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Image noise on Canon EOS D30 versus PowerShot S40:

Why pay more for less? Why buy an expensive digital SLR camera when you can have a handy sleek point and shoot camera with more pixels for much less money?

Well, the image quality of a digital camera is not only determined by the pixel resolution. The imager of a digital point and shoot camera is much smaller than the imager of a digital SLR camera. Consequently, the pixels are also much smaller, resulting in more noise.

Below is a comparison of images shot at the Botanical Gardens using either a Canon D30 mounted with an EF 17-35mm f2.8 or a Canon PowerShot S40. Images have been shot at all ISO sensitivities the cameras provide. All images were saved as RAW files, converted to 24 bit TIFF using Canon RAW converter using sunlight white balance. No post processing has been applied.

The D30 produces 1440x2160 pixel images (3.1 MP) while the S40 produces 1704x2272 pixel images (3.9 MP). As can be seen from the crops below, which have been enlarged to 300%, the point and shoot camera is no match for the digital SLR camera. At ISO 50 sensitivity the S40 produces about as much noise as the D30 does at ISO 800. Besides, there is a problem with chromatic aberrations.

 

Lens	Canon EOS D30	Canon PowerShot S40
Full
ISO 50	na.
ISO 100
ISO 200
ISO 400
ISO 800		na.
ISO 1600		na.

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