Is this normal? High noise in 30D

I recently purchased a Canon 30D. I find it odd that so many of my photos have a lot of grain or noise in it even with low ISO.

Here is an example:

http://home.exetel.com​.au/miliux/pixi/_MG_02​79.jpg

The ISO is only 250 but still show a lot of noise. Is this normal?

I'd say that's about normal. You're going to see some noise in the shadows at pretty much any ISO.

If you think that's noise ........ what are you comparing against?

But take a look at the windows on the right. It's all pixelated (sort of ) and noisy.

Noise? - You should be so lucky!

Nothing neat image or noise ninja can not handle.

huh? i don't understand. it's only ISO 250. Isn't it meant to be pin sharp (or can actually see electrons rotating around the nucleus...well not quite that sharp).

But i don't understand. My Nikon D70 was sharper than that above pic (from what i remember)

and i can also see squares on the right.

Some parts of that photo look err.. underexposed. With the sky and building and all, maybe it was impossible to get them all exposed properly in one exposure. Take a picture of something more simple if you want to test for noise.

What lens were you using?

goforphoto,
Was using 24-105mm f/4. Does the lens make any differerence to noise?

Yes, a large aperature will have less noise and take a sharper image in shadowy or low light . The image you posted looks par for f4 when it comes to shadowy areas.

M2One wrote in post #2332927
huh? i don't understand. it's only ISO 250. Isn't it meant to be pin sharp (or can actually see electrons rotating around the nucleus...well not quite that sharp).

But i don't understand. My Nikon D70 was sharper than that above pic (from what i remember)

and i can also see squares on the right.

you are confusing noise and sharpness - which is it you mean?

I'm looking at this on a laptop so may not be seeing what you are seeing exactly. What squares are you referring to?
gofor, can you clarify your response? What do you mean by large aperture?

Well i mean by those square marks you see on the right hand of photo and the roof. i can see the paremeter marks which makes it look like noise.

here's a cropped version. you can see those pixelated squares.