How much better is 7D noise level at ISO800/1600

I am thinking of moving from 500D to 7D, mainly for bird shooting at ISO800 (sometimes higher). The 500D is good in most respects, but a bit too noisy at ISO800 for my liking. So my question to anyone who has tried both is: how much better is the 7D?

I had a 450D and 500D (and now the 7D)... And I find the 7D is a solid 1 to 1.5 stops better IMO at higher ISO.

I found the "limit" of the 500D, to me, at 3200 for decent quality. The 7D is superior at 6400 then the 500D was at 3200. So I figure about 1.5 stops of improvement, from the pictures I have to compare on my HD between all three cameras...

This was shot at 3200ISO on the 7D I had a 350D before and this is probably better than that was at 400ISO

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I know nothing about how the 7D handles ISO noise, but I think the 500D is doing fine with ISO 800 for birds.

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artyman wrote in post #9615685
This was shot at 3200ISO on the 7D I had a 350D before and this is probably better than that was at 400ISO

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That's amazing for ISO3200! As a matter of interest, did you use any Noise Reduction?

Lindholdt wrote in post #9615718
I know nothing about how the 7D handles ISO noise, but I think the 500D is doing fine with ISO 800 for birds.

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Yes that is a lovely shot. I find that with my copy of the 500D that if the light is on the low side and I have to crop, the noise becomes apparent at ISO800.

It's just very important to get the exposure right when taking the picture, so that you don't need to increase the brightness in post production. Doing that will make the noise very visible, so you really want to avoid that, when using high ISO.

I have no experience with birding but anyways, during the olympics that are happening here in vancouver, we have some free concerts available for the general public.

Here are so concert examples from the 7D + 135L. ISO 2000 | f2 | 1/250

ISO 2500, 1/640 with an 85mm f/1.8 at 2.0. Good BG for you to pixel peep for noise! No NR done, either. You don't really have to using the 7D at high(er) ISO settings.

Here is a recent test shot from another thread, of course resizing for the web always helps the reduction of noise!

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ISO 6400 on the 7D

Marloon wrote in post #9615976
I have no experience with birding but anyways, during the olympics that are happening here in vancouver, we have some free concerts available for the general public.

Here are so concert examples from the 7D + 135L. ISO 2000 | f2 | 1/250

NO NR done in LR. No in Camera NR done -> C.Fn for Hi ISO NR was disabled

this amazing, you have convinced me to get one.

@ISO 6400

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