Excess noise converted from the optical relative intensity noise (RIN) has limited the noise performance in the microwave signal synthesis application for mode-locked lasers. In this paper, a method for detailed characterization of the excess noise conversion from the optical RIN to the electrical pulse width jitter (PWJ), electrical relative amplitude noise (RAN) and electrical phase noise in the photodetection of mode-locked lasers is proposed. With the measured noise conversion ratios, one can predict the electrical RAN and phase noise power spectral densities under different input optical powers. The effect of the pulse width and peak power of the incident optical pulses and the effect of the saturation power of the photodetectors are also investigated. The results are used to suggest guidelines for achieving low-noise photodetection for microwave signal synthesis application.