I'll admit this is a bit of a long shot, as it's a very technical question, but here we go...Which is the best Nikon DX camera for low-light performance? That is, which performs best in terms of noise?It's time to upgrade my D60, and it's a great time to do it because Nikon has so many models on the market, past models are an absolute steal on ebay. It's a choice between the D3100, D3200, D3300, D5100, D5200, D5300. Although the D7000 is lovely, I don't want a camera that big and heavy - the small size and weight of the smaller models is important for me.I've scoured dpreview.com and there doesn't seem to be much difference between these models. Higher resolution = more noise BUT = more detail which kind of makes up for the increased noise.Very confusing!

The D3200, D3300, D5200 and D5300 all have very similar noise levels at the same ISO. The D5300 and D5200 do 14 bit in the camera for the image processing pipeline, so they are a bit better than the D3200 and D3300, but only at the very, very extremes.As for even older models, the D3000 has the same 10 MP sensor that is found in your D60, but without the old Nikon colors so skip it, so matter how cheap it is. The D3100 is 14 MP and a decent camera, but the D3200 and D3300 are better.The D5000 has the same sensor as the D90 and is a slight step up regarding noise and White Balance in incandescent light, however the D5100, D5200 and D5300 are even better. The D5100 is a fine camera at 16 MP and the first camera (in this series) that you can get decent results at ISO 6400 if you are careful with exposure and if you are shooting in light near 5000-5600 Kelvin (sunlight).So I would put the D5000 as very marginal unless bought for a song, the D3100 and D5100 are only worth looking into if you get them significantly cheaper than the D3200/D5200. And even then, I am not sure you would choose them if you ever saw the output of the D3200/D5200 and above cameras.So I would stick to the D3200, D3300, D5200 and D5300 models and start looking at features to see which one has the features that you want. For instance the new D3300 has a bigger viewfinder than your D60 and that might be a big help to you if you struggle with the viewfinder on the D60 or are an eyeglass wearer.Note that I have a D60 also and that you will miss the colors at base ISO (ISO 100) from the D60. Those colors are very nice compared to the modern cameras. Of course the new cameras are going to amaze you at ISO 800 and above compared to your D60. And you will also be quite happy with how White Balance has improved in incandescent and fluorescent lighting compared to the D60 (rarely get the yellow/orange cast for incandescent or blueish/green cast for fluorescent with the newer cameras, even at very high ISO).I have owned and shot the D60, D90 (same sensor as D5000),  D7000 (same sensor as D5100), D7100 (similar sensor as D3200, D3300, D5200, D5300).Good luck!

I don't think a person could discriminate between any of the above mentioned short list regarding low noise or resolution with the lens set listed.What I would be looking for is a good price and convenience features like flip viewing screen etc. Most likely better to purchase the most recent and higher number (5300, 3300) in the series for latest technology and features.Good shooting.

OdysseySeeker wrote:I'll admit this is a bit of a long shot, as it's a very technical question, but here we go...Which is the best Nikon DX camera for low-light performance? That is, which performs best in terms of noise?It's time to upgrade my D60, and it's a great time to do it because Nikon has so many models on the market, past models are an absolute steal on ebay. It's a choice between the D3100, D3200, D3300, D5100, D5200, D5300. Although the D7000 is lovely, I don't want a camera that big and heavy - the small size and weight of the smaller models is important for me.I've scoured dpreview.com and there doesn't seem to be much difference between these models. Higher resolution = more noise BUT = more detail which kind of makes up for the increased noise.Very confusing!The new D3300 & D5300 are so close, the choice between them comes down to what lens in your collection you may want to upgrade on the 24mp sensor.You already know about the difference between  AF-S & AF so the lens will  AF on these cameras.The AF-S DX 35 1.8G should be fine. The AF-s 10-20 should also be fine.The new AF-S 18-55 VR2 could be a nice improvement over the older VR1. The new 18-140 is also a good choice for a new kit lens. The best news here is the Nikon Camera + Lens sale program. Camera price seems to be $50 better than intro & more off a 2nd lens.Not sure if 55-200 tele also needs an upgrade on 24mp sensors?

Once you hit the 12Mp pixels sensors the sensors all about the same for noise (but not dynamic range)

Dynamic range is a little better in the D5300 but as far as noise goes theres next to nothing between the D5300 and D3300. I went for the D3300 as it is smaller ,lighter and the new kit lens is more compact and sharp.How high will you want to use iso. I push my D3300 all the way upto 12800 and get usable images at normal viewing sizes. The print nicely upto A3.

Hey thankyou SO much for such an AWESOME reply! It is SUPER useful and way more than I was expecting - especially as you've owned and used so many of these cameras yourself. Thankyou again.

OdysseySeeker wrote:I'll admit this is a bit of a long shot, as it's a very technical question, but here we go...Which is the best Nikon DX camera for low-light performance? That is, which performs best in terms of noise?It's time to upgrade my D60, and it's a great time to do it because Nikon has so many models on the market, past models are an absolute steal on ebay. It's a choice between the D3100, D3200, D3300, D5100, D5200, D5300. Although the D7000 is lovely, I don't want a camera that big and heavy - the small size and weight of the smaller models is important for me.I've scoured dpreview.com and there doesn't seem to be much difference between these models. Higher resolution = more noise BUT = more detail which kind of makes up for the increased noise.Very confusing!If features, low noise, and pushing the sensor is what you are after, the best two models to look at here are the D5100 and the D5300.The D5200 is not as good when pushed because of the shadow banding that appears (which is like a type of image noise) so I would avoid that model.Other than resolution, the image quality between the D5100 and the D5300 is so close as to be effectively equal.

The D5300 is a great camera in that, and other areas of performance as well. Nice handling, and compact, too.  It's on my Most Wanted list.

OdysseySeeker wrote:I'll admit this is a bit of a long shot, as it's a very technical question, but here we go...Which is the best Nikon DX camera for low-light performance? That is, which performs best in terms of noise?It's time to upgrade my D60, and it's a great time to do it because Nikon has so many models on the market, past models are an absolute steal on ebay. It's a choice between the D3100, D3200, D3300, D5100, D5200, D5300. Although the D7000 is lovely, I don't want a camera that big and heavy - the small size and weight of the smaller models is important for me.I've scoured dpreview.com and there doesn't seem to be much difference between these models. Higher resolution = more noise BUT = more detail which kind of makes up for the increased noise.Very confusing!Your assumption that "higher resolution = more noise" is wrong.  Get a D5200.

Digital noise is something we all need to learn to work with and appreciate - a wee bit of noise and a sharp shot is far better than no noise and a soft shot.We are so spoilt today with modern DSLRS's and their ability to handle noise - I think we have all forgotten how bad it used to be !

Sonyshine wrote:Digital noise is something we all need to learn to work with and appreciate - a wee bit of noise and a sharp shot is far better than no noise and a soft shot.We are so spoilt today with modern DSLRS's and their ability to handle noise - I think we have all forgotten how bad it used to be !You are correct! It used to be bad...Here is a shot I took last week at ISO 1600 using my D200:I applied some Topaz Denoise and its usable:So yes, the older cameras are BAD for high ISO. However, they type of noise they create does clean up very easily.  I don't shoot high ISO much so I still use the D200.

D5300 followed closely by D7100. (the D5300 is newer)

OdysseySeeker wrote:I'll admit this is a bit of a long shot, as it's a very technical question, but here we go...Which is the best Nikon DX camera for low-light performance? That is, which performs best in terms of noise?It's time to upgrade my D60, and it's a great time to do it because Nikon has so many models on the market, past models are an absolute steal on ebay. It's a choice between the D3100, D3200, D3300, D5100, D5200, D5300. Although the D7000 is lovely, I don't want a camera that big and heavy - the small size and weight of the smaller models is important for me.I've scoured dpreview.com and there doesn't seem to be much difference between these models. Higher resolution = more noise BUT = more detail which kind of makes up for the increased noise.Very confusing!From what I've read, the 24MP sensor and the 16MP sensor are both very good.The 24MP sensor is a bit better in the midtones, and the 16MP sensor is maybe a wee bit better in the very deep shadows (if only because the 24MP has banding in the deep shadows).But they're both excellent -- they're both way better than your D60. If you want the extra resolution, get a 24MP body, otherwise make the decision based on price and other features.Here's the 24MP sensor at ISO 6400, with no NR other than Lightroom's default chroma NR:But, if you have to dig deep into the shadows at high ISO, it bands. This is what that looks like: this is ISO 12800, in wacky white balance (lit through stained glass windows), pushed 1 2/3 stops up to ISO 40000.The fact that I get anything at all at ISO 40000 is a testament to this sensor being pretty good, but it does break down at the extremes, and this is what happens.

The 16MP sensor of the D5100/D7000 might be the sweet spot in the resolution/noise balancing act (though I am considering a D3300 myself!).

Something that has not been mentioned yet is the set of support chips around the sensor. Expeed 2  chips (e.g. D5100) were improved upon by Expeed 3 (D5200) which were improved upon by Expeed 4 (D5300). At least some of the improved ISO range/reduced noise is down to the improvements in Expeed chips alone.My D5300 produces far more acceptable (ie lower noise) higher ISO images than my D3100 ever did, and the images are sharper too. Having said that, it is probably also true that the D3100 was far more forgiving of poor technique... at least when in my hands. I've had to raise my game when I upgraded because sloppy techniqueshowedin the higher resolution images.

OdysseySeeker wrote:I've scoured dpreview.com and there doesn't seem to be much difference between these models. Higher resolution = more noise BUT = more detail which kind of makes up for the increased noise.Very confusing!Higher resolution doesn't mean more noise on the level of the whole image.  If you compare samples, be sure to compare them scaled to the same size (as you'd be viewing them at the same size anyway). Pixel-level noise is higher for smaller pixels, but smaller pixels don't imply higher noise in the whole image.The point I'm trying to get through is that there's no compromise here: the higher resolution is going to be better in detail, butnot any worsein noise.

john Clinch wrote:Once you hit the 12Mp pixels sensors the sensors all about the same for noise (but not dynamic range)Yes - I wondered.And then I tried to compare using DxOMark.Six camerasI compared by 3 steps - The D3200 - D3300 - D5200 - D5300 - D7000 - D7100.Their Measurements of SNR was that close, that the differences wa insignificant - at all the comparable ISO's.The Dynamic range had a Little more differences, but through the ISO's never more tha 2/3EV - DxOMark says that 0.5EV is barely noticeably.John - do I read the DxOMark wrong - or are DxOMark wrong - or are diffenrences in SNR and DR just not an issue to discuss any longer unless we are in a "micro-meter" discussion.BirgerH.

OdysseySeeker wrote:I'll admit this is a bit of a long shot, as it's a very technical question, but here we go...Which is the best Nikon DX camera for low-light performance? That is, which performs best in terms of noise?It's time to upgrade my D60, and it's a great time to do it because Nikon has so many models on the market, past models are an absolute steal on ebay. It's a choice between the D3100, D3200, D3300, D5100, D5200, D5300. Although the D7000 is lovely, I don't want a camera that big and heavy - the small size and weight of the smaller models is important for me.I've scoured dpreview.com and there doesn't seem to be much difference between these models. Higher resolution = more noise BUT = more detail which kind of makes up for the increased noise.Very confusing!From what I've read, the 24MP sensor and the 16MP sensor are both very good.The 24MP sensor is a bit better in the midtones, and the 16MP sensor is maybe a wee bit better in the very deep shadows (if only because the 24MP has banding in the deep shadows).But they're both excellent -- they're both way better than your D60. If you want the extra resolution, get a 24MP body, otherwise make the decision based on price and other features.Here's the 24MP sensor at ISO 6400, with no NR other than Lightroom's default chroma NR:But, if you have to dig deep into the shadows at high ISO, it bands. This is what that looks like: this is ISO 12800, in wacky white balance (lit through stained glass windows), pushed 1 2/3 stops up to ISO 40000.The fact that I get anything at all at ISO 40000 is a testament to this sensor being pretty good, but it does break down at the extremes, and this is what happens.The 24mp sensor on the D5300 has absolutely no banding at all. No matter how hard you push it.I know the sensor on the 5200/7100 does have slight banding when pushed.I actually have been very impressed with the raw files from the D5300 and the only way to get better iso performance is full frame.

If you don't like the D7100 then the D5300 is the next best choice. I have only owned the 'full-featured' enthusiest DX models as I've really struggled every time I've had to use someone's 'mid-ranged' Nikon (D3000/D5000 variants). It just seems so difficult to get the cameras to do want you want them to do. Like someone else mentioned, once you get to 12Mp or above you have to really pixel-peep to see the differnece. I just had some 120cm x 80cm canvas prints done by a lab (Shoot Gallery in Bali) since I can only print up to A2 at home - the images were shot with D90's and the detail is amazing!• Nikon D800E • Nikon Df • Nikon D700 (2) • Nikon D7100 • Nikon D7000 • Nikon D90 (2) • Nikon D80 • Nikon D70s • Hasselblad H3DII-39 • Fuji X100 LE • Canon G15