this could be a dumb question, but ...

[kcet0910]

OK, so the g series' noise issues above iso 400 are pretty well documented, particularly with the g10, as canon decided to bloat the mps to almost 15. i was wondering, would decreasing the file size (from 4416x 3312 to 2560 x 1920 pixels, perhaps) actually help in controlling the noise situation? sounds logical, but i'd like to hear from someone who actually knows what he's talking about thanks :)

[CJinAustin]

I wish it worked that way but it doesn't.

[doublehmom]

I am so sick of my g10 and the noise that I am going to sell it, I have been using my 40d so much more. Wish I wouldn't have bought it and the new speedlite for it.

[CJinAustin]

The g10 is fantastic for outdoor daytime pics....

yup, that's about it..

[Yapo]

Yeah on my 1st day of really using my G10 i found the shots were great and in well lit(bright sunny day) indoors wasnt bad either but wen it got to night time indoors it felt almost the same as if i was using my old canon ixus 60. Speaking of the ixus 60, i picked it up for the first since i got my G10 and it felt so tiny and compact and the screen looks so pixely and dull even though ive had my g10 screen brightness set to the lowest.
Dont know why they made the screen so bright on the G10...i can literally light up my whole room and read a book with it on max

[rang]

OK, so the g series' noise issues above iso 400 are pretty well documented, particularly with the g10, as canon decided to bloat the mps to almost 15. i was wondering, would decreasing the file size (from 4416x 3312 to 2560 x 1920 pixels, perhaps) actually help in controlling the noise situation? sounds logical, but i'd like to hear from someone who actually knows what he's talking about thanks :)

I'm not so sure that would help. The original problem still exists...

You are still running current through the pixels on the same limited amount of space (size of the sensor). Current means heat which leads to noise as the pixels heat up and throw up whatever color value they feel like.
So the mfgs write anti noise algorithyms to mathematically guess at what values are next to the hot pixel and change it's value in the resulting shot.

But at some point you reach diminishing returns in the resulting shot. I'm guessing here at this scenario...If the formulae says that the pixel should be true black and for the next hot pixel it determines it should be black but that is where a green dress border starts in the original composition...mulitiply this out over lots and lots of hot pixels and I think sharpness starts to get effected.

No free lunch. More heat, more noise.

Astro shooters see this compromise all the time. Thus alot of black frame work to get a black sky over long exposures and stacking.

The chips inside of small cameras are really, really small. Cramming lot's of pixels on them is the result of marketing departments ruling the company.

[gotak]

Well resizing a picture does reduce what noise you can see but you also get less details. That's my experience but again not always to the point of not seeing any noise at all.