xsi high iso

Below are some simulated (by underexposing, then pushing by the same amount in Lightroom) high ISO shots from the Canon Digital Rebel XSi. Click on the images to go to Flickr pages with details and original sizes.

ISO 6400


ISO 12800


ISO 25600

It's hard to compare the Nikon's in-camera noise reduction with the very different Neat Image algorithm I use to process Canon Raw files. At high ISO, Nikon softens out a lot of detail, whereas Neat Image keeps most of the detail while leaving digital artifacts. But to my eyes, at the equivalent of ISO 6400, the Canon 450D retains more detail when processed to match the noise levels of a Nikon D300 JPEG.

Will a D300 Raw file processed in Neat Image be any better? I don't have one to do a direct comparison with, but I expect you will never see as much detail as you can in these shots, because Nikon applies heavy noise reduction even to their Raw data. I believe Canon applies noise reduction before the Raw data is recorded as well, but it seems, based on DPReview and Rob Galbraith comparisons that, Canon does not apply as much noise reduction above ISO 1600.

But what do I know? For something more apples-to-apples, check out The-Digital-Picture.com's high ISO comparison between various Canon DSLRs including the 450D and the 5D, the latter of which should be close to the Nikon D3 in high ISO performance. (DPReview claims the D3 is superior at ISO 1600 and over, "knocking the EOS 5D's high ISO performance into a hat", but their crops just don't show it. With 100% chrominance noise reduction on the 5D — which all new EOS models offer in-camera — it looks too close to call.)

Also, DPReview says their 450D review should be ready within two weeks.