I myself have had times where because of low light the camera selected ISO 200, 400, or even 800 (if I left it on Hi ISO mode) and really been disappointed when I later offloaded the pictures to the PC for review.
Furthermore, the particular camera, the Canon Powershot S3, is a Prosumer or Super-zoom type that, despite its weight and feature-heavy setup is still hobbled by a small sensor which, to my understanding, introduces more noise to the image. I'm tempted to leave it at ISO 80 or 100.
But as for noise, I've recently discovered Noise Ninja and that helps alleviate a lot of ISO 800 headaches. (where one might as well have taken the picture through a confetti factory explosion)
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