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To compare noise levels under real-life conditions we shot this scene with the Canon IXUS 95 IS / SD1200 IS and the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W220 within a few moments of each other using each of their ISO settings.

The lenses were set to approximate the same field of view.

The above shot was taken with the Canon IXUS 95 IS / SD1200 IS in Program mode with the lens at its maximum wide angle setting of 6.2mm. The exposure was 1 second at f2.8. The crops are taken from the area marked with the red square and presented below at 100%.

The 80 and 100 ISO crops from the Canon IXUS 95 IS / SD1200 IS make for interesting viewing. Both are pretty noise-free, but the 80 ISO crop, which was shot with a 1 second exposure is quite a bit softer than the 100 ISO shot. It looks like the Canon noise reduction algorithm has worked more aggressively on this image, possibly as a result of the longer exposure creating more work for it in the first place. Whatever the reason the 100 ISO crop shows more detail – take a look at the stone pillar on the left and the wood panelling at the bottom of the crop. Long exposures create their own noise signature but, if this is the case generally, there’s no quality penalty for choosing the slightly higher ISO setting and we go so far as to say we’d choose it in preference to the 80 ISO option in low light conditions.

At 200 ISO, not only is the noise more apparent, but so is the evidence of attempts to reduce it – slight softness and loss of image detail. At 400 ISO things are holding up well with little difference in the noise, though the colour saturation is beginning to drop.

Compared with the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W220, the overall noise results for the Canon IXUS 95 IS / SD1200 IS are better across the entire ISO range. Though there’s less to choose between the two cameras at the lower ISO settings the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W220 crops exhibit higher levels of colour noise.

At 400 and 800 ISO the Cyber-shot crops are softer with less detail and beyond that the noise reduction on the Cyber-shot seems to take a back seat. Break up of image detail is quite severe at the 3200 ISO setting and the reduced resolution (1600 x 1200 pixels) 3200 ISO preset on the Canon actually produces a much better result.

Now head over to our Canon IXUS 95 IS / SD1200 IS gallery to see some more real-life shots in a variety of conditions.

Canon IXUS 95 IS / SD1200 IS		Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W220
80 ISO		80 ISO not available
100 ISO		100 ISO
200 ISO		200 ISO
400 ISO		400 ISO
800 ISO		800 ISO
1600 ISO		1600 ISO
3200 ISO		3200 ISO