I've had my 50D a month or two now, and during that time have taken a couple of hundred shots... so just starting to see what it can do.
My previous main camera was a 20D (which I now use as a backup), and I am a little disconcerted at the amount of noise in my 50D images vs. the 20D. So, I wanted to find out if this is just me, the way I am processing RAW, or the 50D.
I've attached two images, both 100% crops taken from a RAW image of a crystal decanter at ISO 250 with the 24-105 F4L at f4 (light was not good) with the 50D.
The first (top) image was processed in Lightroom with color noise reduction dialed up to 15, no luminance noise reduction. The second (bottom) was converted with Canon DPP with standard settings.
Both conversions exhibit a lot of noise, especially in the shadows. There actually seems to be noise banding in both conversions. In LR, larger "splotches" of color noise persist even with color noise dialed up to 50. I was surprised to see this amount of noise at ISO 250. Is this what I should expect from the 50D?
I was anxious to get a 50D and then started to read reports that the 40D was slightly better at higher ISO. I really want the focus micro adjustment on the 50D but I may wait for a 60D. Your tests are at 250 ISO. There has been discussion that noise will be worse at settings that are non-standard. I think Noel posted this months ago. ie. stay at 200 or 400, not 250. I have no idea why that should be other than the software is interpreting differently.
Matthew, is that a typo on the 250 ISO and it should be 2500? I just can't imagine noise at 250. I think everyone agrees that DPP is superior for raw conversions. Not sure if that is what you are seeing.
Just my ramblings.
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
Your tests are at 250 ISO. There has been discussion that noise will be worse at settings that are non-standard. [...] is that a typo on the 250 ISO and it should be 2500? I just can't imagine noise at 250.
It really is ISO 250, not 2500. The reason for posting is that I can't believe the noise level can be that high...
I will try different ISOs to get a better idea of whether "non standard ISO" makes a difference.
I purchased a 50D as backup for my MK III. The high ISO ability looked good on paper, however in reality I can't use this camera above 1600 ISO in RAW mode. Most high school sports stadiums in the Seattle area are simply too dark for less than 3200 iso. I use 16-35L f2.8 II, 70-200L f2.8 IS and 300 f2.8 IS with good results on the MK III. The same lens on the 50D produce images in raw that are too noisy to use in a 8x10 print. I use CS3, Noiseware Pro and Nik Sharpener. I had no issues up to 800 iso. From there up to 1600 I could get to work in sRAW with a lot of work in PS. I am selling the camera and waiting for the MK III replacement, hopefully it will be as good or better than the current Nikon D3.
Mel
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
If I did this right there will be a attachment of a 100% crop shot with the 50D taken at a day soccer match, conditions were sunny and no clouds. Taken at ISO 400 1/4000 f2.8 300mm
focus micro adjustment +5 for this lens
Raw file processed in CS3 slight ACR corrections for brightness, clarity and contrast. Noiseware Pro at default settings and Nik Sharpener set at 30%. This picture looks ok at 8x10 print.
Raw file was 17.8 mb
Jpeg file was 10 mb
Mel
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
Last edited by Mel Thompson; 01-24-2009 at 06:27 PM.
50D noise 
Linear Mode
