Compared to...

Studio scene comparison (RAW)

For a (more) level playing field for comparison we also shot our studio scene in RAW mode with each camera and converted it using Adobe Camera RAW. Because Adobe Camera RAW applies different levels of sharpening to different cameras (this confirmed) we had to use the following workflow for these conversions:

  • Load RAW file into Adobe Camera RAW (Auto mode disabled)
  • Set Sharpness to 0 (all other settings default)
  • Open file to Photoshop
  • Apply a Unsharp mask: 80%, Radius 1.0, Threshold 0
  • Save as a TIFF (for cropping) and as a JPEG quality 11 for download

This is our standard studio scene comparison shot taken from exactly the same tripod position. Lighting: daylight simulation, >98% CRI. Crops are 100%. Ambient temperature was approximately 22°C (~72°F). Camera settings as per previous pages.

Sony DSLR-A900 (RAW) vs Canon EOS 5D (RAW)

Sony DSLR-A900 (RAW)
Canon EOS 5D (RAW)
6.1MB JPEG (6048 x 4032)
3.4 MB JPEG (4368 x 2912)

Ignoring for a moment the obvious depth of field issues and differences in lens performance (the Canon 85mm appears to offer better edge to edge sharpness than the Sony) what really strikes me about these results is just how good the 3 year old EOS 5D is. The Alpha 900 offers a little more resolution but as we saw with the JPEG comparison, the 5D's light AA filter produces better 'per pixel' sharpness which really shows when you look this closely. Of course you're not really going to be looking this close in 'real world' use.