reefvilla wrote in post #17831621
So I have been taking some Christmas pics of my daughter in my basement and the noise and quality of the pictures is terrible.
The lighting is the same as some previous pics I took before I downgraded.
My previous setup: 6D with a 24-70mm f2.8L ii
Now: 60D with an 18-135mm with image stabilization.
The 6D pictures at full crop are smooth, no noise or grain at all. The new camera setup is horrible! And autofocus is Very slow IF it can focus.
MY QUESTION: Is it the camera causing this or a combination of both?
I'm about to kick myself for trading quality camera equipment for a Tavor assault rifle....
Heya,
For the situation you're shooting in, it's the camera and the lens.
6D has a better low light AF on center point (-3 EV), where as the 60D can't go down that low, so the 6D focuses in lower light better. Also, the F2.8 of your 24-70 lets in more light, so is going to be more accurate for autofocus in low light, where as the 18-135 is F3.5 to F5.6, so any where from 2/3rds (at 18mm) to 2 full stops slower (F5.6 at 135mm) than F2.8, so it gets less light, at all focal lengths, and will have a harder time focusing. Combine the less sensitive AF in low light on center point and the slower aperture lens, and you have a much harder time focusing in the dark compared to the 6D and any fast aperture lens.
The 6D has significantly better ISO pattern and performance, so will have a cleaner image at higher ISO values. That's a given.
That said, that's only this situation. In good light, this would not have been an issue at all. And if you added your own lighting, like flash and/or modifiers, etc, it would also not be an issue at all, and you'd get lovely photos from that 60D.
Also, it depends on how you're exposing. If you're under exposing, at all, with that 60D, it will show a lot of noise and grain even at lower ISO values, and just be worse at higher ISO. This concept applies to the 6D as well, it's just a little better at it, but not much (in terms of underexposing). When shooting in low light and using high ISO, you want to try to gently over-expose, I generally do it by +2/3rds of a stop or so. Then in post (RAW), I drop exposure a wee bit, and get a much cleaner image.
I say this as I shoot the same sensor as your 60D in low light, at ISO 6400, without hesitation. And when I expose, I make sure I'm slightly over-exposing, so that I can drop exposure in post, and give it some clean up, and get a clean image, even at ISO 6400. That's with a T4i Rebel, with the same sensor as the 60D basically.
Example of same/similar sensor as yours in low light, at ISO 6400, exposed to the right in RAW and cleaned up gently:
by
Martin Wise, on Flickr
Here's another example, of the same sensor found in your 60D, T4i, etc, this is a wee APS-C EOS-M (first version), at ISO 12,800:
IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/BAfZV6 IMG_9268 by
Martin Wise, on Flickr
Again, just expose to the right in RAW and drop in post and clean up.
That said, you don't have to get too crazy with things. Sure, the 6D is better, it is. But you don't have to have a $3k setup to do those photos. You can just expose differently, process differently, and get good results. You can also just introduce lighting which is a lot better than both options frankly anyways too.
A simple flash with an umbrella or softbox with a gel to match the xmas lights, would give you awesome options that beat both cameras abilities in low light, by giving you the control on the light and do ambient/flash blends. Cheaper, and ultimately better looking solution to me.
I'd rather have a flash + gel + umbrella/softbox for low light shooting any day. It's cheaper too. $100 for a setup. Way cheaper than getting a $3k camera setup, and still not having any light.
Ex in near darkness, blending ambient with flash, focusing in the dark with an ancient AF system (way inferior to the 60D even, let alone the 6D) with a common lens, but the big difference is using a simple, $50 manual flash.
IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/t7DZas IMG_3929 by
Martin Wise, on Flickr
Very best,
I was at a cemetery a couple weeks ago and there was an open cript that went underground. Looking in with my eyes all I could see was blackness. Took a picture with my 60D and it also could not find anything to focus on. Took one with my 6D and it was like the inside was lit with several light bulbs! Incredible. Both attempts were handheld. Yea if I took the time to set up a tripod and did a long exposure I would have got far different results with the 60D. So daylight use I have no complaints with the 60D I just have to really think about my low light usage. For static picture I can get useful low light shots but anything with movement or most handheld shots requires the 6D!
