7D vs. 70D: Which has better image quality?

[Aglet]

You’ve tested sevral 70Ds?
In a lab or in the field?
Can you show some of your test results? I like to see the “real world” difference between the 7d and 70d and if there is any copy variation between the 70ds.

This will have to suffice

www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?topic=16713.0

otherwise it's $280/hr + incidentals for custom work.

By the way, “noise metrics” do not only apply to iso’s below iso 1600. Above iso 1600 Canon is on par or preforming better.

yes, it's certainly comparable at the high end... FWIW, even compared to the MFT sensor in the -EM1.
comparison image for editorial purposes from DPreview.com

edit - oops, don't look at the Fuji results.

 

[privatebydesign]

Typical Aglet........

But when push comes to shove.

"Sorry, I don't have the 70D"​

Reading between his, as usual, inflated lines he took a series of shots at different iso's with the lens/body cap on, in a shop, which he botched.

And why he feels +4 stops is a good place to judge noise I just don't know.

 

[MichaelHodges]

The 70D gives sharper images SOOC, due to a weaker AA filter.

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=458&Camera=673&Sample=0&FLI=0&API=3&LensComp=458&CameraComp=845&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=0&APIComp=3

Wow. That is not a small difference.

 

[Loswr]

The 70D is a 40 megapixel camera

Are all of your other numbers artificially exaggerated like that?

The 70D gives sharper images SOOC, due to a weaker AA filter.

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=458&Camera=673&Sample=0&FLI=0&API=3&LensComp=458&CameraComp=845&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=0&APIComp=3

Wow. That is not a small difference.

That's true. The 7D has a particularly strong AA filter, whereas the 70D has a particularly weak one, I expect that's necessary due to the dual pixel AF. But even the EOS M is noticeably sharper than the 7D.

Worth noting that when I refer to the test above as SOOC, these aren't JPG images (so Digic doesn't really matter), they are RAW images processed identically. But it's also worth noting that with proper post
-processing, one would likely not process the images identically - more sharpening would be applied to the 7D images.

 

[Radiating]

The 70D gives sharper images SOOC, due to a weaker AA filter.

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=458&Camera=673&Sample=0&FLI=0&API=3&LensComp=458&CameraComp=845&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=0&APIComp=3

Wow. That is not a small difference.

Yeah the 70D is a game changer, paired with the Sigma 18-35mm, which is also a game changer it is the first Canon crop camera that I haven't loathed using over my full frame.

The first time I had to use my backup 7D and 15-85mm I threw up a little in my mouth when I saw the pictures it took.

The first time I used a 70D and sigma 18-35mm, my impression was "wow, this is basically a lighter version of my 24-70mm f/2.8 and 5D Mark III). Tests back this up, showing that this is the first Canon normal zoom and crop camera combo that delivers full frame like detail levels.

 

[Aglet]

"Sorry, I don't have the 70D"​

why would I buy a camera I don't want?

 

[privatebydesign]

Why would you feel compelled to give such strong views on equipment you have hardly touched?

 

[Loswr]

Why would you feel compelled to give such strong views on equipment you have hardly touched?

What, you mean you can't just go into a shop, stick a memory card in a demo camera, take one shot with the lens cap on, go home and push that one shot 5 stops, and know enough about how that camera performs to make your decision to not buy it, and to bash it on the Internet?

:

 

[Don Haines]

Why would you feel compelled to give such strong views on equipment you have hardly touched?

What, you mean you can't just go into a shop, stick a memory card in a demo camera, take one shot with the lens cap on, go home and push that one shot 5 stops, and know enough about how that camera performs to make your decision to not buy it, and to bash it on the Internet?

:

I did go into a camera shop....
I did stick a memory card into the demo 70D....
I took several dozen shots (with the lens cap OFF)...
I decided that it was much nicer than my 60D....
I decided not to buy it as I want a 7D2 and my 60D will do quite nicely while I wait...

 

[MichaelHodges]

Based on those test results and the feedback in this thread (and others) I'm very close to selling my 7D and picking up the 70D.

 

[dawgfanjeff]

My 2 cents...
I owned a 350D, and a 400D, was dissatisfied by AF Performance so jumped on a 7D when it was released. The AF was worlds better, but I can't say that the image quality was much better for when AF speed wasn't a factor.

I rarely had a "WOW" moment from that camera, and while I haven't used a 70D, I can't see how it would be worse than my 7D was. Maybe I had the proverbial dud, or maybe it needed adjustment, I dunno, but I was always dissatisfied with the noise. Maybe it was a function of my expectations, but I have no complaints at all with the 5D3 I eagerly replaced it with.

 

[AlanF]

Why would you feel compelled to give such strong views on equipment you have hardly touched?

What, you mean you can't just go into a shop, stick a memory card in a demo camera, take one shot with the lens cap on, go home and push that one shot 5 stops, and know enough about how that camera performs to make your decision to not buy it, and to bash it on the Internet?

:

I did go into a camera shop....
I did stick a memory card into the demo 70D....
I took several dozen shots (with the lens cap OFF)...
I decided that it was much nicer than my 60D....
I decided not to buy it as I want a 7D2 and my 60D will do quite nicely while I wait...

You'll next be deciding between waiting for a 7D2 or buying an 80D.

 

[mrsfotografie]

Seriously though, there is no reason to buy a 7d anymore, especially 7 current prices. its going on 5 years old, and still north of a grand- not a good investment at all.

There is, it's a great second hand body! But not a smart buy if bought new, I agree. It's old and has regrettable noise performance throughout the iso range especially when you pair it with a full frame body like I did. I recently sold mine in favor of a 5DMkIII, but the new owner is overjoyed (it is a great 2nd hand body like I said).

 

[Plainsman]

Dare one ask the question 7D vs 70D vs D7100: which has better image quality?

Worth considering because the D7100 is cheaper than the 70D.

 

[Steb]

As I posted earlier, the big difference is in AF. The 7D's AF is far more erratic and has real difficulties on such combinations as the 300mm f/2.8 II with 2xTC. This has been corrected with the 70D, which is why I sold my 7D and bought the 70D. The other differences between the two are minor. N

Ahh, I don't like to hear that!
I expected the 7D AF to be better than the 70D AF. At least the 70D lacks the spot AF mode afaik.

Is there a specific issue with the 7D and 300mm f/2.8 II? I own a 300 f/2.8 myself (the old one, not the mkII) and I am planning to invest in some converters. Do I have to prepare for problems with such a setup and the 7D? ???

 

[Kiboko]

Dare one ask the question 7D vs 70D vs D7100: which has better image quality?

Worth considering because the D7100 is cheaper than the 70D.

I really hope someone answers this sensibly, because the D7100 is a camera I'm considering, as a replacement to my 7D. I can only think that the answer has simply GOT to be an unequivocal yes! I bought a D610 to replace my aging 5D Mark II, there was a humungous gap between the P/Ex. value of my old 5D Mk II and a new Mk III, however the D610 was affordable. Absolutely no regrets, the D610 is fantastic all round. Made the right decision. I'm not knocking the 5D Mk III, it would have been my obvious choice, I just couldn't afford the switch, so a compromise had to be reached but it turned out not have been a compromise. Now I'm in the same position to replace my 7D. If Canon brought out a 7D Mark II there'd be no issue but I've been waiting and waiting..... I would not consider the 70D, various reasons.

 

[sanj]

But the question of this thread is about IQ, not AF.

Accurate focus is critical for image quality.

I was waiting for this comment from you Neuro. Both cameras do not interest me but I scrolled through the thread just to find this comment from you.

 

[unfocused]

I wish I could really believe some of the comments here, but I have a strong suspicion that a significant amount of confirmation bias is going on.

Almost all reviews when the 70D came out indicated that there were only marginal improvements in the sensor. From reading the comments here, one could get the impression that the 70D is some super camera. I'd like a more balanced, objective perspective. (Probably a hopeless request on this forum I know.)

 

[Loswr]

Almost all reviews when the 70D came out indicated that there were only marginal improvements in the sensor. From reading the comments here, one could get the impression that the 70D is some super camera.

I suspect it depends on how you define improvement. DxOMark tests color depth, DR, and noise, and by those metrics the 70D is not significantly different from the 7D. Notably, they can't test 'sharpness' in their sensor test…but if you take a few lenses and compare their measure of sharpness (P-Mpix) of the same lens on the 7D vs. the 70D, you see that the 70D gives approximately a 20% sharper image - and that difference is borne out by the TDP ISO 12233 crop comparison that I linked earlier.

A confounding factor is that many review sites base their comparisons on either in-camera JPG conversions or 'default' conversions from RAW using a 3rd party converter like LR. Sensors with stronger AA filters (like the 7D) need and benefit from more sharpening than sensors with weaker AA filters - and that is likely factored into the default RAW conversions. So, whereas DxOMark test images are presumably not sharpened, and TDP's are all given a default sharpness setting of 1 regardless of camera, if you sharpen the 7D image more than the 70D image, you'll get results that are pretty similar.

 

[ajfotofilmagem]

I wish I could really believe some of the comments here, but I have a strong suspicion that a significant amount of confirmation bias is going on.
Almost all reviews when the 70D came out indicated that there were only marginal improvements in the sensor. From reading the comments here, one could get the impression that the 70D is some super camera. I'd like a more balanced, objective perspective. (Probably a hopeless request on this forum I know.)

This phenomenon has occurred many times in CR. Let's remember the time of release of 5D mark iii:

"Only 1 megapixel more than the previous model..."
"Just a little less noise than the previous model..."
"Only one Compact Flash slot..."
"This should be called 5D mark 2.1 ..."
"D800 will kill this rehashed 5D..."

Today we see the use in the real world showed the efficiency and versatility of 5D mark iii. Now we can see some qualities of 70D that were not apparent in the spec list. But hopefully 7D mark ii has better picture quality than 70D, to assume the position of "mini 1DX".