Full frame DSLRs are a good choice for nighttime photography.
When taking pictures at night you will using long exposures. Whenever you need to make a long exposure with digital cameras you run the risk in having an increased amount of digital noise in your images. Digital single lens reflex cameras that use full frame sensors have a lower noise profile than cameras that use a cropped sensor. While they cost more money, full frame DSLRs are some of the best cameras for night photography.
Canon 5D Mark II
The Canon 5D Mark II is a 21.1 megapixel full frame digital single lens reflex camera. The camera is also built with Canon's DIGIC 4 image processor. The 5D Mark II has an expandable ISO, or light sensitivity, range that will go up to 25,600. The camera's Live View feature allows you to compose the image on the rear liquid crystal display screen when mounted on a tripod.
Nikon D700
Nikon's D700 has a 12.1 megapixel full frame digital sensor and, like the Canon camera, has an expandable ISO range up to 25,600. The camera has a "Long Exposure Noise Reduction" feature that, as the name suggests will reduce the amount of digital noise that is created with longer exposures during the processing stage. The D700 has Live View to make it easier to compose pictures on the cameras LCD screen when mounted on a tripod.
Sony a850
Another full frame DSLR, the Sony a850 features the largest sensor in the group with 24.6 megapixel full frame sensor. The Sony a850 features a "two stage" noise reduction step that is used when the images go through the cameras processor. According to the website DP Review, the process will deliver pictures have "extremely high level of sharpness with minimal noise level."
Non Full Frame DSLR and Point and Shoot models
The cameras listed here all have full frame digital sensors, that are designed to have a lower noise ratio than cropped sensor cameras. This is true when using high ISO settings on your camera. You can use non full frame DSLRs and point and shoot cameras to do night photography. The difference is you will need to set the camera to a lower ISO, to reduce the digital noise. Use a tripod, as you would with the three cameras listed here and engage the camera's "long exposure noise reduction" program or use a photo editing program to minimize digital noise in post production.
Tags: full frame, digital noise, frame digital, frame DSLRs, full frame digital, megapixel full, megapixel full frame