Canon 5D Mark II vs Canon 1D X: Underexposed Night Shots

Tonight I finally had some down time.... at 2am.  I decided to test out the ISO noise comparison between the Canon 5D Mark II and the newly arrived Canon 1D X.  The differences are definitely noticeable and become even more striking as that ISO ramps up.  I was surprised, and very pleased, so see such an improvement even at ISO 100 in terms of noise and even sharpness.

All photos were shot at about 2am (no street lights on this street)

85mm lens at f/2
Linear Tone Curve
Camera Standard Profile
Lens Correction (minus Vignetting)
Un-cropped.  (99% of the time my photos are not viewed at their highest resolution unless they are printed. So i might run another comparison with blowing the 1D X photos up to the 5D Mark II megapixel size before saving it for web, to get a more scientific side by side. However, this is a more practical side for typical photo use)

 5D Mark II                                                                       1D X

(Click to see larger image)

100 ISO

200 ISO

400 ISO

800 ISO

1600 ISO

3200 ISO

64000 ISO

Expanded                                                                                                 Native
12,800 ISO

Expanded                                                                                                 Native
25,600 ISO

Not Available                                                                                           Native
51,200 ISO

Not Available                                                                                           Expanded
102,400

Not Available                                                                                           Expanded
204,800

The next interesting comparison i thought would be the two cameras at the highest native ISO settings. High ISO expansion is something i have only ever used once, since the grain up there makes the photo usually totally unusable in a professional setting. I like to usually stay within one stop of the highest ISO just to be safe.

ISO 64000                                                                                       ISO 51,200
Highest Native ISO Comparison

Also, every once in a while I find myself in the sad situation of needed to add some expsure to a RAW image I shot in extreme low light.  I never really went lower than ISO 6400 with the 5D Mark II, and that was totally fine 99.99% of the time.  So below is the ISO 6400 shot normal, then added 1 stop of exposure, then 2, then 3 stops.

Adding exposure in Camera RAW: one stop increments

The RAW file really holds up well for already being at such a high ISO! Very pleased!

Any other tests or comparisons anyone would like to see? I plan on doing some studio lighting tests next.

This all just gets me really excited to shoot my next "available light only" nighttime outdoors wedding!