Nikon D3000

Noise Reduction (6.21)

The noise reduction system on the D3000 is unsual for an SLR. A single On/Off setting controls both high ISO noise reduction (over ISO 400) and long exposure noise reduction (longer than 8 seconds), and there are no noise reduction level settings. When shooting at settings above ISO 800 some noise reduction processing is used, even if you’ve turned it off.

Noise reduction has no effect below ISO 800, and makes a significant difference at the two highest ISO settings. When shooting at ISO 100 and 200, image noise is about 0.6%, a decent performance. The blue noise is somewhat elevated above the rest, which could make it more visible even when the overall noise level is relatively low, depending on the colors in your photo. More on how we test noise.

Our image noise tests show that the D3000 isn’t overly prone to annoying speckles and imperfections, though our test images were marginally noisier than three out of four comparison cameras (the Olympus E-620, with its smaller Four Thirds format sensor, had particular problems with this test). To measure noise performance we shoot the X-Rite Color Checker chart under bright studio illumination (we turn the lights down for our separate Long Exposure testing), at each available ISO and with noise reduction processing at each available level (in this case, that’s on and off). Digital noise reduction will supress visible imperfections, but at the expense of image detail.

The Olympus E-620, with its smaller Four Thirds format sensor, was by far the noisiest camera in our test group with the noise reduction system is turned off (to retain as much image detail as possible). The closeness of the other lines indicates the marginal visible differences between the other four cameras.

While the Olympus was the noisiest model with noise reduction turned off, its maximum noise reduction setting is highly effective. The Nikon D3000 noise reduction doesn’t kick in until ISO 800, leaving noise a bit high at the ISO 400 mark.

Overall the results here don’t represent a major quality difference, with the exception of the Olympus E-620. Still, there is an unfortunate dip between the Nikon D5000 and its younger sibling.

ISO Options

Available standard ISOs range from 100 to 1600, plus an extended range Hi 1 setting equivalent to ISO 3200. This represents an increase on both ends of the range compared to the Nikon D40.

There’s an Auto ISO mode available for situations where the user-defined setting won’t allow a workable exposure. Maximum and minimum acceptable values can be set.

ISO Comparisons
Nikon D3000	Nikon D5000	Canon EOS Rebel XS	Olympus E-620	Pentax K2000
ISO Low
ISO 100	ISO 200	ISO 100	ISO 100	ISO 100
ISO 100	ISO 200	ISO 100	ISO 100	ISO 100
Nikon D3000	Nikon D5000	Canon EOS Rebel XS	Olympus E-620	Pentax K2000
ISO 200
Nikon D3000	Nikon D5000	Canon EOS Rebel XS	Olympus E-620	Pentax K2000
ISO 400
Nikon D3000	Nikon D5000	Canon EOS Rebel XS	Olympus E-620	Pentax K2000
ISO 800
Nikon D3000	Nikon D5000	Canon EOS Rebel XS	Olympus E-620	Pentax K2000
ISO 1600
Nikon D3000	Nikon D5000	Canon EOS Rebel XS	Olympus E-620	Pentax K2000
ISO 3200
Nikon D3000	Nikon D5000	Canon EOS Rebel XS	Olympus E-620	Pentax K2000
ISO 6400
Nikon D3000	Nikon D5000	Canon EOS Rebel XS	Olympus E-620	Pentax K2000

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.