Friday, January 18, 2013

Nikon D5200 has the best DX sensor per DXO

DXO released their score for the Nikon D5200.  What I found most interesting was that it matched the D7000 for dynamic range, and beat the D7000 at both color depth and high ISO performance.  On top of that the D5200 has a higher resolution (24mp vs. 16mp).  I don't need the extra resolution for my usual viewing sizes but that extra resolution tends to make noise reduction in postprocessing more effective.
 Inline image 1
I'm just speculating here but I believe this imbalance (lower-end camera outperforming a higher-end camera) cannot last very long, and therefore it implies that the next high-end DX camera (D7100? D400?) should be coming soon.
Meanwhile the D5200 is an awesome camera.  Besides the class-leading sensor and articulating screen, it even includes the smart Auto ISO feature found in the D4, D800 and D600.  I would love to have one except that it doesn't have AF fine tuning and a popup commander.
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4 comments:

  1. The DxOmark ISO difference between the cameras is hardly worth mentioning, it sounds to some extent like slightly overstating the case to say that a 1200-odd ISO rating "beats" an 1100-odd ISO rating. Put a different way, who would notice such a difference.

    /RussellInCincinnati

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  2. Hi Russell. You're correct the 1/10th stop difference would not be significant for most people. I just find it remarkable that this new 24mp sensor can nonetheless match and even slightly exceed the high ISO performance of a well-regarded sensor. Anyway the data is there for people to draw their own conclusions.

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  3. Well you're right, it is remarkable (and your articles are useful and enjoyable). Guess we can observe that one can't predict sensor noise/ISO performance from camera cost or pixel count. Am feeling a bit sheepish for semantic quibbling, thanks for the writeups.

    /RussellInCincinnati

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    Replies
    1. Hi Russell, well you made a very valid observation. Sometimes when I write a lot about camera stuff I just get hung up on specs instead of real world photos :)

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