Long exposure dark current noise - 5D III

[5D Freak]

We've all heard all about and measurabated DR, etc regarding the new gen FF cameras. I am a 5DII user with a lot of satisfying results. I am primarily a landscape photographer that shoots long exposures. I was hoping for a higher MP 5DIII, but with the new AF and much better AEB capabilities of this new cam, it is tempting for me to upgrade. Just a matter of $$$$. Even the 2/3 stop RAW iso increase is pretty aweseome - that's like iso5000 compareable to iso3200 on the 5DII.
I don't care much for all the tests (even the short exopure dark frame ones pushed 4 stops) just measured with 1/50s shutter speeds. I am interested in how is performs with say 1 to 5 minute exposures. There's not much around the net on this topic. Can anyone give me an insight to how the 5DIII handles long exposure dark current noise compared to the 5DII. If the news is good I just might crack it and get one. Thanks

[RuneL]

We've all heard all about and measurabated DR, etc regarding the new gen FF cameras. I am a 5DII user with a lot of satisfying results. I am primarily a landscape photographer that shoots long exposures. I was hoping for a higher MP 5DIII, but with the new AF and much better AEB capabilities of this new cam, it is tempting for me to upgrade. Just a matter of $$$$. Even the 2/3 stop RAW iso increase is pretty aweseome - that's like iso5000 compareable to iso3200 on the 5DII.
I don't care much for all the tests (even the short exopure dark frame ones pushed 4 stops) just measured with 1/50s shutter speeds. I am interested in how is performs with say 1 to 5 minute exposures. There's not much around the net on this topic. Can anyone give me an insight to how the 5DIII handles long exposure dark current noise compared to the 5DII. If the news is good I just might crack it and get one. Thanks

During long exposures the sensor gets hot. When it gets hot it gets noisy, exactly how the 5D III performs I have no idea, but seeing how well the 5D II performs during a 5 minute exposure, I wouldn't worry. You can negate an extraordinary amount of the noise if you refrain from using live view too.

[5D Freak]

Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I discovered the live view thing soon after getting the 5DII. I have since avoided its use most of the time, but sometimes need it when aligning the polarizer over the ND400 filter for daytime long exposures. I stay clear of it after good focus is set for astro work. I have had a bit of success with IR daytime work at 2min iso400, but only via dark frame subtraction. Even though I plan to convert my current 5DII to IR, dark current noise is important to me with my work. I'm hoping the 5DIII is an improvement in this area.

[jmp2000]

I have spent two nights shooting stars with the 5D3 and all I can say is I’m impressed. The longest shot was maybe 5 minutes and there was noticeable noise but it was nothing that LR4 could not handle.  The biggest thing I noticed was I could shoot the Milky Way at 6400/15/2.8 and not have any issues with noise. I probably could have pushed it one more stop on the ISO without any issues.

The question about the sensor heat was not noticeable either.  One night in Lone Pine the temps were in the 40’s and last weekend in Joshua Tree they were in the 60’s but I did not notice any heat at all. The camera was basically shooting for about 6 hours straight before the battery died.

When I get a chance I’ll try to upload an image or two.

[jmp2000]

6 shot pano taken with the 5D3 at iso 6400, 15 seconds at f/2.8

[5D Freak]

Great pano mate! How does it compare to the 5DII? Just a reference point for me. Thanks for the reply.

[jmp2000]

Great pano mate! How does it compare to the 5DII? Just a reference point for me. Thanks for the reply.

Can't compare to the 5D2 since I was on a 5D1 before. I took the same shot with the 5D1 at iso 800, 30 seconds at f/2.8 and it was not nearly as clean and crisp.

[akclimber]

Great pano mate! How does it compare to the 5DII? Just a reference point for me. Thanks for the reply.

I own both the 5D2 and 5D3.  I've done some limited long exposure night stuff with the 5D3 (auroras and full moon night for day kinda stuff) with exposures up to 30 seconds.  I've also done a ton of that kind of stuff with the 5D2.  I shoot RAW & convert in DPP or ACR.  Real world, I give the 5D3 a 1 stop advantage in noise (or maybe even slightly more  - using Neat Image anyway - the 5D3 files seem to clean up nicer than the 5D2 files).

Cheers!

[Ryant]

Here is a long exposure I took with my 5d3 at 100 ISO and 30 seconds. I pushed the contrast in lightroom to pull out more stars.

[5D Freak]

No visible banding in that shot after pushing the shadows! lol. Nice work with the trees and the glow toward the horizon. Cheers

[jrista]

No visible banding in that shot after pushing the shadows! lol. Nice work with the trees and the glow toward the horizon. Cheers

You are pushing the shadows of a baked jpeg, though, not a RAW. You are more likely to encounter jpeg compression artifacts than banding in a shot thats already been processed with high contrast (which would crush noise into the deepest shadows). I wouldn't judge banding based on any jpeg samples here. You really need a RAW file to truly tell how much better the 5D III's shadow pushing is going to be over your 5D II.

[alfas]

Great pano mate! How does it compare to the 5DII? Just a reference point for me. Thanks for the reply.

I own both the 5D2 and 5D3.  I've done some limited long exposure night stuff with the 5D3 (auroras and full moon night for day kinda stuff) with exposures up to 30 seconds.  I've also done a ton of that kind of stuff with the 5D2.  I shoot RAW & convert in DPP or ACR.  Real world, I give the 5D3 a 1 stop advantage in noise (or maybe even slightly more  - using Neat Image anyway - the 5D3 files seem to clean up nicer than the 5D2 files).

Cheers!

Very interesting, I tough it would be less. It would be great if you could post a comparison in similar conditions without any noise reduction applied.

I have just bought a 5D mkII for astrophotography. I was using a XS (1000D) up to now.

You can see how far the XS can go here (single 30s shot, panorama of 8 images, at 2.8, iso1600):

higher res: http://500px.com/photo/2435750

So I think I can expect much more joy with this new toy.

[akclimber]

Very interesting, I tough it would be less. It would be great if you could post a comparison in similar conditions without any noise reduction applied.

If we ever get a clear night again in Southeast Alaska and I haven't sold my 5D2 yet I'll go out and do some comparison shots and post them.

Cheers!