This the image which Sony would never want me to post. It's a clip from the same test series, this time a raw .ARW file shot using exactly the same camera settings (normal exposure, aperture priority f8), but at ISO 1600. First of all, the camera has inexplicably given an exposure of 1/4000th at f8. The Dynax 5D, used identically, gave 1/2000th at f8. The A100 file was definitely underexposed by 1 stop. The raw file has been processed using Adobe Camera Raw 3.4, with auto exposure compensation to correct (+1.05) and auto shadow, brightness, and contrast settings. The curve is set to Linear, and Detail is set to Sharpen 0, Luminance Noise 0, Colour Noise 0 - no attempt at all the use noise reduction. This image shows just how extreme the unprocessed noise becomes in the darker values of images extracted by the Adobe ACR process. This noise is very difficult to correct using NR software, and significantly masks detail. The in-camera JPEG at ISO 1600 is better than any combination of software I have been able to find which attempts to eliminate this noise. It is a quantum leap worse than the noise at 800, which is easily controlled and produces clean, sharp files.