dEaringfilm

dEaringfilm reviews the
Nikon D40 vs. D50 High ISO
AKA: Low Light Butter Boys

I am a low light junkie, my favorite lenses are the 1.4 on the Nikon system (and 1.2 on Canon). I love to use the natural sunlight or room lights to create my photographs. So creamy high ISO performance is a rather nice feature, but I understand that noise ninja is a wonderful tool that I employ when needed. I do feel that if the camera can deliver creamy and high detail right out of the box then it can save me a lot of time over a entire shoot. I do not consider cameras like the D2x, D200 and D80 low light high performance cameras, but they do have their purpose when good old Helios is out.

Here are a few images, as far as I understand the D50 applies noise reduction without the user being able to turn it off. The D50 ISO 1600 image and D40 ISO 1600 with Noise Reduction off look very very similar. The D40 has a on or off toggle for Noise Reduction I have examples of both. Other Nikon bodies have a high and low (and sometimes a medium) noise reduction setting.

The photos are a 100% crop of the original files which are linked below for download in JPG format. They were taken with the 200mm f/2G ED-IF AF-S VR Nikkor at F4 on a Gitzo G1228 MK2 tripod and Really Right Stuff BH-55 Ballhead.

Nikon D40 ISO 1600

Click here to download full JPEG of Nikon D40 ISO 1600

Nikon D40 ISO 1600 Noise Reduction off

Click here to download full JPEG of Nikon D40 ISO 1600 Noise Reduction off

Nikon D50 ISO 1600

Click here to download full JPEG of Nikon D50 ISO 1600

Nikon D40 ISO 3200

Click here to download full JPEG of Nikon D40 ISO 3200

Nikon D40 ISO 3200 Noise Reduction off

Click here to download full JPEG of Nikon D40 ISO 3200 Noise Reduction off

The winner is easy to tell, the D40 edges the former champ, enjoy looking up Mr. D50. Heck the D50 does not even have ISO 3200... that is a great feature and to be able to compete with the D50's ISO 1600 with NR on at 3200 is no small feat. Although I feel that ISO 1600 performance is key, anything higher than that is just a cherry on top. It is a very very close battle, when you to compare the D40 NR off at 1600 and D50 ISO 1600, one has to look very closely to tell the difference. But when the noise reduction is applied the D40 kills the D50. Within this battle I would say the D40 ISO 3200 NR on is close to the D50 ISO 1600 than it is to the D40 ISO 1600 NR on, the D40 is that good. Although you can see some image degration at 100% you can download the full files and realize all this pixel peeping if for not, all the images a really clean. I would say the D40 is better at ISO 3200 than my old D2h at ISO 800.