Nikon D300S

Noise Reduction (6.67)

There are three levels of noise reduction here, High, Normal and Low, each of which applies to exposures at ISO 800 or higher. Noise reduction can also be turned off to maximize image detail, though some noise reduction processing will still be applied at ISO settings of Hi 0.3 or above.

As shown in the chart below, there is a substantial gap between results shot with no NR and the NR Low setting, and those taken with the camera set to Medium or High NR. As seen in our sample image section, there’s a matching jump in fine detail loss between the settings.

Our test distinguishes between the component color components in the overall image noise level, shooting with noise reduction turned off. With some cameras, one color will be substantially higher than the others, and hence more visible, but that’s not a problem here. More on how we test noise.

When shooting under bright light, the D300S displayed very low image noise, surpassing the Canon 7D by a significant margin. We test by shooting the ColorChecker chart under controlled 3000 lux studio illumination at all standard ISO settings, using each available noise reduction setting, and use Imatest software to analyze the test photos.

Comparing several tested cameras with noise reduction turned off (maximizing image detail) we find the D300S starts out with lower noise than all but the Nikon D5000 at lower ISO settings, and maintains an edge over the Canon 7D and especially the Panasonic GH1 (with its relatively noisy Micro Four Thirds sensor) throughout.

With noise reduction processing set to its maximum level on all five cameras, the two Nikons maintain the lowest image noise levels from ISO 200-3200.

As shown in the graph below, the Nikons outperformed the competition in our image noise testing, with a slight advantage going to the D5000.

ISO Options

The ‘official’ ISO range is 200-3200, which by default are selected in 1/3EV increments, but can be set in 1/2 or 1 EV steps through the custom menu. In addition, there are three settings below ISO 200 (Lo 1, Lo 0.7 and Lo 0.3, equivalent to ISO 100-160) and three above 3200 (Hi 0.3, Hi 0.7 and Hi 1, equivalent to ISO 4000-6400).

There is also an Auto ISO option that allows the camera to adjust the ISO if a proper exposure can’t be achieved using the aperture and shutter speed settings selected by the user. A maximum acceptable ISO value can be specified.

ISO Comparisons
Nikon D300S	Canon EOS 7D	Nikon D5000	Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1	Sony Alpha A550
ISO Low
	ISO 100	ISO 200	ISO 100
	ISO 100	ISO 200	ISO 100
Nikon D300S	Canon EOS 7D	Nikon D5000	Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1	Sony Alpha A550
ISO 200
Nikon D300S	Canon EOS 7D	Nikon D5000	Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1	Sony Alpha A550
ISO 400
Nikon D300S	Canon EOS 7D	Nikon D5000	Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1	Sony Alpha A550
ISO 800
Nikon D300S	Canon EOS 7D	Nikon D5000	Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1	Sony Alpha A550
ISO 1600
Nikon D300S	Canon EOS 7D	Nikon D5000	Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1	Sony Alpha A550
ISO 3200
Nikon D300S	Canon EOS 7D	Nikon D5000	Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1	Sony Alpha A550
ISO 6400
Nikon D300S	Canon EOS 7D	Nikon D5000	Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1	Sony Alpha A550
ISO 12800
Nikon D300S	Canon EOS 7D	Nikon D5000	Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1	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.