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To compare noise levels under real-life conditions we shot this scene with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS25, Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W270 / W290, and the Canon Powershot A2100 IS 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 FS25 in Normal mode with the lens zoomed in to 5.8mm – just in from its widest setting. The exposure was 1/2 a second at f3.5. The crops are taken from the area marked with the red square and published here at 100%.

The FS25 does an excellent job of noise reduction throughout the sensitivity range, but particularly at the lower end. Although you wouldn’t expect to see noise in an 80 ISO shot, with an exposure of half a second you can’t take it for granted. The FS25 produces very good results from 80 up to 200 ISO, you have to look quite hard to see the difference.

From 400 to 800 ISO it’s still good news: there’s some noise and loss of detail, but it’s kept to an acceptable minimum. At 1600 ISO, the game’s up though and the FS25 produces very granular images with detail breaking up horribly – pretty much what you’d get with any compact at this setting.

Compared with the Canon Powershot AS2100 IS, the FS25’s images are a little softer throughout the ISO range. There’s a little less detail, but less grain too. It’s more difficult to make a comparison with the underexposed images of the Cyber-shot DSC-W 270 / W290, but we’d say the Panasonic comes out on top.

Now head over to our Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS25 Gallery to see some more real-life shots in a variety of conditions.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS25		Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W270 / W290		Canon Powershot A2100 IS
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 not tested		3200 ISO		3200 ISO not tested