ISO Story - Canon 5D2 vs 500D vs 40D

[trigger]

After using the 1000D for travel I offloaded it to my brother. He in turn, to my surprised offloaded that and got a 500D

Tonight while taking shots I noticed that he was doing so at ISO1600. I said thats going to be pretty noisy. He said he didnt notice .... I thought right a x1.6 entry level camera with 15MP into that tiny sensor and you didnt notice?

So i did a test.

5D2 vs 500D vs 40D on the 35mm 1.4mmL @ 5.6


Original Image



Samples


ISO100
500D

5d2

40D



ISO200
500D

5d2

40D


ISO400
500D

5d2

40D


ISO800
500D

5d2

40D


ISO1600
500D

5d2

40D


ISO3200
500D

5d2

40D


ISO6400
500D

5d2


ISO12800
500D

5d2


ISO25600
5d2



Observations:

ISO100-200: Not much difference

ISO400-800: Starting to show a bit of colour noise on the crop sensors

ISO1600: visible noise on both crops and slight luminous noise on the 5d2

ISO-3200: The 500D showing a bit more colour noise then the 40D but this is where its ISO ends for the Semi-pro.

ISO6400: beginning to see colour noise on the 5d2. The 500d keeps on going but with significant colour noise.

ISO12800: 500D Noise is very significant and almost unusable. Even with NR such as NNinja it would make it very blurry. 5d2 noise still usable with heavy NR

ISO25600: 5d2 Unusable with this level of noise

Summary:

Noise is not visibly different to the 40d. But the little 500D goes to ISO6400 with salvageable images. The 5D2, from these images we see 1-2 stops advantage noise wise. I am very impressed with the 500D. Why?

Lets put this in perspective. this is a 15MP consumer / small SLR. Have a look at the detail compared to the 40D and 5d2! All those pixels cramped into a small sensor = noise. But as we can see here its comparable to the 40D.

I would take this camera on travel any day. With HD 720 video, it comes as bonus. But that is a story for anther time ....

[R1titan]

Great test!! thx again, Trigger!!

As expected the FF has a substantial advantage in terms of noise.
There's not much difference in the crops, even with high pixels.

[clm738]

Thanks Trigger. It sure gets you to thinking on getting a lighter body for travel.

[Jules]

Thanks for another good test Trigger. Keep 'em coming!

[Dwarak]

I own the 500d and have been using it for 4 months now and for my use I feel it's great I mostly shoot landscapes and panoramas have never gone beyond 800 ISO yet. If some one is looking to buy an entry level dslr would recomend it but the kit lens are not the best

[tannyboy]

proud of my little 40D in that test haha..

[Helen S]

That little 500D would indeed be a great travel cam. Most wouldn't go too far above ISO800 when on holidays and I dare say ISO100-200 would be the norm. Excellent little entry DSLR.

As for the other two? My 40D will sit proudly as a backup cam and for hubby's use and aside from the 1-Series and 5DI, nothing goes passed the 5DII for low ISO... one of the biggest reasons I invested in this camera.

[Paper_Mache_Man]

Another post that makes me put more value on lenses than cameras.

Full frame would rock though and the fact that some lenses just work better on FF bodies.

[Yande]

Thanks for your time and effort. Having just bought the 500D, tests and explainations like this, by real ppl., really bring peace of mind to me, especially after JUST buying this camera. True about the kit lens supplied, but that is also another story. Saving, saving saving...

[kevinj]

I`d like to see how the 7D goes in this test,I`ll try it later,up to max ISO.

[kirbs]

proud of my little 40D in that test haha..

me too

[ravescar]

would be interesting if we can also see how 5D classic compares to all of them.

[reaction]

interesting how the 40D does just as well as 5D2 til 3200.

[ameerat42]

Hi Trigger. Just read your post. Good effort. The scene you used was modestly lit, from the looks of things. I'm wondering how a similar set of tests would go in daylight. That would round the test out some. Am.

[reaction]

all cameras go well in daylight. even a 5yr old compact 3mp camera.

[clickclick]

Interesting. im looking for my 1st camera/lens. Have been looking at the 40D as heard quite good under low light. Want to do some fish, ballroom shots etc all moving under low light conditions. So reading this was great.. good to actually see the pics and such a practical comparison between 3 models!