Home Donate New Search Gallery Reviews How-To Books Links Workshops About Contact
5D Mk II versus D7000
Which makes better images?
© 2011 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved.
Intro Specs Performance Compared Usage Recommendations
Canon EOS 5D Mark II and 50mm f/1.4 (32 oz./907g with battery and card, but no lens). enlarge.
Nikon D7000 (27.3 oz./774g with battery, strap rings and card) and 35mm f/1.8 DX. enlarge.
December 2011 Nikon Reviews Canon LEICA All Reviews
Introduction top
Intro Specs Performance Compared Usage Recommendations
Adorama pays top dollar for your used gear.
I use Adorama, Amazon, eBay, Ritz, B&H, Calumet, J&R and ScanCafe. I can't vouch for ads below.
|
A reader asks which of these two top cameras makes better images.
Answer: NEITHER!
If you're still wasting your time worrying about such trivia, I doubt you'll ever expend the hard thought required in actually making great pictures, as opposed to merely armchair shopping for cameras.
Time spent worrying about equipment is time not spent on concentrating about your image, so if you waste time comparing cameras for too long, you'll probably never make much in the way of exciting images.
Worse, when making this choice between today's two top DSLRs, you're also committing yourself to a bank of one brand of lenses or another.
Ultimately, if you have perfect lenses and are a careful worker for nature and landscape, the 5D Mk II has the full-frame advantage, as well as more pixels.
On the other hand, there are no perfect ultrawide lenses made by Canon! Their two best, the 17-40/4 L and 16-35/2.8 L II, are only mediocre compared to the newer-generation Nikon 16-35/4 VR and 14-24/2.8. Canon's best full-frame ultrawides are never that sharp in the corners if you're splitting pixels.
Worse, Canon has not yet solved the corner (lateral) color fringe problem. All current Nikon DSLRs automatically correct these color fringes, while the 5D Mark II makes these obvious with anything short of a perfect lens. (If you shoot Nikon NEF raw, this correction only happens automatically if you use Nikon's own software to process the files.)
If shooting JPGs, Canon cameras do some weird noise reduction (even when noise reduction it turned off) that make textures look a little cartonish when viewed close-up. If shooting CR2 raw, this goes away.
Both cameras do a good job of in-camera JPG highlight and shadow optimization.
Seriously, though, the really important image quality differences are very subtle. Each brand of camera renders colors and tone subtly different from other cameras. Just like film, you need to pick your camera based on how it responds to the colors, highlights and shadows of the things you want to photograph.
It's not just the camera; your choice of shooting JPG, or shooting raw and then what raw software you use, are just as much a part of the equation as the camera.
You have to try each camera (or look at files from others) and ask yourself which helps you get the images you demand the most easily. By "most easily," the artist always gets what he wants, but some tools make it much quicker, while others require far more fiddling and tweaking to get there.
Ultimately, neither the D7000 or 5D Mark II is an easy winner. It depends on the lenses you choose to field, and most importantly, your personal preferences for color and tonal rendition.
Super ultimately, spending much time on these armchair discussions takes away from one's creative development, and good photos come only from creativity and imagination. Don't waste too much time worrying which is better technically. The ergonomic factors are far more important in keeping you happy and excited in the field, and creativity springs from being relaxed. I'm not covering ergonomics here — see each camera's review and see how it fits into your own style.
Which is best depends more on you than any absolute quality number, which simply doesn't exist. Things like high ISO noise and resolution are mostly irrelevant for actual photography, where the basics of color and tone are what matter far more than detail.
Hope this helps!
Help me help you top
I support my growing family through this website, as crazy as it might seem.
The biggest help is when you use any of these links to Adorama, Amazon, eBay, Ritz, Calumet, J&R and ScanCafe when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. It costs you nothing, and is this site's, and thus my family's, biggest source of support. These places have the best prices and service, which is why I've used them since before this website existed. I recommend them all personally.
If you find this page as helpful as a book you might have had to buy or a workshop you may have had to take, feel free to help me continue helping everyone.
If you've gotten your gear through one of my links or helped otherwise, you're family. It's great people like you who allow me to keep adding to this site full-time. Thanks!
If you haven't helped yet, please do, and consider helping me with a gift of $5.00.
As this page is copyrighted and formally registered, it is unlawful to make copies, especially in the form of printouts for personal use. If you wish to make a printout for personal use, you are granted one-time permission only if you PayPal me $5.00 per printout or part thereof. Thank you!
Thanks for reading!
Mr. & Mrs. Ken Rockwell, Ryan and Katie.
Home Donate New Search Gallery Reviews How-To Books Links Workshops About Contact