The Canon EOS400D ...

I've had this camera since December 2007. In addition to the standard lens, I now have a Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 EX DG MACRO and and a Canon

I recently discovered, via the Canon Digital Photography Forums that a software modification exists which enables, among other things, sensitivity up to iso 3200 and spot metering on the EOS400D. As this does not involve modifying the firmware in the camera itself, I though I'd give it a try.

Sure enough, iso 3200 is available. Of course "grain" begins to appear significantly under certain circumstances and the following 100% crop shows it clearly. This image was taken indoors during the early evening using available light, with the Sigma lens set at 70mm, f2.8 and at a shutter speed of 1/125sec.

However there's an excellent piece of software available which dramatically reduced the noise - or "grain" - in the picture. This is the same image after processing with Imagenomic's Noiseware and the results are very evident. I can see very little, if any, reduction in sharpness.

Although I've yet to try it, I suspect that printing images taken using iso 3200 in fairly standard sizes, i.e. 10 x 8 inches, will provide very acceptable results. If that's the case then this is certainly an extremely useful modification!

I've yet to test the spot metering mode but will post the results here when I do.