Which camera for a college student budget?
Either way, you want faster lenses. If you shoot RAW, faster glass will make a bigger impact on your low-light performance than a new camera body.
I recently did some comparison shots between my 450D and my 5D just for fun, checking out the noise levels at ISO 1600. Using the same (f/2.8 ) lens on both, there wasn't a huge difference. The 450D needed very minimal noise reduction to match the output of the 5D -- so minimal that the detail wasn't noticeably diminished.
FWIW, I did the same test shots in JPEG and the noise from the 450D was enough to make a shot unusable.
So I would say first priority is good glass, and for the 2nd priority (new camera body) the 5D is a great suggestion. IMHO, the low-light improvement in the 5DmkII isn't worth the extra money. From what I've seen, the mkIII is, but that's a whole other price range.
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