Today G.T. commented courteously on the subject at hand

Exposure compensation. I'm a relative newbie to
photography and since you're an experienced photographer I
thought you would know what EC is. It sounds like most of
your noise trouble is due to underexposure.

Thank you, Greg. Now please re-reread the relevant portions of
my posts. I have said, repeatedly, that I understand why
underexposure exacerabates any inherent noise. Now, will you
acknowledge that underexposure is /not/ the only cause of noise,
particularly when I'm talking about only 1-2 f/stops? Yes, thank
you.

Since I know that you parlez vous EXIF, all you want to know is
in my example posts, if you can get to them. Or, I would be
happy to E-mail them. But, that's old news right now, since I
got a significant 2nd data point trying the other store's
"good" camera.

--
ATM, aka Jerry

"I disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death
your right to say it." - Evelyn Beatrice Hall under the
pseudonym Stephen G. Tallentyre