I know this isn't the proper section, but (just wondering)

I have been a Nikon user for years and have had many different Nikon DSLR's. I currently have a D7000 today.

On the other hand, I have a buddy of mine who just bought himself a Canon 7D and he brought it to my office to show it to me. I don't know if it was the camera itself or the kit 28-135mm lens it brought, but when we started taking some photos to test it out, I didn't think they were sharp at all.

I had my D7000 handy, put on a 18-55 kit lens that my sister has, and started taking pictures of the same objects the 7D was with the same F stop, same Shutter speed and ISO to compare the sharpness...and for some reason, the pictures looked sharper on my D7000 than the 7D. Even my friend noticed it himself.

Which took me back to when my sister had her Canon 60D a year ago, I noticed the same issue. We both had went on a cruise, she took her 60D and I took my D5000 at the time...took pictures of the trip and when we got back and popped the pictures up on the computer, you could easily tell that the pics of my D5000 were sharper than hers. Mind you, at that time I didn't have the knowledge I have today about DSRL's and how to properly take pictures, and neither did she. We both were shooting in Program Mode most of the time.

My question is, is there a sharpness setting tweak you have to do on Canon cameras when you get them or something? I was not impressed at all, and it couldn't have been a coincidence that both my friend's new 7D and my sister's new 60D had the same issues.

Have you guys ever picked up a Canon DSLR to shoot with, being Nikon users and noticing this same issue? Is there a sharpness setting tweak you gotta do on Canon cameras when you get them to solve this?

Thanks!

It has very low in-camera default sharpening, to let the photographer control the sharpness.

No sharpness issues with my 7D:

Keith Reeder said:

It has very low in-camera default sharpening, to let the photographer control the sharpness.

No sharpness issues with my 7D:

Click to expand...

Thanks, so are you saying that the camera has a Low Sharpening setting from default. If so, what do you set the sharpening to?

Just trying to help my buddy out, thanks.

Ya know, I really bet the 7D forum might be able to answer your question.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1019

Must be your buddy and not the 7D which is a very fine camera.

Yes, I shoot with D7000 but that Canon 7D with a 70-200 f4 gives me improper thoughts toward Nikon!

Shoot RAW then apply the same adjustments. Only then you can compare. Canon will be noisier and larger.
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Try to shoot with Nikkor AF-S 70-200 f/2.8 VR and it will give improper thoughts for Canon (even if you use Canon EF 70-200 mm f/2.8 on it).
The lens is a very important variable in the image equation.
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Well, in good hands, you can get the same results from either. Canon equipment is no or less sharper than Nikon products. There are so many variables and settings, that it is difficult to bring it down to one thing.

Most digital output needs an increase in contrast, some saturation boost, and additional sharpening.
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I just used my friend's Canon 7D for about 20 minutes now with the 28-135mm lens.

I don't know what's going on, but the pictures don't look near as sharp as the ones I take on the D7000.

I shot primarly in Aperture mode, and used single spot focus. Through the viewfinder, it looks like it is focusing well, but the results....are not good at all.

kcamacho11 said:

I just used my friend's Canon 7D for about 20 minutes now with the 28-135mm lens.

I don't know what's going on, but the pictures don't look near as sharp as the ones I take on the D7000.

I shot primarly in Aperture mode, and used single spot focus. Through the viewfinder, it looks like it is focusing well, but the results....are not good at all.

Click to expand...

The first thing to do is to compare Liveview focus (and set AF to Live mode) with the Viewfinder focus. Liveview focus is not prone to back or front focusing and so it will set the benchmark as to the sharpest the body and lens combination can achieve.

If the Viewfinder shot is the same as the Liveview shot, then we can probably attribute the softness to the lens. Check also that the sharpness setting on the body is not too low.

If the Viewfinder shot is softer than the Liveview shot then there is a back or front focus issue. This can be fixed using the Microfocus adjust function.

Note also with Jpegs, that some low level NR is still performed on Jpegs, even when all NR settings in camera are off. This will rub off some of the sharpness when viewed at 100%. To bypass this you must shoot RAW, open in Digital Photo Professional (supplied software) and set all the NR sliders to 0. You can set all the NR sliders to 0 by default, by going to Tools> Preferences> Tool Palette> Default Noise Reduction Settings and click "set as defaults."