7D vs. !D3 photos

I purchased my 7D in January and from day 1 was not certain that I was 100% satisfied with the pictures I was getting from the camera. I did a lot of research before purchasing the camera and felt pretty confidant that I had made the right choice.

After shooting over 4500 photos with the 7D I went ahead and purchased a 1D Mark III. It came in the mail this week and I decided to do some comparison shots.

I used a tripod, set both to RAW with no editing, no sharpening ect these are straight out of the camera. All images were shot on a tripod and using a 70-200 Canon lens. I took about 40 shots with each camera and went through and selected the ones with the best focus and detail. Keep in mind I was not trying to take a stunning photo but rather compare the sharpness and detail that each camera would capture in the same situation.


The first set of photos will be the 7D and 1D III images that have not been resized

7D

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Larger difference than I would have assumed. Thanks for doing this.

We own and use both cameras and I also find that the 1D III IQ compares favourably to the 7D's. No tests beyond regular use, mind... so my assessment is a little more subjective

I'm not sure if the clock face has some texture or that is noise on the right side.

I have noticed that uploading to a hosting site and then viewing in a browser does give different results than viewing the original on your own computer.

I don't gauge image IQ from web images but, from your samples, I prefer the image on the left.

I'll wait for the inevitable, they don't have the same exposure/color balance, not a fair test etc... to surface

Yeah, I agree with these tests.
I tried out a 7D for the 2nd time to see if it could persuade me to dump my 1Dm3. After all the discussions on the 7D, I wanted to see for myself whether my 1st go-around with the camera was my errors.
In short, I ended up returning the 7D and kept the 1Dm3.

bohdank wrote in post #9853179
I'll wait for the inevitable, they don't have the same exposure/color balance, not a fair test etc... to surface

and your point is?

They're different cameras; the 7D needs to be processed differently to get the best out of it; the significantly higher mp size and pixel density of the 7D requires more sharpening out of camera; and the effect of the AA filter has to be accounted for too.

In other words, there's no point in comparing the 7D and the Mk III SOOC, because basic physics gives the Mk III an advantage at that point in the workflow which is essentially meaningless to the end result.

I rest my case

I could be wrong, but it looks like noise reduction was on for the 7D shots. Is that so?

No, I have all noise reduction off in both cameras. Both were also at 200 iso

Thanks for the comparison.

Interesting.

I have a question though. Was the 79% 7D image a true resize (e.g. image size command in PS) or just viewed at 79% and screen captured? Not sure if my point is clear.

It also seems like they have different WB. The other one seems hotter than the other one. Just my observation.

gabebalazs wrote in post #9853499
Interesting.

I have a question though. Was the 79% 7D image a true resize (e.g. image size command in PS) or just viewed at 79% and screen captured? Not sure if my point is clear.

As far as the size: they are a true 100% vs a true 79% not captures

marco_30D wrote in post #9853506
It also seems like they have different WB. The other one seems hotter than the other one. Just my observation.

the 7d photos came out of the camera at 5122k the mark III photos came out of the camera at 5137k. I the 15* was not even noticeable when I just adjusted it, I did not expect it to be.

There is something wrong here. Not arguing the outcome or differences or anything, but the 100% crops when displayed side by side are different size than the pics above (which are also supposedly 100% crops). Even the 1DIII 100% crops, the side by side left image is bigger than the same 1DIII 100% crop above (single image). So one of them is not 100%, I assume the side by side.
Same is true with the 7D. The side by side 79% image is bigger than the (supposedly) same 79% 7D image above.

I wonder if this is a case of not using the proper method of getting 100% crops and 79% crops, no offence, just wondering. If i had to guess, the side by side image is wrong.

you are correct, the side by side is a capture, I apologize for not stating that. The ones that are vertical are all resized to their stated percentages. I simply threw that last one in there for a different look at them next to each other. I suppose I could have omitted that one as the others clearly show the IQ differences with out it