Canon EOS Rebel T2i

Noise Reduction (6.35)

With noise reduction turned off, the T2i had noise levels above 2% at ISO 3200. That’s more noise than registered in any of the competitors’ models. Fortunately, the ‘Normal’ and ‘High’ levels of noise reduction were fairly effective, with normal noise reduction keeping noise to just under 1% at ISO 800.

The T2i is fairly unusual in having significantly lower noise in the yellow spectrum. The T1i registered similar results. More on how we test noise.

Noise levels on the Canon Rebel T2i were slightly higher than those of the competition. The noise isn’t anything that will ruin your photo shoot, but it’s clear that squeezing 18 megapixels into the sensor has had an adverse effect on noise. At the end of the day, the T2i performed worse than many similar models, including the three non-Canons selected for our comparison group. Noise reduction proved somewhat effective, but you sacrifice a bit of image sharpness.

To test noise, we shoot the X-Rite ColorChecker chart at every available ISO. (For those cameras with an ‘extended ISO range,’ we test only the standard ISO levels.) We use Imatest software to calculate the amount of noise at each level of noise reduction across every ISO.

The noise levels on the T2i were generally higher than the competition — with and without noise reduction activated. With noise reduction off, this is especially true above ISO 800. Sporting identical sensors, the T2i and 7D have almost identical noise performance. (The 7D has slightly higher noise at ISO 3200, but is the same at every other level.) The only competing model coming in behind the T2i was the Sony A550, and that was only at ISO 400 (noise reduction off) or with noise reduction on.

Although the T2i demonstrated improved performance with maximum noise reduction, our score is based on overall noise performance. Taking into account noise at every ISO and every level of noise reduction, the Rebel T2i and the Canon 7D came in last place in our comparison group.

ISO Options

The official ISO range on the Rebel T2i is 100 to 3200, but the camera also boasts an ‘extended range’ that opens up additional options: ISO 6400 and ‘H’ (approximately ISO 12800).

The table below contains same-size crops taken from still life photos shot with each of the comparison cameras at all standard ISO settings.

ISO Comparisons
Canon EOS Rebel T2i	Canon EOS 7D	Nikon D5000	Samsung NX10	Sony Alpha A550
ISO Low
ISO 100	ISO 100	ISO 200	ISO 100
ISO 100	ISO 100	ISO 200	ISO 100
Canon EOS Rebel T2i	Canon EOS 7D	Nikon D5000	Samsung NX10	Sony Alpha A550
ISO 200
Canon EOS Rebel T2i	Canon EOS 7D	Nikon D5000	Samsung NX10	Sony Alpha A550
ISO 400
Canon EOS Rebel T2i	Canon EOS 7D	Nikon D5000	Samsung NX10	Sony Alpha A550
ISO 800
Canon EOS Rebel T2i	Canon EOS 7D	Nikon D5000	Samsung NX10	Sony Alpha A550
ISO 1600
Canon EOS Rebel T2i	Canon EOS 7D	Nikon D5000	Samsung NX10	Sony Alpha A550
ISO 3200
Canon EOS Rebel T2i	Canon EOS 7D	Nikon D5000	Samsung NX10	Sony Alpha A550
ISO 6400
Canon EOS Rebel T2i	Canon EOS 7D	Nikon D5000	Samsung NX10	Sony Alpha A550
ISO 12800
Canon EOS Rebel T2i	Canon EOS 7D	Nikon D5000	Samsung NX10	Sony Alpha A550

NOTE: The images above are not used in our testing or scoring, but are included here to show real-world examples of the differences between cameras at the various ISO settings.