larryepage Loc: North Texas area

You have been given a couple of good suggestions here. Now you will have to decide. Unfortunately, you did not tell us which of a number of types of low light photography you want to pursue. That will make a difference in your final choice.

For example, the D3s or its kin will do great for general subjects or street photography. The low resolution is completely insufficient for night sky photography, where you need both the capability to shoot at ISO 6000 and the ability to resolve individual stars. If you are looking to shoot sports in dimly lit stadiums or gyms, there are a host of other factors to consider, some of which are much more important than the low light capability of the camera.

So I'm guessing that you still have some additional thinking and work to do.

lrm Loc: Sarasota, FL

I believe the Z6-ll is Nikon,s best for low light and will work well with your current lenses with the adaptor. Price is right.

Jack47 Loc: Ontario

Thanks all for your replies. A work in progress I guess.

photoman43

Before you decide on another camera body, view your images with Nikon software as it will display the images as captured in the camera. Your issue with your images may be your image processor and the settings used to display your images. If you shoot JPEG, the issues might be your settings in Picture Controls.


Go here to download the latest Nikon software. It is free:

https://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/products/564/NX_Studio.html

Picture Controls explained;


https://www.nikonusa.com/en/learn-and-explore/a/tips-and-techniques/the-importance-of-picture-controls.html

RLSprouse Loc: Encinitas CA (near Sandy Eggo)

Although I have both a D850 and a Z 7, my best low-light body is my D3. Big sensor, big photo sites = good light capturing capability.

~ Russ.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

I have heard this about the D3s

Brucej67 Loc: Cary, NC

Low light high ISO best D4, D4S,D5, D6, Z6 II.

russraman Loc: New York City

My best low light Nikon cameras are the Df and the D850.

PSims46 Loc: Maryland

You might look into the Nikon D780. I was amazed at how well it took photos in low light. I’m assuming the D850 does also but the file sizes are way to big for my taste. If you take a lot of photos with that camera you need to buy some really big external hard drives. I love my D780, which I have no regrets of buying it, instead of the D850. It’s also a newer camera and it has some of the Z’s features. Good luck on finding what you are looking for.

chasgroh Loc: Buena Park, CA

...D850 prolly best, but my D5 is stupendous in low light; only 21 MP though. The Z7 has the same sensor as the D850 if you want to go that route...but then you're in another ecosystem with lensing and such... <shrug>

Sinewsworn Loc: Port Orchard, WA

D850! 500pF, 1/4000, f 8, ISO 8000! High shutter sped because I was trying to get some good take off and landing shots.

(Download)

Drbobcameraguy Loc: Eaton Ohio

I have a D3S. Only 12 megapixels but still almost the top of the hill for low light photography. According to dxomark scores. Can be found for less than 1000 bucks if you look around. It is a full frame camera though.

Drbobcameraguy Loc: Eaton Ohio

D3S is better than the d4s according to dxomark

Jack47 Loc: Ontario

Thank you. Excellent shot at that speed and ISO.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

I had a D200. Upgraded to a D3 and it made a huge difference in low light photography. I did events, mostly indoors, so high ISO was important to me. Flash is not always welcome at some events.

The D3 disappeared from my truck and I replaced it with a D4. The D4 was noticeably better at high ISO than the D3 (although the D3 was not available for direct comparisons).

GAS led me to a D5. I found that the D5 was slightly better than the D4 at ISO above 10K, but I preferred the D4 for more normal ISO levels. They were close enough that I can use both bodies with different lenses to minimize lens changing during events. I naturally did some tests of the high ISO results from these bodies and it is my opinion that 50K is the highest reasonable ISO you can use and still get useful images. ISO levels to 3.5M are marketing hype. I could use the D3 at ISO 200K, but only if I could get a reasonable image at 50K. Beyond that there were color shifts that strongly impacted the utility of the images. Of course the term "useful images" is strongly dependent on just what you do with your images. My images were used in newsletters and PR releases, so they were rarely used at full resolution, and downsampling could mitigate a lot of noise. In practice I rarely go above 12K, and hardly ever get up to 25K.

I never got a D750/D850 so I can't say anything about them.

I have retired and don't do many events any more so I was not tempted by the D6. It was my impression that the difference between the D5 and the D4 was primarily signal processing rather than improvements in sensor sensitivity. I suspect sensors are pretty close to peak quantum efficiency at this point, so further advances will be incremental. Of course new features are always a draw.

I would say that a used D4 (or possibly a D3s) would be an economical starting point for your low light future. But any of the newer model camera bodies will probably be similar. You might consult https://www.photonstophotos.net/Charts/PDR.htm for a comparison of the dynamic range of various camera bodies as a function of ISO.