Olympus E-30

	Noise Summary
• Very poor noise levels across the board • Noise reduction brings it to a reasonable level, but at the cost of image sharpness
	Color	Page 4 of 19	Resolution

Noise (5.54)

The miserable performance in the noise section of our review is a distinguishing feature of this camera, unfortunately. It's small sensor size and reasonably high megapixel count combined to produce a decidedly sub-par result. To test noise levels, we shoot the X-Rite color chart at every available ISO, at all noise reduction levels, and use Imatest to measure the levels of noise across red, green, blue, yellow and luma. The score for this section is based on its performance across all noise reduction levels. According to Olympus, if you use Live View for extended periods, you may hit even higher noise levels than we found, due to the sensor heating up from repeated use. All of these tests were shot using the viewfinder only.

Normally, when we run this test, we turn any sort of dynamic range adjustment off. With the Olympus E-30, this feature is called Gradation, and cannot be switched off, but rather is set to Normal, Auto, High Key and Low Key. Our tests were run initially with Gradation set to Auto, but we subsequently learned that this setting can noticeably increase noise levels. We have since reshot these tests with Gradation set to Normal, and adjusted our scoring accordingly. You can see in the two graphs below the effect on noise levels with both settings, and further down the page a table of comparisons between the two modes. However, even with Gradation set to Normal, the noise levels of the E-30 are still problematically high with noise reduction off. With noise reduction on they are now at more acceptable levels, if you don't mind taking a significant hit to image sharpness.

Noise Reduction Level Comparison (Normal Gradation)

Noise Reduction Level Comparison (Auto Gradation)

With noise reduction turned off, the noise levels rapidly increase to 5% at ISO 3200. Even at ISO 400, it sits at slightly above 1.5%, which is noticeable in the images at full size. Turning on noise reduction does noticeably drop the noise levels, but at the cost of image sharpness. For an example of how this will affect your images, our Sample Photos section includes shots taken at various ISOs.

Color & Luma Noise

In the chart above, you can see how image noise is spread across colors and gray (luma). While all of these areas are unusually high, luma is a particular culprit, and breaches 6% noise at ISO 3200.

Noise Reduction Off Comparison

When compared to other cameras, even inexpensive entry-level SLRs, you can see just how atypical these noise levels are. At ISO 400, the E-30 has similar levels to most cameras do at ISO 1600.

Noise Reduction Maximum Comparison

However, if you turn the noise reduction up all the way to full, the E-30 relocates to the center of the pack, with noise levels that are more or less on par with other cameras, except at the extremes of ISO 3200. The only problem with this is that the images suffer significant loss of sharpness with the image reduction turned up all the way, so it becomes a balancing act between the two, depending on your needs and situation.

The E-30's small sensor once again betrays it, as it struggled to jam twelve million pixels into not enough space, resulting in a noise score far below any of the other tested cameras. The noise level at ISO 3200 is so high as to render images unrecognizable, which can be mitigated to a certain extent by using noise reduction, which in turn damages sharpness in major ways.

The following chart shows the image noise scores achieved by each of the cameras in our test group; taller bars indicate better scores.

Noise Score Comparison

To convey the sort of difference you can expect in your images when using the Auto Gradation setting, the table below shows 100% crops at a number of ISOs. The different levels of Gradation also account for the changes in brightness.

	Gradation Noise Comparison Table
	Auto	Normal
ISO 100
	Auto	Normal
ISO 100
	Auto	Normal
ISO 400
	Auto	Normal
ISO 400
	Auto	Normal
ISO 800
	Auto	Normal
ISO 800
	Auto	Normal
ISO 3200
	Auto	Normal
ISO 3200

ISO (5.50)

Below you can see 100% crops for each of the cameras at every available ISO. The E-30 runs the gamut of ISO 100 to 3200, in 1/3 or 1 EV. The camera features ISO bracketing for three shots, in ±0.3, 0.7 or step.

	ISO Examples (noise reduction off)
	Olympus E-30	Nikon D90	Canon 50D	Canon Rebel XS	Pentax K2000
ISO 100
	Olympus E-30	Nikon D90	Canon 50D	Canon Rebel XS	Pentax K2000
ISO 200
	Olympus E-30	Nikon D90	Canon 50D	Canon Rebel XS	Pentax K2000
ISO 400
	Olympus E-30	Nikon D90	Canon 50D	Canon Rebel XS	Pentax K2000
ISO 800
	Olympus E-30	Nikon D90	Canon 50D	Canon Rebel XS	Pentax K2000
ISO 1600
	Olympus E-30	Nikon D90	Canon 50D	Canon Rebel XS	Pentax K2000
ISO 3200				Not Available
	Olympus E-30	Nikon D90	Canon 50D	Canon Rebel XS	Pentax K2000
ISO 6400	Not Available			Not Available
	Olympus E-30	Nikon D90	Canon 50D	Canon Rebel XS	Pentax K2000
ISO 12800	Not Available			Not Available

This section of the review was updated with revised results and scores on 31st March 2009