Canon 7D Noise and ISO
- looking at the 1Ds3

A quick comparison of noise at 3200 ISO

I do sometimes use my 1Ds3 at 3200 ISO (the H setting) and have found it perfectly good for work not requiring huge prints.

Given that the 7D is equivalent to a 45MP plus full frame sensor, the sensor pixels are considerably smaller.

I was curious to see how the EOS 7D compares with the older 1Ds Mk3.

All our assorted Canon 7D information is collected together on its own page, and I've written several short 7D review articles about aspects of using the 7D.

ISO noise comparisons
with the Canon 7D

Four pictures. 3 taken with the 7D at ISO 3200, 6400 and 12800(H). One taken with the 1Ds3 at 3200 (H)

I used a 24-70 2.8L zoom to equalize the field of view.

I'll not label them, but I believe there are enough differences to spot which is which.

All processed in ACR5.6 with CS 4. All noise reduction turned off and the black point set to zero.

WB setting is as indicated in the RAW file.

Exposure is using Av mode at f/8

Images Zoomed to 100%

Remember that it's 18MP on the 7D and 21MP on a sensor with 2.56 times the area for the 1Ds3

Camera noise reduction is turned off

I suspect you can see which are which now...

White balance

Here's a corrected version, using the white chopping board for WB

Both cameras overestimated the colour temperature from the halogen lighting, but slightly closer was the 7D.

Hardly a rigorous experiment, but tells me that the 7D with noise reduction will give perfectly good results for smaller image sizes.

As ever YMMV, but I'm pleased to see how well the tiny pixels of the 7D do.

Other info

7D fractional ISO stop noise behaviour
7D blog posts
Canon 7D news and information

The views in this article represent those of Keith Cooper. Keith is always happy to discuss matters raised in his articles. You can Email Us
Northlight Images prides itself on its independence when giving advice. We do not sell hardware or software and have no direct commercial links with any of the software or hardware vendors that may be mentioned here. See our Review Policy for more information.

Have you found an article on the site useful or helpful? If so, please consider passing on a link to the article or mentioning it on a forum - Thanks to everyone who's helped the site become better known.

Explore our site... Digital Black and White photography and printing - some of Keiths thoughts, techniques and tips for those interested in a digital approach to black and white. We've lots of original Photography Articles and Photography Reviews on the site to help anyone interested in photography. New site content appears on the What's New page.

Thanks to the visitors who've made Amazon purchases (any kinds of items whatosever)
via: Amazon UK/Amazon France/Amazon Germany/Amazon USA/Amazon Canada
It won't save extra money we're afraid, but it does help in the running of the site, and we really appreciate it...

Northlight Images is based in Leicester in the UK and supplies Commercial Photography services
Visiting Leicester or wondering where it is? We have views from the Leicester traffic cameras.