Scott Speck wrote:
Hi Everyone,

If I'm interested in doing night photography (mostly of distant
scenery) with exposure times ranging up to 1 minute, I need to know
whether a DSLR like the Nikon D70 with NR turned on will yield a much
cleaner image (dark-noise-wise) than a good point/shoot digital with
NR noise reduction) turned on. Is the difference profound enough to
differentiate a great photo from a terrible one, or is it barely
noticeable?

Scott,

The main difference is in the sensor:

- the pixels are much bigger, collecting more photons for a given flux

- they don't have the live preview facility, and are optimised for just
single-shot images, and not a continuous video feed.

The comparison is that whereas P&S will go up to ISO 400/800, DSLRs will
go up to ISO 3200 - for approximately the same noise level in the image.
Compare the sensitive areas of the "1/1.8 inch" chip and the chips used in
DSLRs.

http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/Glos...r_Sizes_01.htm

Not only will the DSLR have a lower noise at a given ISO, you may be able
to afford faster fixed focal length lenses as well.

David