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Noise Summary |
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 • Low image noise in bright light conditions at all ISOs
• High ISO noise reduction effective but impacts fine detail
• ISO range 200-3200, extended settings 100-6400
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Color |
Page 4 of 21 |
Resolution |
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Noise (6.67)
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. Click here for more on how we test noise.
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.
| Noise Reduction Level Comparison |
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The following chart 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.
| Color & Luma Noise |
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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.
| Noise Reduction Off Comparison |
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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.
| Noise Reduction Maximum Comparison |
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As shown in the graph below, the Nikons outperformed the competition in our image noise testing, with a slight advantage going to the D5000.
| Noise Score Comparison |
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ISO (6.00)
The "official" ISO range is 200-3200, which by default are selected in 1/3EV increments, but can be set to 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.
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.
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