A method of testing a camera for vision system for a vehicle includes providing a camera configured for mounting and use on a vehicle. The camera is operable at selected ones of a plurality of register settings. A test pattern is disposed in the field of view of the camera and at least two frames of image data are captured with the camera using different register settings having noise filtering at a respective one of at least two levels between a maximum noise filtering and a minimum noise filtering. The signal to noise ratio is measured for each of the at least two frames of captured image data. A texture value is measured for each of the at least two frames of captured image data. A compromise is selected between noise reduction and texture preservation.