Nikon D300 noise comparison test shots

Just a quick test to allow comparison of noise in real life photos from 200 ISO up to 6400! This shows you what to expect. Although noise shows up less in bright daytime shots than it does when there is less light.

All the pictures on this page were taken hand held straight out of my front door. The camera was set to F7.1 and Aperture Priority and 18mm. So as I changed the ISO setting the shutter speed changed automatically to compensate. Matrix Metering, in camera noise reduction was standard "medium" setting.

The point of focus was in every case the rear light cluster. 18-200 VR lenses are not renowned for sharpness and probably worse still at F7.1 but it gave me a sensible hand held shutter speed at 200 ISO in the dull light. A black van (or shadowy areas) are the best choice to show noise in an image generally. So this is a fair real world test.

ALL these images are 1/3rd size (33%) of the original and then sharpened by the same amount after resizing. This shows the noise up more of course but its what you would do if you were going to print it or display it on screen. This equates to roughly an A4 print or a little larger - at least on my screen!  Its roughly what you would see if you printed the full size image on an A4 page. That's a 297mm x 210mm print!  Or about 12 x 8 inches.

Image 1 at 200 ISO is below.  I didn't bother with the 100 ISO as its a "pushed" setting and although it has a little better noise its not really a good idea to use it generally as it has a worse dynamic range than the 200 base ISO.
Full sized image here

Image 2 at 320 ISO is below - at this size I cant see a difference. You can just see it on the full size one but its minor.
If I wanted to print say 30 x 20 inches I would probably prefer the previous image.
Full image here

Image 3 at 500 ISO is below - I skipped 400 because this looks the same! At this size I cant see a difference.
If I wanted to print say 30 x 20 inches I would probably prefer the previous images again. 
You can see more noise in the full sized image. But that would be about a meter wide on my monitor! 
You probably wouldn't see much noise in a 30 x 20 inch print still as you don't study large pictures with your nose 4 inches from the picture! Real people don't but photographers might! 
Full image here

Image 4 at 640 ISO is below - at this A4 print size I can JUST begin to see some noise with my nose touching the screen. 
Noise is visible in the full sized image at 100 percent size if you are really looking for it. Most non photographers wouldn't see it if you pointed it out.
Full image here

Image 5 at 800 ISO is below -  Noise doesn't seem to get (much?) worse in the D300 from 640 up to 1000. Still perfectly acceptable to print at A4 size! 
Full image here

Image 6 at 1000 ISO is below - This is the sweet spot if you need a higher ISO. It appears as good as the 640 shot. At least at this size it still looks pretty damned good!
Full image here

Image 7 at 1250 ISO is below - Seems to show slightly more noise than 1000. At least that's what I see in the full size image.
Its still very difficult to tell on a well exposed shot or a print that's no bigger than A4 or 12 x 8 that its not a base 200 ISO shot.
Although its obvious in the full image if viewed at 100 percent. But who does? I don't know anyone with a 4000 pixel wide monitor yet?
Although you would see if you were looking for it in a large 30 x 20 inch print. 
Full image here

Image 8 at 1600 ISO is below -  At this A4 print size you can start to see noise in the glass and polished black paint.
But you need to be looking! its like a point and shoot at 100 ISO.  Its obvious in the full size at 100 percent and a yard wide! But massively better than you would expect.
Printing disguises noise to a large degree anyway compared to our monitors due to printing re-interpolation and lower brightness.
Full image here

Image 9 at 3200 ISO is below - This is a last resort setting that I would probably never use. Now we can see noise and its beginning to effect sharpness.
Even in this A4 or 12 x 8 print size, look at the bricks or roof tiles and very obviously so in the full size image at 100 percent. 
In an emergency, or for artistic reasons, or sport/news it might be acceptable!
Or even newspapers as they are all small and low resolution. you could effectively print small postcard sized images.
Full image here

Image 10 at 6400 ISO is below - Not sure what you would use this for, image quality is awful! Even in the small image here.
Sharpness and saturation as well as dynamic range all seem to be degraded. Most of the lack of detail is caused by the noise reduction algo in the camera.
Turn it off and its sharp but noisier!
Maybe black and white art, or sport where you don't have a D3 or a D700! 
Visible noise isn't the problem at this size,  its the effect it has on everything else!  Looks like a mobile phone image...
Full horrible image here