By : Nikon School Blog | 19 Dec, 2016 |
The photographers' battle against low light has been going on since the beginning of photography. Thankfully, technology has continuously evolved to ensure the battle has tilted heavily in favor of photographers, if not already won.
Gone are the days when shooting beyond ISO 400 was viewed with shock. With modern Nikon DSLRs, even the puritans confidently boost ISO to high values. This is entirely due to the amazing developments Nikon has made in their sensor and processor technology.
Simply put, today's Nikon DSLRs are low light warriors. Starting from the so called entry level range, all the way to the top end D5, these machines can work with ease in a variety of low light conditions. This is very helpful for most hobbyists who shoot street or encounter low light during their travels. The latest D3400 and D5500 perform unbelievably well between ISO 1600 and 3200. This has helped many beginners shooting in low ambient light get amazing results with relative ease.
Of course, some of the higher end models are low light champions, as they have almost won the war against low light. Take the D750 for instance. With it, you would never need a flash except for creative reasons. The D750 performs incredibly well at ISO 6400 and with a little help from in-camera noise reduction, you can go even beyond. This makes it the perfect camera for low light photography. Weddings, street, landscapes, natural light portraits, or macros, the D750 is up to any dimly lit scene. The light weight of the D750 body is an additional feature that makes it the perfect low light photography companion.
The D5 absolutely kills low light. With a standard ISO range that goes up to 1,02,400, which can further be boosted to an unreal 5 EV (ISO 3280000 equivalent), you can actually shoot in near darkness. The EXPEED 5 processor ensures clarity and accuracy of colours even at such dizzying ISO values. Of course, very few people need to shoot at near darkness, but the benefit of such performance in incredibly high ISOs like 12,800 and 25,600 is that even in low light, you can remain stable with fast shutter speeds.
The Multi-CAM 20K autofocus sensor module in D5 can focus at -3 EV with all AF points, and at -4 EV with the central focus point ( At ISO 100 and 20°C/68°F), making focusing even in low light much more efficient. With the D5 you can go to the forests, shoot with lenses not having very wide apertures, and in general, forget being worried about the light.
The D500 can be called a DX version D5. The D500 also allows you to go for incredibly high ISOs without compromising on image quality, thanks again to the new sensor and processor combination. The D500, with its amazing low light capabilities and fast frame rate of 10 fps, is the perfect DX format DSLR for wildlife and action photographers shooting in challenging light.
With the low light champions that can tackle low light with such ease, the current Nikon DSLR line up is helping photographers around the world shoot images that could only be dreamed of 10 years ago. So next time you head out to shoot with a Nikon, low light won't be bothering you much!