Quote:
Originally Posted by Doug Pardee
The megapixel difference won't help the "graininess", but DSLR sensors keep getting better and better with noise. The D90 has considerably less noise than your D70: according to DPReview, the D90 has less noise at ISO 6400 than the D80 does at ISO 3200, and for the specific case of luminance noise in dark shadows, the D90 has about the same noise at ISO 3200 that the D80 does at ISO 400.
The extra megapixels will give more resolution, which should help sharpness. If your photos are noticeably unsharp, though, it's probably not the sensor resolution but something else. It could just be camera shake from having a slow shutter speed. Or if you're shooting JPEGs at ISO 800 and up, apparently the D80 applies some heavy noise reduction and your D70 might be the same.
DxOMark rates the D90 sensor at 72.6, compared with the D70 sensor at 50.2, with the D90 getting a "low light ISO" rating of 977 vs. 529 for the D70. They even rate the D90's sensor above the D300's on just about every measure. |
Wow, thanks for that reference Doug, I had never been to this site beofre, but it looks like a great resource for determining which camera to buy. I have been on the fence for shelling out the money for a new D90 (upgrade from my D40) for a while, and this provides more quantifiable proof to do so!