click to expand...
"Heavy is good, heavy is reliable. If it doesn't work you can always hit them with it" (c) BtB.
Click to expand...
That's why someone who cares about impressions should also bring a Hasselblad EL/M. It is big and heavy and dirt cheap. It doesn't need film, just let your assistant stand there and hold the camera.
 
No doubt a fast lens is a huge advantage, and with moving subjects I'd agree the Nikon with 50 f/1.4 would be the choice. But I'd say it's not a slam dunk with static subjects. The IBIS in the E-M5 combined with a fast lens is a very nice combo. With the Panasonic Leica 25mm f/1.4 I can pretty consistently handhold at 1/8 second (I figure that's a solid 3 stop advantage since I'm an old guy and not that steady). And I at least have a chance at 1/4 second.
 
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