neutralday.com have made a very descriptive ISO comparison between the Nikon D3s and the Canon EOS-1 D Mk IV, the new giants in ISO heaven, offering a maximum of 102,400 ISO. For comparison, they also threw in the 5D Mk II, which goes up to 25,600 ISO.

This comparison examplifies one of the well-known ultimate truths of physical restrictions in sensor design: larger pixels mean less noise. It’s of course the D3s that gives the cleanest output, which comes as no surprise as it has “only” 12 million pixels on a full-frame sensor. What baffled me, though, was how astonishingly well the considerably older 5D Mk II’s high-ISO output held up, considering it has almost double the amount of pixels on a sensor the same size as the D3s’s.

And there’s another insight to gain from this comparison: Canon obviously pushed the 1D Mk IV’s ISO rating for one, and only one reason: To keep up with Nikon on marketing grounds. It’s sad to see that even in the professional DSLR class marketing seems to dictate features now, no matter how useful/useable they might be.