Compare ISO1600 by Miljenko Devcic

Miljenko Devcic | all galleries >> tech >> Compare DSLR noise > Compare ISO1600

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18-DEC-2005

Nikon D200
1/100s f/8.0 at 52.0mm iso1600 hide exif

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Miljenko Devcic		23-Aug-2006 13:10
Pablo, those are just crops from somebody's else comparison and I don't have even a slightest knowledge on shooting settings. OTOH, my own tests have confirmed two facts: Nikon D50 has lower perceptible noise than D70, and most Canon DSLRs outperform most Nikon DSLRs noisewise.

Pablo		03-Aug-2006 02:02
I am by no means an expert, I own a canon 20D and have had the chance to shoot over a thousand pics at ISO1600 with a nikon D70 (it was my mistake at a wedding) the 20D blows the D70 away (noisewise) as it is common knowledge. I think the confusion here might be that dpreview states that the Nikon D50 is better in "luminance" noise "under" ISO800. At ISO1600 dpreview says that noise is similar, but if you look at the graph the 350D is a little better than the D50 in luminance noise, and then, way better in RGB noise, mainly because of the red channel. It is also interesting to see that the green channel (the one responsible for luminance noise as dpreview states) is consistently better throughout the ISO range in the D50, BUT the red channel is consistently worse (maybe this adds too much chroma noise?) :( At the end what matters is not the measurements and graphs, but the perceived image, and it seems that canon still has the secret recipe for now.

Miljenko Devcic		26-Jun-2006 12:49
Andrey, I agree 100% about useless brand debates. As a journalist I have to be objective as much as possible. But as a photographer (with limited funds) I have to decide on one brand. It happened to be Nikon for advantages that are important to me. Talking of the future testing plans, it all depends on my editor and his determination on publishing and paying my efforts :)

Andrey		26-Jun-2006 04:29
I don't want this conversation to turn into another Nikon vs Canon debate. thank you for your input. I agree 100% cameras are not just about noise and megapixels. Do you have plans to run any comparisons of various cameras in regard to metering and white balance in complex lighting conditions? you seem to be able to create measurable and reproducible tests for anything.

Miljenko Devcic		25-Jun-2006 07:27
Hi Andrey, please take this test with the grain of salt: I have just made the crops, performed white balance adjustment and assembled all of it together. I dunno nothing about shooting settings that the guys at digitalcamera.impress.co.jp made. As for D50,yes it has the lowest noise figures among current Nikon DSLRs, but I believe it is still a bit behind equivalent Canon cameras. Talking of brand preferences, yes it IS rather personal matter, but if you talk with pros who use both (me included), 9 out of 10 will give advantage to Nikon for ergonomics, reliability and final results. Mostly those who badly need finest low ISO noise performance will chose Canon over Nikon.

Andrey		24-Jun-2006 04:24
Spasibo! Still, I have seen numerous comparisons and opinions, even some claiming D50 is superior to 350d in noise performance. And this one is the most exaggerated opposite I've met so far! your own test doesn't show a that big a difference! I take it the few Nikon's virtues being: control, exposure metering, and color, or what?

Miljenko Devcic		22-Jun-2006 13:59
Zdravstvui, Andrey, Canon cameras are well known for superior high ISO noise performance. Anyone trying to prove the opposite either is a liar or performs an uncontrolled testing. Even this test contains a questionable D200 pic that is suspected to have worse noise level than shown. However, noise performance is not everything. I have chosen few other Nikon virtues over the Canon's low noise although lower noise would made me much happier.

Andrey		21-Jun-2006 06:19
The comparison clearly shows Canon's noise performance superiority over Nikon D50 and D70s. This contradicts the measured results at dpreview.com http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond50/page17.asp Who is sold out -dpreveiw or Japanese?

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