Except sometimes it does.

When should you buy a new camera? Not often, and not because the new camera has more functions or pixels.

One reason: because it has higher useable ISO. I have talked about this before. Here’s another example, from my Canon 1Dx, which has fewwer pixels than that 1Ds Mk3 I was using before. Fewer pixels plus more modern technology means higher useable ISO.

For example, unchanged from the camera, I just converted this from the RAW to a JPG – an image I shot at a whopping 12,800 ISO at f/2.8, 1/160th sec:

Yes, 12,800 ISO. No noise reduction in Lightroom – this, as said, is from the camera.

Even magnified to real size, 1000 pixels wide (click through to see at that size), it is really good – good enough for a large print.

So with a modern camera you can shoot dinner in a dark restaurant at good quality with an f/2.8 lens, using available light. Is that cool, or is that cool? And that is why eventually you will trade in your 5D Mark I for a Mark III, or something like that.

On a side note:

Q: how did I get both glasses sharp at f/2.8? Shouldn’t f/2.8 from up close look like this, with only one of the glasses sharp?

A: Yes it should. But I used my 45mm tilt-shift lens, which allows me to shift the focal plane to where it is in line with both glasses.