Was checking out the s90 and G11 the other day, and decided to do a quick noise test for fun.

All images taken on full manual (including focus). Processed in LR 3beta, with all noise reduction and sharpening turned off. The only thing I did was use use the white balance tool on the medium gray. Base exposure was IS0 100 for 1 second at f/8, aperture was kept constant and shutter speed varied as ISO was increased. A 100 pixel square was cropped from each image and the resulting grid is a 1 to 1 pixel ratio on the screen.

Working with the files, there is a definite and obvious quality difference between the GF1 and the smaller cameras, they were more like the 7d files. My personal opinion is that other than perhaps niche uses such as macro and underwater mentioned in another thread, the G11 doesn't have much to offer. The s90 delivers very similar quality, including similar noise performance and will actually fit in your shirt pocket. If the s90 isn't good enough, moving to the G11 won't get you all that much (as far as image quality). You are better off moving to the GF1, a camera which continues to impress me. Canon should consider a larger sensor version of a G11 for the G12. I'm going to take a s90 out for a day or two and shoot it alongside a 7d just for fun.

Handling of the G11 was odd at first ... the thumbwheel is smaller and a little awkward. I kept hitting the wrong buttons. Once I realized it protrudes further and you need to move it on the side rather than on the top it wasn't too bad. The articulating LCD is a nice feature, and the improved noise might make an upgrade worthwhile to some, but that's a pretty pricey upgrade to get about 1 more stop of noise performance and a swiveling LCD.

the grid is a little large, 1.5 mb ... I saved it at highest quality jpeg to minimize possible distortion of the noise from jpeg artifacts.

Click to view attachmentClick to view attachment

Thanks, Wayne - that's useful.

I wish that someone smarter than me would explain the impact that the difference in exposure levels might have on noise measurements: in every instance, G11/S90 appear overexposed relative to other cameras.... the most so vs. G10, then 7D, and even vs. GF1. The same was evident in Michael's test as well. So, the question again is: what impact (if any) does it have on noise measurement?

I hear you. I plan on testing this further because in my case the camera metering system was not invoved. However I am unsure if the difference could be due to the camera profiles used by lightroom.

Obviously if you made an iso adjustment on the g11 to match the g10 density the noise improvement would be more significant.

Like you I need someone smarter than me to help me understand what's going on.

The S90 and G11 have the very same sensor, so it would be a surprise if their noise characteristics were different. In fact, my measurements confirm that they are the same.

Rawnalyze supports the G9, G10, G11, S90 and SX1 IS. If someone wants to make raw data analysis, like exposure, clipping, of the G11 and S90, then one should write that to me, for I added the support in the newest version, which is not uploaded yet.

Thank you, Wayne. This just adds to my interest in the GF1. I appreciate the effort you went to to post this.

Interesting, thanks for the test. No real surprises -- the s90 and G11 images are close enough to be identical, and are slightly better than the G10 files. I'll be interested to hear your thoughts after a couple of days of shooting with the s90.

The files from the GF1 appear to have chrominance noise reduction, perhaps that's done in-camera to the raw files? They are the only photos to be a nice overall neutral gray with no color noise.

The 7D files look pretty good for so many pixels on an APS-C sensor.

Thanks = clearly shows the reduced noise of the G11 compared to the G10.

I tested my G10 when I first got it. I found that it was sharpest wide open and /or one stop down (this is contrary to most wide and mid-focal length lenses for 35mm). It was noticeably softer at f8 at all focal lengths. This is not surprising given diffraction. You would get more resolution out of the G10 and G11 with a larger aperture than the one you used for testing.

Cheers