D7200 vs. D500, low light shooting

[QuantumLo0p]

So I recently bought a D7200 and so far it seems great! However, this Summer I will have an opportunity to shoot a concert which will include some night shooting and I'm wondering if the D7200 is up to the task. First off I have very little experience shooting low light scenes so I'll have to educate myself and try doing it. As for the shoot this Summer there will be a lot of colored stage lighting but as for exactly how much light there will be I won't know until I get there. I noticed D500's ISO sensitivity is a lot better than D7200's 25.6K. For lenses I don't currently own any fast zooms but I have a 50mm f/1.4 and I would have access to shoot from the edge of the stage so I think a 50mm would be okay. It's just the earlier 50mm AF version, not an AF-S but I really like how fast it is. I was going to sell it and buy the AF-S version but a friend told me not to bother for how much I use it.

At this point I'm looking for some opinions whether I'd be in the ball park or not with the 7200/50mm f/1.4 because time is ticking on the exchange window. Yikes! I hate this feeling but I hate buyer's remorse worse.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I have a D7100 and find its low light capability to be fine.
I'll post an example from a concert I shot when I'm back at my Mac.

 

[bhtwo]

I love low light stuff... unfortunately my D2Hs doesn't.

 

[deep diver]

I have a D7000 and have not had any low light issues. I've not used a D500. The ISO sensitivity might be better but there will still be a decline in image quality as the ISO increases. So, you need to make sure the D500 will give you the quality you want. You have the fast lens, and it should not cost much to rent a fast zoom for a couple of days. If the situation allows, a tripod will be a good thing to have.

 

[mofunk]

I have a D90 and the best low light concert images I've gotten on the D90 was with some fast glass like the Nikon 24-70mm or 28-70mm. It's really more so the lens. The only thing (I'm guessing) that the D500 will do better than your D7200 is focus a little faster. My D750 is even better in low light than my D90. It will focus fast and fire off a couple images that are all equally sharp. When I first got the D750 I used it at a concert I purposely under exposed my images and they were still salvageable in LR.

I moved up from the D90 to the D750 because I wanted to go FF and to get faster focusing in low light.

I've heard that the D7200 is pretty close to the D750. So with that, try renting the 24-70mm f/2.8 lens.

 

[NateCrouch]

So I recently bought a D7200 and so far it seems great! However, this Summer I will have an opportunity to shoot a concert which will include some night shooting and I'm wondering if the D7200 is up to the task. First off I have very little experience shooting low light scenes so I'll have to educate myself and try doing it. As for the shoot this Summer there will be a lot of colored stage lighting but as for exactly how much light there will be I won't know until I get there. I noticed D500's ISO sensitivity is a lot better than D7200's 25.6K. For lenses I don't currently own any fast zooms but I have a 50mm f/1.4 and I would have access to shoot from the edge of the stage so I think a 50mm would be okay. It's just the earlier 50mm AF version, not an AF-S but I really like how fast it is. I was going to sell it and buy the AF-S version but a friend told me not to bother for how much I use it.

At this point I'm looking for some opinions whether I'd be in the ball park or not with the 7200/50mm f/1.4 because time is ticking on the exchange window. Yikes! I hate this feeling but I hate buyer's remorse worse.

I also own the D7200 and am not all that impressed with it. I wouldn't go past 6400 on it for any reason what so ever. I also own a D4 and D800 as well as the D7000 and the D7000 kills the D7200. I did some research and found out that all the cameras that I like and that did well have a Sony sensor (D4, D800 and the D7000), go figure the D7200 has a Toshiba sensor. Want to know if a camera will do well in low light? Find out if it has a Sony sensor in it. From what I understand both the D5 and the D500 have Sony sensors so logic follows they should be amazing in low light. Good luck!

 

[v3rlon]

remember when 1000 speed film was the best you could hope for? We're all spoiled by 25k ISO and more.

Take the 7200 out and hit a local club. Surely there is a local band that would love a few web shots. See what you can get. Take the 50 1.4, and see how far you can stop it down and still be happy. If you are fairly stuck in that one place, you might want to rent a fast zoom (24-70 or 70-200).

Do you know how big the stage is and where you will have to be? Try and get a feel for that and how much reach you will need to reach all the way to the other side and get a good shot.

how do you like the images at 6400 ISO? how much can you save with post processing (and you can save more from underexposure than you can with over).

 

[QuantumLo0p]

I also own the D7200 and am not all that impressed with it. I wouldn't go past 6400 on it for any reason what so ever. I also own a D4 and D800 as well as the D7000 and the D7000 kills the D7200. I did some research and found out that all the cameras that I like and that did well have a Sony sensor (D4, D800 and the D7000), go figure the D7200 has a Toshiba sensor. Want to know if a camera will do well in low light? Find out if it has a Sony sensor in it. From what I understand both the D5 and the D500 have Sony sensors so logic follows they should be amazing in low light. Good luck!

Thanks for your input but FX isn't a consideration for me since DX trumps FX for distance shooting which is my priority. Not to mention a decent buffer. I'm just trying to figure out my low-light situation with the 7200.

[doublepost=1461000933][/doublepost]

remember when 1000 speed film was the best you could hope for? We're all spoiled by 25k ISO and more.

Take the 7200 out and hit a local club. Surely there is a local band that would love a few web shots. See what you can get. Take the 50 1.4, and see how far you can stop it down and still be happy. If you are fairly stuck in that one place, you might want to rent a fast zoom (24-70 or 70-200).

Do you know how big the stage is and where you will have to be? Try and get a feel for that and how much reach you will need to reach all the way to the other side and get a good shot.

how do you like the images at 6400 ISO? how much can you save with post processing (and you can save more from underexposure than you can with over).

25K ISO, I know, right?! I have played with high ISO's a little but have yet to try the real deal. After reading some tests on 7200 ISO performance, it looks decent; not top of the class but decent. I will take your advice on shooting a local band before the big shoot. As for the actual shoot the evening shots will only be about 5% of what I take; most will be daytime.

 

[jerwin]

Here's his raw files: http://froknowsphoto.com/nikon-d500-hi-iso-samples/