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To compare noise levels under real-life conditions we shot this scene with the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W270 / W290, the Canon Powershot A2100 IS and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS25 wthin 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 Cyber-shot in Program mode with the lens zoomed in to 5.8mm - just in from its widest setting. The exposure was 1/4 of a second at f3.5. The crops are taken from an area just to the left and above the centre.

The first thing to note about the Cybershot's low light performance is that all of the images are slightly underexposed, which has resulted in loss of shadow detail making a subjective judgement and comparison of High ISO noise more difficult than it might otherwise be.

As you'd expect the noise gets worse as the ISO increases, but throughout the range the Cybershot's images look less grainy than those of either the Canon Powershot A2100 IS or the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS25.

That's not necessarily a good thing though. Whether as a result of the inherent softness of the Cyber-shot's images, aggressive noise reduction processing, the under-exposure,or possibly a combination of all three, the Cyber-shot images show less detail than those of the other two cameras – look at the vertical lines in the Pew panels – and the edge of the stone column. It's only when you get to 400 ISO and above that you can see clear evidence of noisy pixels though.

Now head over to our Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W270 / W290 Gallery to see some more real-life shots in a variety of conditions.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W270 / W290		Canon Powershot A2100 IS		Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS25
80 ISO		80 ISO		80 ISO
100 ISO		100 ISO		100 ISO
200 ISO		200 ISO		200 ISO
400 ISO		400 ISO		400 ISO
800 ISO		800 ISO		800 ISO
1600 ISO		1600 ISO		1600 ISO
3200 ISO		3200 ISO not tested		3200 ISO not tested