ISO noise

The chart below shows the results based on a RAW-file analysis:

The RAW performance across the ISO range is very decent and there are certainly no problems at ISO 100, 200, 400 as well as ISO 800 and even 1600 is fine for some scenes. However, at ISO 3200 the noise level is starting to spoil the game but it's still usable if utmost quality is not necessary. However, compared to the four-thirds competition there are no obvious differences.

The JPEG output shows comparatively less sensor noise than the converted RAW files but the increasing noise reduction towards high ISO settings comes at cost of resolution and dynamic range especially at high ISO settings. Technically the noise performance is very good at ISO 400 but the resulting image shows already blotchy, somewhat tessellated artifacts with a comparatively low amount of fine details. The rather low noise figures overshadow the fact that ISO 1600 is plain bad for serious photographic purposes. The four-thirds competition pursues a different approach here with much less aggressive noise reduction and thus more noise at higher ISO but therefore with more details - this makes more sense for prints.

... and another series with a more detailed subject.