Canon EOS 6D – The King of Low Light Photography

Canon EOS 6D
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Photographer David Kingham, specialised in night and astronomy photography, made a comparison between the Canon EOS 6D and the Nikon D600. The comparison aims to see which DSLR is performing better in low light photography (read: night photography), and that means to see which one produces less noise when ISO settings are pushed up. The EOS 6D is known to be a low light champion, and to have a remarkable low noise production (less than the EOS 5D Mark III) even with high ISO settings. David Kingham’s review confirms that. A Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 was used for the tests.

The comparison starts with ISO 6400, and the EOS 6D already is superior to the Nikon (which also produces some weird colour casts).

But it is with the high ISO settings that the EOS 6D shows all of its magic. The following pic (ISO 25600) has the shadow areas pushed to +100 in Lightroom, to see how much detail can be pulled from the shadows (and with how much noise).

Again, the EOS 6D has a “significant advantage”. There is an important consideration about dynamic range to keep in mind, and I think David Kingham got the point:

[…] the dynamic range on the D600 is supposed to be light years ahead of the 6D? An important thing to keep in mind when looking at dynamic range numbers is that they test at ISO 100, this has no translation to ISO 6400. So yes, the D600 will be better at ISO’s up to 400 or so, but after that the 6D is king.

Period. Unfortunately this is so often forgotten. Be sure to head over to David Kingham posts to see all pictures in original size, so you can see and judge on your self. But let me state it clearly: the Canon EOS 6D is the undiscussed low light king among full-frame DSLRs. Period again. :-) David’s conclusion:

The high ISO capabilities of the Canon 6D are remarkable. I can see myself regularly shooting at ISO 12,800 when needed. With this body it is plausible to shoot with an f/4 lens! I wouldn’t recommend that necessarily, but if you already have f/4 lenses and are looking to get into night photography for a very affordable price…this is your answer. The colors produced by the 6D are consistently better to my eye.

Some good EOS 6D Black Friday deals can be checked here.

[via David Kingham Photography]