Why is there so much noise in RAW files from my new Canon 7D?

Question

I recently bought a Canon 7D, upgrading from a 50D. I was blown away by what I saw on the back of the camera after I took a few shots.

Now that i've taken the time to import the photos into lightroom & DXO... I'm finding the noise level to be very high, even on low ISO shots I find myself dealing with much more noise than I'm used to.

Has anyone experienced this? Are there any solutions?

I've had this camera for two days and I'm already thinking of selling it... if I can't find a solution for all this noise.

Edit: After some discussions, and comparissons, jpg files rendered by the body look great. I'll just have to get used to post processing a bit more.

I also foudn out that for the best results use multiples of 160 ISO. (I need to test this)

Answer

Because of the pixel density I would say. Your 50D had the highest pixel density in Canon's lineup when it was released, at 4.5MP/cm2. At that density the lens becomes the limiting factor, you need good glass. A few reviews pointed out that the image quality of the 50D wasn't much better than the 40D it was replacing actually, with a density of 3.1 MP/cm2. This is even more true for the 7D, which topped the 50D with a 5.4 MP/cm² density. For reference, the full frame Canon 5D II is at 2.4 MP/cm2.

From a theoretical point of view pixel density should affect the amount of random digital noise and the dynamic range in the image the camera produces. Granted, a lot is going on under the hood in the 7D to reduce/fix this "limitation", but that could be why you feel there is more noise in your 7D than in your 50D.

I have a 5DMII. Friend of mine bought a 7D. We tested in a room I had used my 5DMII in, and I was surprised by the noise myself, it didn't have the same "quality" as what I would see on the 5DMII. Granted, we should have put my L lens on his 7D, instead of his kit lens. He sold it to buy a 5DMII.

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