This brief article is a response to a discussion on the Olympus Mailing list regarding noise patterns in boosted image files from the Canon 5D Mk2. Evidently, this camera may have a pattern noise which becomes visible when the exposure is boosted during RAW conversion. I know that my old Minolta A1 has tremendous pattern noise caused by internal RFI, but what about my old Olympus E-1? The E-1 has been known, from the outset, to be a noisy camera, but it is also known for a wide dynamic range and color fidelity. What happens when you apply an extreme boost to an E-1 RAW file? 

The "common wisdom" right now on the Internet is that the Nikon D700 is the only camera capable of being used at 1600 or higher. This camera is selling like crazy to every photographer looking to be able to take pictures of holiday lights this year. Nobody wants to be seen sporting a camera that isn't full-frame 35mm with pixel sites the size of pie platters.  One must buy a new camera to be able to take satisfactory pictures anymore.  I ask, "Says Who?" I'm up to the challenge and not only that, I'm going to use arguably the worse possible camera for high-ISO performance--the Olympus E-1.

Click on the title to see the rest of the article with more images. 

 Olympus E-1, 14-54 Zoom at 14mm, ISO 1600, F5.0, 1/25