Sunday 31 October 2010

Nikon D7000 sharpness

When i did the D7000 ISO test the other day i think i may have be a bit slap dash with the focusig when changing cameras and refocusing, I had a few comments about whether the D7000's images were softer then the D300 and whether Nikon had done what Canon has seemed to do with its latest camera range-i.e 7D,550D etc and that is blur the detail when using high ISO to keep the grain down, I shot a bird perch in the garden with both cameras-see below, I cropped them in to 100% just to see if detail is missing, The verdict is yes but very slightly, I personally think that the sensor has a thicker AA filter as i find that the D7000 takes a tad extra sharpening but after that the IQ is excellent and i don't think many people will find it a problem, I will be shooting garden birds this week and that where the real testing will be-in the feathers-watch this space
D7000 main image
D300 100% crop
D7000 100%  crop

These images show 2 things clearly-both images shot at ISO 800-The D7000 is much cleaner but the D300 images are defiantly sharper straight out of the camera, Images about are from the camera without any processing just resizing
P.S As a side note i will say that i haven't tried the AF fine tune to see if there is slight front or back focusing with the D7000, I have never had to fine tune any of my other Nikon's but this may be worth investigating on this occasion.
Dave

4 comments:

  1. Great job. I liked your work. Nikon D7000 takes amazing pictures under all condition. This camera has been on my wish list a long time. Image quality is outstanding.

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  2. Actually, I'm not seeing any sharpness differences, only exposure, and image size differences.

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  3. I agree with the last post, not a very good comparison. As an owner of both I know that the D7000 is more sensitive to light at higher ISO's, hence the brighter exposure... I don't know what your settings all were, but here the exposure is not the same. Also were these hand held? Tripod? what lenses? Many possible variables. D7000 takes sharper photos than the D300s period, as I said I own both and have shot much longer on my D300s. I think a more controlled shoot, with a few more examples while also keeping the example photographs identical in size would permit a better example. Also seeing lower ISO from the D7000 of the same shot, while keeping the D300s at what it needs to be for optimal photo would show the difference in capability of the two imho, and then you would see the D7000 getting sharper and sharper the closer it gets to base ISO.

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  4. I had to go back some way to find this thread, I had a D300 for a couple of years and my inital thoughts of the D7000 were that the images were a tad softer than the D300 although with careful sharpening the detail would come out, I sold the D7000 about a month or 2 back to make way for the D800, During the 18 months or so that i had the D7000 it really grew on me and i would use it more than the D3s,The image quality was excellent and way better than the D300, I have to say that i now have the D800 and D3s but do miss the D7000, Its an excellent camera and great value for money, I would recommend it to anybody
    Dave

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