Should noise look like this on a 300D?

[cam94z28]

I've always thought pictures with my 300D are a bit too noisy in general, but while playing with some random pics in lightroom I noticed the noise seems to have a wierd grid shape to it. Rather than being random noise, it appears to have a pattern to it would compare to a cheap webcam. Is this a "feature" of the 300d, or is it normal on any DSLR? If a 350D or 400D would exhibit less of this I'd consider upgrading. There even appears to be a purple line going all the way across part of the image.

Below is an example. Zoom in at imageshack and view full screen. I used a screen shot because it's harder to see the pattern in a 1:1 image, or a crop. This was a horribly underexposed image to begin with. I used 'Auto tone', then upped the exposure compensation to make it obvious. This is an extreme example, but I've also noticed it in several night shots and random pictures.

[Jim Bryant]

yup................that's a noisy picture

Holy hell! how do you get that much noise from ISO 100?!

[sHIMUZUKi]

yeah thats very noisy.there is something wrong with your firmware or something else in the camera.if you upgarde you might as well get the eos 500D if you already have a good amount of lenses.

[cam94z28]

Originally Posted by maxharvard

Holy hell! how do you get that much noise from ISO 100?!

Like I said it's an extreme example. The image was taken after dark with flash, underexposed, then exposure/auto tone cranked back up in light room. It's not nearly that noticeable in most properly exposed images. Even so it does seem surprisingly noisy for iso100

Originally Posted by sHIMUZUKi

yeah thats very noisy.there is something wrong with your firmware or something else in the camera.if you upgarde you might as well get the eos 500D if you already have a good amount of lenses.

I have the stock firmware as far as I can tell. I'm too afraid to try the hacked one because I read you can screw it up if you ever revert back without changing all of the settings back to their default values first. Also, that the menu options become more confusing.

As for upgrading. I would be looking to buy used. I only paid about $275 used for this cam on craigslist. The 500D would be too big of a jump right now. The XTi is only about $395 refurbished with warranty, but would it improve things much at all? I have the 18-55 IS, 55-250 IS, and just ordered the 50mm 1.8 Prime. Budget lenses yes, but all the lens I'll probably ever need.

[daft_biker]

Aye, my 300D would give a similar pattern of noise.....I never used it above ISO 400 and even then you had to nail the exposure or tweaking it could make the noise much worse very quickly.

[sHIMUZUKi]

wow thats scary to know you can't pass 400 iso!

[CaptainNH]

Originally Posted by cam94z28

This was a horribly underexposed image to begin with. ........then upped the exposure compensation to make it obvious.

And herein lies the problem.

How far did you push the exposure? You can generally push RAW further than you can JPEGs too - are you shooting RAW? If you push it too far, you're expecting the software to find detail that just isn't there.

I'd suggest working on making sure that you're exposing correctly before you throw the 300D away.

[lucas107]

i have a 20d and thats what the noise looks like if i shoot jpeg at around iso 800 or 1600 even, but when i shoot raw the noise looks a bit more film like. to guess i would say that its camera specific cause ive seen many 300d images shot at iso 400 or 800 and properly exposed with no noise reduction look better then that

[shutternutternut]

I do not have your camera, however I have a Canon HV20 video camera that has the same crumby looking patternized noise in all the low light footage I shoot. Most annoying. I feel your pain.