7d vs 500d (sharpness)

Easy choice for most of you i'm sure, but here's the deal, i've had my 500d for 18 months or so and just managed to pick up a second hand 7d at a reasonable price, last night I was trying to take a few pics of the moon, I set up my 7d with my 100-400 lens and manualy set the exposure and focus using live view, the results were "OK" but when compared to some shots I had previously taken using my 500d with the same lens and settings I found the 500d pics to be a bit sharper, so I mounted up the old 500d for another go, again sharper than the 7d.

When I get a bit more time i'll do more testing, making sure the picture style, AV, TV, ISO, focus, etc are all the same and i'll post the pics up.

The reason I purchaced the 7d was for the fast AF and FPS and with those functions i'm very happy, but you would expect with the newer sensor the 7d should produce the better images.

Has anyone else experienced similar results?

Jpeg or Raw?

Here's a video that might answer your question.

Lots of variables...
Were you shooting jpeg or raw?
If jpeg, were the settings (picture style, sharpness etc) the same in both bodies?

I was shooting RAW, so there isn't realy to many variables at all, other than the amount the moon had moved in the few minutes it took me to change cameras and my ability to manual focus.

Have you tried micro-adjusting the 100-400 on the 7d?

Rubi Jane wrote in post #12438273
Have you tried micro-adjusting the 100-400 on the 7d?

Don't think MFA is a factor here when OP was using live view (and I'm assuming manual focus at 10x magnification).

Perhaps post samples?

Cheers for that vid link Stazek, quite interesting.
Rubi Jane, I have tried Micro adjusting, but I don't know if that makes a difference in manual focus?

Milutiche wrote in post #12438267
I was shooting RAW, so there isn't realy to many variables at all..

That wasn't in your first post, so I didn't know that.

7D reqiures a different approach when it comes to sharpening. Its seriously a different body compared to ALL modern canon bodies.

You will even hear 60D owners noticing how much sharper SOOC than their 60d is compared to a 7D. My take is if its sharper SOOC its easier to deal with the fine balance of sharpening when it comes to noise reduction.

Start doing research on using LR3 sharpening techniques in playing with radius, masking and feathering NR to reduce the introduced noise of sliding the "sharpen" slider.

I find the 7D Raw file to be filled with soft pillowy noise with softer details even though eyelash details on a human subject is sharp..hard to describe. For me I find the Raw file extremely rigid almost like manipulating a compressed jpg file. Dont assume the files to look like any Raw file from your 500d. If you observe threads or read other forums you'll find a small handful of users mastered the post processing formula of getting images they want in their workflow. Many still struggle to get tack sharp images compared to the previous camera they've ugraded from. I know personally that I can land incredibly sharp SOOC files from my 5dc, 5dmk2 and 1dmk3 compared to a 7d RAW file. My old 50D was NO champion in high ISO performance but the RAW file seemed more flexibile and sharp from the start compared to a 7d.

What your seeing is normal. If your using 10x liveview, MF I highly doubt its user error.

Are you judging sharpness at a pixel-peeping level? Can you try downsizing the 7d images to the same size as the 500d?

Microadjust !!!

Milutiche wrote in post #12438267
I was shooting RAW, so there isn't realy to many variables at all, other than the amount the moon had moved in the few minutes it took me to change cameras and my ability to manual focus.

And, as has been suggested, the processing of that raw data. I'll bet real money that's the source of the problem.

I want to say they're about even as I shoot both.

Badgerballs wrote in post #12438717
Microadjust !!!

For the 3rd time, not going to work here...

And I find no extra work in working the 7D images than I did for the 1D3 and 1D4, or even the 5D. I just work out an a photoshop set of actions, which vary by 3 different levels of ISO, and I use that appropriate one as specified by the ISO. I have never had any action identically work across any model, they were all different.

I don't get all the rigid talk, the raw file just needs a series of different steps. I took about 1-2 weeks to develop those actions and then used them for a year after.

As for the moon shot, you should be able to get clear crisp shots. Try making sure your shutter speed is just a bit higher on the 7D than your 500D.

Milutiche wrote in post #12438281
Cheers for that vid link Stazek, quite interesting.
Rubi Jane, I have tried Micro adjusting, but I don't know if that makes a difference in manual focus?

The 7D is inherently softer than the 550/600D & 60D, something to do with the AA filter or something, so if the 500D sharpness is comparable to the 550D etc etc, this might be your problem if the images are only slightly softer.

Can you post some examples?