Eric Reagan on Photography Bay has done some very interesting comparisons of extreme ISO settings, and the new noise reduction function in Lightroom 3.

In his test, the new software comprehensively out performs Lightroom 2, Canon DPP and View NX. He conducted experiments at night, using ISO’s 6400, 12800, 25600, 51200 and 102400 using a Canon 1D Mk IV and a Nikon D3s.

He goes on to experiment with ISO 51200 and 102400, but admits that at such a high ISO’s, the results are more for reference than practical use.

His conclusion is that:

“While these images at ISO 6400 and above are extreme examples from two state of the art DSLRs, the processing power in Lightroom 3 will push any other RAW files to the next level as well.”