Canon XF300 Gain Noise Test

[cowpunk52]

This is a test of noise performance on the Canon XF300 camcorder. Shot at 1080, with Cine 1 Gamma, sharpness at -3 and NR set to automatic. Please excuse the slight composition shifts and other imperfections. This is not a scientific test, just an example of performance - mostly done because I can't find anything like it anywhere else. I hope you find it useful.

Overall, with auto NR, I think the camera performs very well up to +12db and is acceptable for HD up to +18db. In post, Neat Video cleans it up incredibly well even at +21db. +33db takes a pretty big IQ hit, but that's to be expected. With Neat Video & CC, it would probably be acceptable for me for at least SD delivery or when I absolutely have to have a shot when there is no light available whatsoever.

While neat video does an exceptional job of cleaning away the noise, there is a smudging of some of the camera's very fine detail. It definitely makes the image more EX1-like.

The vimeo file here is obviously compressed and not totally accurate, especially if you're pixel peeping. I'm going to get the original uncompressed file of this video hosted for download somewhere. It's 2.5GB, and if you want a link for download, send me a message and I'll forward it to you.

 

[Noel Evans]

Not sure what the XF300 is doing on the plus 21db, but it seems overall better than +18 in the way it works. But neat video is great looks like its giving you between 6-9 extra db of gain to work with.

Needless to say -6db is superclean.

 

[cowpunk52]

At 21db, the auto NR starts to really kick in. There is a fairly noticeable loss of resolution and the blacks are more crushed. You can certainly set the NR manually to function similarly at +18db as well, albeit to a lesser extent than is needed for 21db.

And yes, Neat Video is well worth the cost for what it gives you. It really does an amazing job and I don't lose very much detail at all - only very very fine texture. Probably stuff you'd have to view at 200% to see anyway.