The Nikon D3000 was tested using a Nikkor 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 VR lens. Images below show the performance of this camera on a typical night scene at each ISO sensitivity. These are all 100% crops from maximum quality full-resolution JPEG images taken at night in manual mode with automatic white-balance and set ISO sensitivity.

Night shots are always the most difficult for any digital camera as noise is much more noticeable in dark areas and shadows. Since such scenes consist mostly of dark areas, they represent the worst cases of image noise. Looking at the samples below, we can see that there are several factors at work.

Crops below show that the Nikon D3000 produces clean images up to ISO 800 where there is a slight hint of noise. ISO 1600 shows a little more noise but even a moderate-sized print is still possible. ISO 3200 shows more noise but nothing terrible. Even at its maximum ISO, the D3000 can pull-off a small print.