Canon 7D with EF 300/2.8L IS at 1/800 second, f/5,6 and ISO 400.

TYPE OF TEST: CFR-2 (What does this mean?)

Canon 7D and Image Quality

Ok, let’s talk about Image Quality.

Many photographers have been evaluating the Canon 7D image quality. Most of the tests show satisfying and outstanding results. But not everybody’s happy. Why are we seeing so many different opinions about the same camera? One answer is that the test situations are different; file format, raw-files with no editing or finished files with editing. Lens quality is also extremely important.

Another fact is that no two photographers are exactly alike and there will always be some differences about what people think about image noise, sharpness, colors etc. The discussions and tests rarely focus on what can be achieved with these cameras. Is a picture perfect because it has no noise and is extremely sharp? Have we evaluated the composition, the passion, and the story the photographs are attempting to communicate to the viewer?

Image quality and file format

In my first beta test of the Canon 7D I was shooting with “raw + jpg”, because I could only judge the results from the jpg-files. After that I looked through thousands of raw files, and there were some differences in the files. This was not unexpected since the jpg files had already been through some kind of image editing (sharpening, contrast, saturation, color space etc.). It surprised me that the raw files had that much less sharpness than the jpg files (set to standard sharpening). Therefore, many of the raw files from the Canon 7D need more sharpening in post processing than the 5D mark II or 1DS Mark III. What’s the reason for this?

I have been told that the 7D has a stronger low pass filter in front of the image sensor; stronger than in other Canon cameras. This will reduce the image noise but it can also reduce sharpness. This is one of the reasons why full-frame sensors are usually better than 1.6 crop sensors. There is also more noise in the raw files from the 7D, than full frame cameras like 5D Mark II and 1DS Mark III. In my opinion the 7D is better than 50D for noise; some place between the 50D and the 5D Mark II and 1DS Mark III. It’s not difficult to increase the sharpness and reduce the image noise in post-processing afterward.

Image Quality and raw-file processing

I usually use Adobe Lightroom (LR) for importing and developing of raw files, and then converting them to 16 bit tiffs for the final tweaking in Adobe Photoshop CS4 (PS). In LR 2.5 it is possible to process raw files from the 7D, but the “camera calibration” could only be set to “Beta”. I also felt that the 7D raw files had more noise and less sharpness compared to using Canon’s own Digital Photo Professional (DPP). I develope most of the raw-files in this tests from 7D with DPP and then export them as 16 bit tiffs for editing in PS. This is a much slower workflow than my normal use of LR. The newer LR 2.6 is only slighter better than LR 2.5. Hopefully, the still not released LR 3.0 will give us even better processing of raw files from the 7D. It sometimes takes a few months before software is fine tuned for specific cameras.

Later in this blog under “Image Quality and sharpness” I have some example images developed in LR and DPP (sorry no Aperture).

Image quality in highlights

To be honest I´m quite impressed with the dynamic range in highlights from 7D raw files developed in DPP. Below are some images taken with 7D and 1DS Mark III, on a bright sunny day on the Falkland Islands in November. It may be difficult for most cameras to achieve the tonality in the highlights, but I think the 7D does a very good job!

Canon 7D with EF 300/2.8L IS at 1/2000 second, f/6,3 and ISO 400. Developed in DPP (with Noise Reduction) + Nik Efex Pro to lighten up the shadows.

Canon 7D with EF 300/2.8L IS at 1/2000 second, f/6,3 and ISO 400. Cropped version. Developed in DPP (with Noise Reduction) + Nik Efex Pro to lighten the shadows.

Canon 7D with EF 300/2.8L IS at 1/2000 second, f/6,3 and ISO 400. 100% view. Developed in DPP (with Noise Reduction).

Canon 1DS Mark III with EF 300/2.8L IS at 1/1250 second, f/7,1 and ISO 400. Cropped version.

Canon 1DS Mark III with EF 300/2.8L IS at 1/1250 second, f/7,1 and ISO 400. 100% view. Developed in DPP (Highlight -2).

Canon 7D with EF 300/2.8L IS at 1/1250 second, f/8,0 and ISO 400. Developed in DPP (with Noise Reduction).

Canon 7D with EF 300/2.8L IS at 1/1250 second, f/8,0 and ISO 400. Cropped version. Developed in DPP (with Noise Reduction).

Canon 7D with EF 300/2.8L IS at 1/1250 second, f/8,0 and ISO 400. 100% view. Developed in DPP (with Noise Reduction).

Image quality and sharpness

I used the 7D as an action camera on the Antarctic Expedition in November and shot mainly with a 300/2.8 (85%) and the 70-200/2.8 (10%). Only 5% of the images were shot with a 16-35/2.8 and a 24-70/2.8. Due to heavy weight and a lot of extra HD video equipment, I didn´t take along my beloved 600/4.0 which I normally use for wildlife photography.

It’s difficult to write about sharpness because opinions may differ from person to person. If I upload an image which I don´t think is sharp enough, there will be some that disagree with me. Some of you will also disagree about pictures I think are sharp. It might be best to show you some images taken with 3 different cameras. You can then decide for yourselves.

Canon 7D with EF 300/2.8L IS at 1/320 second, f/9,0 and ISO 200. No cropping. Developed in Lightroom 2.6

Canon 7D with EF 300/2.8L IS at 1/320 second, f/9,0 and ISO 200. 100% view, developed in Lightroom 2.6

Canon 7D with EF 300/2.8L IS at 1/320 second, f/9,0 and ISO 200. No cropping. Developed in DPP

Canon 7D with EF 300/2.8L IS at 1/320 second, f/9,0 and ISO 200. 100% view, developed in DPP

And now over to the Canon 1DS Mark III camera.

Canon 1DS Mark III with EF 300/2.8L IS at 1/125 second, f/8,0 and ISO 200. No cropping. Developed in Lightroom 2.6.

Canon 1DS Mark III with EF 300/2.8L IS at 1/125 second, f/8,0 and ISO 200. 100% view, developed in Lightroom 2.6.

And finally, the Canon 5D Mark II camera.

Canon 5D Mark II with EF 300/2.8L IS at 1/160 second, f/9,0 and ISO 200. No cropping. Developed in Lightroom 2.6..

Canon 5D Mark II with EF 300/2.8L IS at 1/160 second, f/9,0 and ISO 200. 100% view, developed in Lightroom 2.6.

Which camera do you think gets the sharpest pictures? It may have been difficult for most of you to guess if I didn’t tell you.

Image quality and colors

For me it is also important that the raw files have great tonality to the colors. In the pictures below I have some examples of birds photographed in bright sunlight and yellow backgrounds, which can be difficult situations to shoot.

Image and Highlight Tone Priority

Here are some images I took in Antarctica that I was not 100% satisfied with. These shots show increased noise and lack of sharpness in shadow areas bordered with bright backgrounds. In such situations I usually activate “Highlight Tone Priority” (CF.II – 3). I love to use this function in situations with difficult highlights, but when you give priority to the highlights you will compromise the quality of the shadow areas. This is especially prominent in picture #3 below which is developed in LR 2.6. After this experience I will only use Highlight Tone priority in situations where there are no important details in the shadows. So my advice is, be careful about activating Highlight Tone Priority on your Canon 7D camera.

Canon 7D with EF 300/2.8L IS at 1/1250 second, f/6,3 and ISO 400. No cropping. Developed in DPP.

Canon 7D with EF 300/2.8L IS at 1/1250 second, f/6,3 and ISO 400. 100% view, developed in DPP.

Canon 7D with EF 300/2.8L IS at 1/1250 second, f/6,3 and ISO 400. 100% view, developed in Lightroom 2.6

Canon 7D with EF 300/2.8L IS at 1/1250 second, f/6,3 and ISO 400. 100% view, developed in DPP

Canon 7D with EF 300/2.8L IS at 1/1250 second, f/6,3 and ISO 400. 100% view, developed in DPP

Conclusion and recommendations

Ok, so what more can I say about the image quality of the 7D?

First of all the Canon 7D is a great camera, especially suited for action photography when fast AF-tracking is needed. The sharpness is very close to my 5D Mark II and 1DS Mark III full frames cameras. Sometimes I don´t think I can see any difference at all, but under some lighting conditions, like low contrast light, I prefer the 5D Mark II and 1DS Mark III.

Regarding the noise issues, I see more noise in the pictures from the 7D 1.6 crop factor, than my 2 full-frame cameras. This is especially noticeable in the backgrounds. This is not surprising. Maybe I should have tested the 7D against other 1.6 crop factor cameras…

The image quality is highly dependent of what kind of lenses you use. If you use high quality glass you will also get high quality images. Too many people forget about this.

LR 2.5 and LR 2.6 are in my opinion not yet optimized for developing and editing raw files from 7D. I hope Adobe will soon release Lightroom version 3 with optimized code for 7D files, to compete with DPP. I really love Lightroom, but I am not impressed how LR deals with my 7D raw files. For best image quality from your 7D raw files you should use the Canon DPP software.

Some photographers are not satisfied with the details in the highlights, but I think the 7D performs very well here. I can´t see any big differences at all when I compare the 7D against the 1DS Mark III. NB: I have only done outdoor field tests, so maybe with a “lab” test we may see some differences.

I think some images form the 7D need more sharpening in final edits than images from my full frame cameras. It also seems that the raw files from 7D don´t survive hard editing (adjustments in Levels, Curves etc.) as well as the 1DS Mark III and 5D Mark II files. The raw files from full frame cameras appear to have more dynamic range – not really surprising!

Canon 7D files are much larger than files from 1D Mark III / Mark IV. This is a big advantage when I’m outputting to a large format printer.

Be careful when using “Highlight Tone Priority” since it can sometimes reduce quality in the shadows!

And finally, the Canon 7D is a most excellent camera, better than I had expected from 1.6 crop-factor cameras. The image quality is not as good as the 5D Mark II and 1DS Mark III, but it’s close. In many situations it is very difficult to see any difference! I can highly recommend this camera, and I will use it on expeditions and assignments until maybe upgrading it for a Canon 1D Mark IV. If you already own a Canon 7D, I encourage you to enjoy it and don´t pay too much attention to photographers who aren’t satisfied with it. The most important thing is that you are satisfied.

Ole Jørgen Liodden

Thanks to Bob Baillargeon for copy-editing!

28 Responses to “Canon 7D #4 Image Quality”