Canon 7D sensor performance

[Roger Clark]

Hi,
I've completed my analysis of the Canon 7D sensor. Results are here:
http://www.clarkvision.com/articles/evaluation-canon-7d

and how these numbers fit into the scheme of things, I've added the 7D values to the figures on my performance summary page:
http://www.clarkvision.com/articles/...rmance.summary

Thanks to BPN member Peter Hawrylyshyn for obtaining the data. As Arash indicated, the QE*fill factor has improved over the 50D, but the pixels are still smaller. I also added an open diamond on my apparent image quality figure predicting where the 1D Mark IV will plot (Figure 9 on the performance summary web page).

Roger

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Thanks for sharing your findings, it's much appreciated!

[Doug Brown]

Thanks for all your hard work Roger!

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Roger,
Your effort is highly appreciated. I will definitely go through it in leisure. I was told 7D has less noise than 40D. Is this statement true?

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Roger Clark]

Roger,
Your effort is highly appreciated. I will definitely go through it in leisure. I was told 7D has less noise than 40D. Is this statement true?

Sabyasachi,
The answer is yes and no. The 7D, like many newer generation cameras, have lower read noise and lower fixed pattern noise. But the 7D has smaller pixels so for highlights to somewhat darker shadows, the 7S smaller pixels will show more apparent noise. So it depends on the signal level. For mid-tones and highlights the 40D images should look slightly better, but for lower signals the 7D will look better. Some 40Ds had relatively bad banding, so for any one camera one might conclude the 7D images look better at all levels. Then you need to balance the higher resolution of the 7D. If your lens can deliver the detail, despite a little more noise, the images can still look better.

Roger