The sensor on this camera being much smaller than those which are mounted inside a DSLR is not capable of a signal to picture noise ratio as good as one might find on the latter. I think ISO 400 is about as far as one may reasonably go with the 9100 before quality deteriorates to a noticeable extent. Always remember though that when you fit a kit lens to a DSLR it will often be f3.5 at the close end and maybe 5.6 at the telephoto. The bridge camera with a f2.8-3.5 lens therefore might actually produce photographs that are more satisfactory at around ISO 200. Frankly a lot of disingenuous nonsense is spoken about this noise topic on the internet, mainly to justify the owning of a DSLR. With a good bright macro lens the DSLR will be WAY better; but with a kit lens you may find your creative use of aperture just as constrained as with the bridge camera. Do not expect the impossible. If you are a perfectionist spend your money on a DSLR and good lens. If you are happy to strike lucky in bright lighting conditions then the bridge camera can be surprisingly good.