Zoom vs crop - guess which?

I don't have much to add to what Mark H. has pointed at, except that when I move those images around  on my tablet LCD the artifacts/noise stand out much more and the second shot looks even cleaner in comparison. If the second, cleaner image had been shot with the HS30 I wouldn't be too surprised - more often than not I prefer SOOC jpgs from my X10 over those from my NEX-5 w/ kit lens, but don't own a HS30 or T2i and so don't know anything about their jpg engines nor the settings you've used. Interesting thread Michael; keep them coming.