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D500 Photographic Dynamic Range (PDR)

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There seem to be four candidates for camera with best current APS-C sensor:
  • Fujifilm X-Pro2
  • Nikon D500
  • Nikon D7200
  • Sony a6300
Comparing their graphs for PDR we see that:

At ISO 100, where we usually want to shoot if possible, the D7200 is ahead of the D500 by about 1/3 EV and ahead of the a6300 by nearly 1/2 EV. The X-Pro2 seems to have a base ISO of 200, and lags the D7200 at ISO 100 by nearly 6/5 EV.

At ISO 200, the Fuji moves into second place, only about 1/4 EV behind the D7200 and a mere 1/10 of an EV ahead of the a6300 and D500,

At ISO 400, the a6300 and D500 seem to switch out a capacitor, with the a6300 taking the lead 1/10 EV ahead of the D500, 1/4 EV ahead of the D7200 and with the X-Pro2 again bringing up the rear, 1/3 EV behind the a6300.

At ISO 800, it is the X-Pro2's turn to switch out a capacitor, and it vaults into the slightest of leads, 1/20 EV, over the a6300. It is 1/5 EV ahead of the D500 and about 2/5 EV ahead of the D7200.

The relative positioning seems to hold until ISO 6400, where the a6300 catches up to the X-Pro2.

At ISO12800 the a6300 takes another jump, about 2/5 EV ahead of the X-Pro2. I understand that this is thought to be due to NR applied to the RAW file, not actual sensor performance. If so, this would probably be accompanied by a loss of detail.

Looking at the input-referred read noise graph (I'm assuming that sensor sizes are close enough to make the comparison valid), the D7200 has the lowest read noise up to about ISO 1600, after which it is passed by the a6300.

Below ISO 400, the D7200 has a considerable read noise advantage. The others catch most of the way up when they switch our their capacitors, though the D500 and X-PRo2 don't improve quite as much as the a6300. The D500 edges out the X-Pro2 at most ISO settings.

At ISO 25600, the D500 takes over the read noise lead. This point is outside the other cameras' analog ISO range, in fact it is the highest ISO setting for the D7200 and the second-highest whole ISO stop for the other two cameras.

So at low ISO, the D7200 is the king, with the X-Pro2 trailing badly. At medium ISOs the X-Pro2 somehow manages to have the best PDR and worst read noise simultaneously. At highest ISOs, the a6300 fakes its way into the PDR lead with NR. The D500 leads only in very high ISO read noise performance. Kind of hard to pick a clear winner.
 
Last edited:
FingerPainter said:
There seem to be four candidates for camera with best current APS-C sensor:
  • Fujifilm X-Pro2
  • Nikon D500
  • Nikon D7200
  • Sony a6300
Comparing their graphs for PDR we see that:

At ISO 100, where we usually want to shoot if possible, the D7200 is ahead of the D500 by about 1/3 EV and ahead of the a6300 by nearly 1/2 EV. The X-Pro2 seems to have a base ISO of 200, and lags the D7200 at ISO 100 by nearly 6/5 EV.

At ISO 200, the Fuji moves into second place, only about 1/4 EV behind the D7200 and a mere 1/10 of an EV ahead of the a6300 and D500,

At ISO 400, the a6300 and D500 seem to switch out a capacitor, with the a6300 taking the lead 1/10 EV ahead of the D500, 1/4 EV ahead of the D7200 and with the X-Pro2 again bringing up the rear, 1/3 EV behind the a6300.

At ISO 800, it is the X-Pro2's turn to switch out a capacitor, and it vaults into the slightest of leads, 1/20 EV, over the a6300. It is 1/5 EV ahead of the D500 and about 2/5 EV ahead of the D7200.

The relative positioning seems to hold until ISO 6400, where the a6300 catches up to the X-Pro2.

At ISO12800 the a6300 takes another jump, about 2/5 EV ahead of the X-Pro2. I understand that this is thought to be due to NR applied to the RAW file, not actual sensor performance. If so, this would probably be accompanied by a loss of detail.

Looking at the input-referred read noise graph (I'm assuming that sensor sizes are close enough to make the comparison valid), the D7200 has the lowest read noise up to about ISO 1600, after which it is passed by the a6300.

Below ISO 400, the D7200 has a considerable read noise advantage. The others catch most of the way up when they switch our their capacitors, though the D500 and X-PRo2 don't improve quite as much as the a6300. The D500 edges out the X-Pro2 at most ISO settings.

At ISO 25600, the D500 takes over the read noise lead. This point is outside the other cameras' analog ISO range, in fact it is the highest ISO setting for the D7200 and the second-highest whole ISO stop for the other two cameras.

So at low ISO, the D7200 is the king, with the X-Pro2 trailing badly. At medium ISOs the X-Pro2 somehow manages to have the best PDR and worst read noise simultaneously. At highest ISOs, the a6300 fakes its way into the PDR lead with NR. The D500 leads only in very high ISO read noise performance. Kind of hard to pick a clear winner.
Click to expand...
The a6300 looks a little suspect. The D500 looks to be an honest, clean curve, the Sony has evidence of cooking (better than ideal DX? hmm..). Is there any way to verify this?
 
FingerPainter said:
There seem to be four candidates for camera with best current APS-C sensor:
  • Fujifilm X-Pro2
  • Nikon D500
  • Nikon D7200
  • Sony a6300
Comparing their graphs for PDR we see that:

At ISO 100, where we usually want to shoot if possible, the D7200 is ahead of the D500 by about 1/3 EV and ahead of the a6300 by nearly 1/2 EV. The X-Pro2 seems to have a base ISO of 200, and lags the D7200 at ISO 100 by nearly 6/5 EV.

At ISO 200, the Fuji moves into second place, only about 1/4 EV behind the D7200 and a mere 1/10 of an EV ahead of the a6300 and D500,

At ISO 400, the a6300 and D500 seem to switch out a capacitor, with the a6300 taking the lead 1/10 EV ahead of the D500, 1/4 EV ahead of the D7200 and with the X-Pro2 again bringing up the rear, 1/3 EV behind the a6300.

At ISO 800, it is the X-Pro2's turn to switch out a capacitor, and it vaults into the slightest of leads, 1/20 EV, over the a6300. It is 1/5 EV ahead of the D500 and about 2/5 EV ahead of the D7200.

The relative positioning seems to hold until ISO 6400, where the a6300 catches up to the X-Pro2.

At ISO12800 the a6300 takes another jump, about 2/5 EV ahead of the X-Pro2. I understand that this is thought to be due to NR applied to the RAW file, not actual sensor performance. If so, this would probably be accompanied by a loss of detail.

Looking at the input-referred read noise graph (I'm assuming that sensor sizes are close enough to make the comparison valid), the D7200 has the lowest read noise up to about ISO 1600, after which it is passed by the a6300.

Below ISO 400, the D7200 has a considerable read noise advantage. The others catch most of the way up when they switch our their capacitors, though the D500 and X-PRo2 don't improve quite as much as the a6300. The D500 edges out the X-Pro2 at most ISO settings.

At ISO 25600, the D500 takes over the read noise lead. This point is outside the other cameras' analog ISO range, in fact it is the highest ISO setting for the D7200 and the second-highest whole ISO stop for the other two cameras.

So at low ISO, the D7200 is the king, with the X-Pro2 trailing badly. At medium ISOs the X-Pro2 somehow manages to have the best PDR and worst read noise simultaneously. At highest ISOs, the a6300 fakes its way into the PDR lead with NR. The D500 leads only in very high ISO read noise performance. Kind of hard to pick a clear winner.
Click to expand...
all are Sony sensors including Toshiba sensor in d7100, d7200 , Toshiba now own by Sony

--
Member of Swedish Photographers Association since 1984
Canon, Hasselblad, Leica, Nikon, Linhoff, Sinar,Zeiss, Sony . Phantom 4
 
Last edited:
CFster said:
Albert Silver said:
CFster said:
Albert Silver said:
athomasphoto said:
Yikes, so for the money the D7200 (as is becoming commonplace in most of these tests lately) is just an incredible benchmark of a camera for the money. I'm selling mine like-new in box w/ grip for $1000 and it's still giving the absolute best DX cameras a run for their money.
Click to expand...
An official refurbished D7200 can be bought for $699

http://nikonrumors.com/2016/04/25/new-low-price-refurbished-nikon-d7200-camera-now-699.aspx/
CFster said:
Great little camera and my first "non pro" Nikon, makes it tough to sell the thing but there's too much I can do with the $$$ and honestly there's only one spot for that type of camera, and as a whole the D500 is better... so that's what I keep telling myself.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
And yet used D7200 bodies are still selling in eBay for up to $850. Heck one sold yesterday for $780. Let him get what he can get.
Click to expand...
I have no idea what your point about my 'letting him get what he can get' is. I am merely giving him info on the market.
Click to expand...
Oh please.
Click to expand...
Ok I'll bite: what is your conspiracy theory?
 
bclaff said:
Paddler213 said:
Thanks, Bill. So, if your ratings run 2/3 stop higher than DxO Mark, your value for the D300 would be roughly 1200? That means the D500 should be about 1 stop better than the D300? I shoot my D300 at 800, so I should be able to shoot the D500 at 1600 no problem?
Click to expand...
The 2/3 figure is an approximation.
You can see my values in the sort-able table below the PDR chart .

My D300 value is ISO 892 (8.16 EV) the D500 is ISO 2452 (9.62 EV)
So that's 9.62-8.16=1.46 stops

The PDR at ISO 800 for the D300 is 6,65
The PDR at ISO 2500 for the D500 is 6.45, close to 6.65
So I'd say you can shoot the D500 at ISO 2500 and get the same Image Quality (IQ) as the D300 at ISO 800,
Click to expand...
 
fuzznut said:
FingerPainter said:
There seem to be four candidates for camera with best current APS-C sensor:
  • Fujifilm X-Pro2
  • Nikon D500
  • Nikon D7200
  • Sony a6300
Comparing their graphs for PDR we see that:

At ISO 100, where we usually want to shoot if possible, the D7200 is ahead of the D500 by about 1/3 EV and ahead of the a6300 by nearly 1/2 EV. The X-Pro2 seems to have a base ISO of 200, and lags the D7200 at ISO 100 by nearly 6/5 EV.

At ISO 200, the Fuji moves into second place, only about 1/4 EV behind the D7200 and a mere 1/10 of an EV ahead of the a6300 and D500,

At ISO 400, the a6300 and D500 seem to switch out a capacitor, with the a6300 taking the lead 1/10 EV ahead of the D500, 1/4 EV ahead of the D7200 and with the X-Pro2 again bringing up the rear, 1/3 EV behind the a6300.

At ISO 800, it is the X-Pro2's turn to switch out a capacitor, and it vaults into the slightest of leads, 1/20 EV, over the a6300. It is 1/5 EV ahead of the D500 and about 2/5 EV ahead of the D7200.

The relative positioning seems to hold until ISO 6400, where the a6300 catches up to the X-Pro2.

At ISO12800 the a6300 takes another jump, about 2/5 EV ahead of the X-Pro2. I understand that this is thought to be due to NR applied to the RAW file, not actual sensor performance. If so, this would probably be accompanied by a loss of detail.

Looking at the input-referred read noise graph (I'm assuming that sensor sizes are close enough to make the comparison valid), the D7200 has the lowest read noise up to about ISO 1600, after which it is passed by the a6300.

Below ISO 400, the D7200 has a considerable read noise advantage. The others catch most of the way up when they switch our their capacitors, though the D500 and X-PRo2 don't improve quite as much as the a6300. The D500 edges out the X-Pro2 at most ISO settings.

At ISO 25600, the D500 takes over the read noise lead. This point is outside the other cameras' analog ISO range, in fact it is the highest ISO setting for the D7200 and the second-highest whole ISO stop for the other two cameras.

So at low ISO, the D7200 is the king, with the X-Pro2 trailing badly. At medium ISOs the X-Pro2 somehow manages to have the best PDR and worst read noise simultaneously. At highest ISOs, the a6300 fakes its way into the PDR lead with NR. The D500 leads only in very high ISO read noise performance. Kind of hard to pick a clear winner.
Click to expand...
The a6300 looks a little suspect. The D500 looks to be an honest, clean curve, the Sony has evidence of cooking (better than ideal DX? hmm..). Is there any way to verify this?
Click to expand...
I fired up the DPR studio comparison tool for these four cameras and, using RAW, found that the the a6300 is the worst of the bunch as far as noise is concerned. The Fuji is actually quite nice, at least equal to the D500. So there is a discrepancy here for the Sony.
 
That's the leap many of us are making, after our long wait for this camera. It's pretty dramatic. At midrange ISOs, very similar to the D810. Looking forward to this new camera.

--
Pat
 
Last edited:
FingerPainter said:
There seem to be four candidates for camera with best current APS-C sensor:
  • Fujifilm X-Pro2
  • Nikon D500
  • Nikon D7200
  • Sony a6300
...
So at low ISO, the D7200 is the king, with the X-Pro2 trailing badly. At medium ISOs the X-Pro2 somehow manages to have the best PDR and worst read noise simultaneously. At highest ISOs, the a6300 fakes its way into the PDR lead with NR. The D500 leads only in very high ISO read noise performance. Kind of hard to pick a clear winner.
Click to expand...
Simple for me: the one that takes my lenses and has the best body (compared to the D300) wins.


JC
Some cameras, some lenses, some computers
 
FingerPainter said:
There seem to be four candidates for camera with best current APS-C sensor:
  • Fujifilm X-Pro2
  • Nikon D500
  • Nikon D7200
  • Sony a6300
Comparing their graphs for PDR we see that:

At ISO 100, where we usually want to shoot if possible, the D7200 is ahead of the D500 by about 1/3 EV and ahead of the a6300 by nearly 1/2 EV. The X-Pro2 seems to have a base ISO of 200, and lags the D7200 at ISO 100 by nearly 6/5 EV.

At ISO 200, the Fuji moves into second place, only about 1/4 EV behind the D7200 and a mere 1/10 of an EV ahead of the a6300 and D500,

At ISO 400, the a6300 and D500 seem to switch out a capacitor, with the a6300 taking the lead 1/10 EV ahead of the D500, 1/4 EV ahead of the D7200 and with the X-Pro2 again bringing up the rear, 1/3 EV behind the a6300.

At ISO 800, it is the X-Pro2's turn to switch out a capacitor, and it vaults into the slightest of leads, 1/20 EV, over the a6300. It is 1/5 EV ahead of the D500 and about 2/5 EV ahead of the D7200.

The relative positioning seems to hold until ISO 6400, where the a6300 catches up to the X-Pro2.

At ISO12800 the a6300 takes another jump, about 2/5 EV ahead of the X-Pro2. I understand that this is thought to be due to NR applied to the RAW file, not actual sensor performance. If so, this would probably be accompanied by a loss of detail.

Looking at the input-referred read noise graph (I'm assuming that sensor sizes are close enough to make the comparison valid), the D7200 has the lowest read noise up to about ISO 1600, after which it is passed by the a6300.

Below ISO 400, the D7200 has a considerable read noise advantage. The others catch most of the way up when they switch our their capacitors, though the D500 and X-PRo2 don't improve quite as much as the a6300. The D500 edges out the X-Pro2 at most ISO settings.

At ISO 25600, the D500 takes over the read noise lead. This point is outside the other cameras' analog ISO range, in fact it is the highest ISO setting for the D7200 and the second-highest whole ISO stop for the other two cameras.

So at low ISO, the D7200 is the king, with the X-Pro2 trailing badly. At medium ISOs the X-Pro2 somehow manages to have the best PDR and worst read noise simultaneously. At highest ISOs, the a6300 fakes its way into the PDR lead with NR. The D500 leads only in very high ISO read noise performance. Kind of hard to pick a clear winner.
Click to expand...
All these differences are minimal, and to get the best of all these cameras one needs very good skills re PPing and in most cases the differences will not be relevant anyway (not all scenes require all 14 EV of Dr at base ISO, or more than ISO3200 for practical purposes).

So, choose the body best fit for your purposes or the one that will take the most lenses you have.
 
CFster said:
Albert Silver said:
CFster said:
Albert Silver said:
athomasphoto said:
Yikes, so for the money the D7200 (as is becoming commonplace in most of these tests lately) is just an incredible benchmark of a camera for the money. I'm selling mine like-new in box w/ grip for $1000 and it's still giving the absolute best DX cameras a run for their money.
Click to expand...
An official refurbished D7200 can be bought for $699

http://nikonrumors.com/2016/04/25/new-low-price-refurbished-nikon-d7200-camera-now-699.aspx/
CFster said:
Great little camera and my first "non pro" Nikon, makes it tough to sell the thing but there's too much I can do with the $$$ and honestly there's only one spot for that type of camera, and as a whole the D500 is better... so that's what I keep telling myself.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
And yet used D7200 bodies are still selling in eBay for up to $850. Heck one sold yesterday for $780. Let him get what he can get.
Click to expand...
I have no idea what your point about my 'letting him get what he can get' is. I am merely giving him info on the market.
Click to expand...
Oh please.
Click to expand...
Thanks ;)

For some, just being able to swing by and pick it up today w/ grip and everything might be worth it? I'm not sure.. retail they're still $1100ish many places, so some will simply hop on craigslist after seeing that and 900-950 would seem like a good deal. I did lower it a tad though. I really want the 200-500 :(
 
bclaff said:
andprev said:
bclaff said:
I've completed my analysis of the Nikon D500 and have posted Photographic Dynamic Range (PDR) on my site.
Read noise data will be posted after I have reviewed that data further.

PDR for the D500 looks like this:
Click to expand...
Thanks very much for this. Do you happen to have the DR for the Panasonic GH4 as it isn't as option to select on your website?
Click to expand...
Could still be on my main computer which is on a moving van on it's way here.

--
Bill ( Your trusted source for independent sensor data at http://www.photonstophotos.net )
Click to expand...
Thanks Bill
 
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