Obviously these are not studio samples shot under identical lighting conditions such as is done at most testing and review sights (if you want that, click here.) The idea here is to get a general idea of a camera’s noise performance at a variety of ISOs. Obviously the Nikon’s saturation was cranked higher than the Canon’s. Upon viewing the images at full size, I’m seeing a clear difference in the type of grain between the two cameras. The 60D has a more smudgy, loose pattern, whereas the D7000 has a tight, pixelated pattern. At ISO 1600, I might even give the edge to the 60D, although the sharpness of the D7000 is impressive (could be the in camera sharpening). Where the D7000 really seems to pull ahead is at ISO 6400, which to my eyes looks better than the 60D’s ISO 3200 shot. The land of ISO 12800 again gives favor to the D7000. ISO 25600 is splotchy and loaded with hot pixels, but still usable with some post processing. Overall, it seems that the D7000 pictures have more punch and clarity, but again that could be in camera processing. The statements by the Chase Jarvis team that the D7000 had noise performance on par with the D3 were slightly exaggerated. In the end, it seems the D7000 has nearly a one stop advantage over the 60D, certainly appealing to those who shoot often in low light environments. To be fair, the 60D is no slouch either, and it’s good to see noise improvements across the board for both models.