The Canon EOS 30D and the Canon EOS 400D are both equipped with the DIGIC II image processing pipeline. However, the EOS 400D has a 10 MP CMOS sensor oppose to 8 MP CMOS sensor in the Canon EOS 30D. It will be interesting to see if the two more mega pixels of the Canon EOS 400D provide any disadvantage on the 8MP sensor at 100ISO.

Canon EOS 400D: Jpeg Fine, PS: Standard, AutoWB, ISO100, 1/6,
Canon 50mm@f9
Canon EOS 30D: Jpeg Fine, PS: Standard, AutoWB, ISO100, 1/8,
Canon 50mm@f9

Canon EOS 400D	Canon EOS 30D

Sharpening

Due to the picture style system, the sharpening levels are equal in both cameras, that’s the idea behind this system and it seems to work.

Details

Although the 10MP sensor of the EOS 400D has a small advantage, these differences does put the MP war in proportion. The differences appear in cut 11 where you can see the fabric texture better detailed with the EOS 400D. Also note cut 2 in between the sketch lines.

demosaicing, false colors

These problems are not new with the DIGIC II. Both camera don’t deal ideally with demosaicing problems, and in the EOS 30D there is are a bit more false colors. It seems that the EOS 400D’s sensor is coping better with problematic frequencies, but not much better than the EOS 30D.

Contrast and color

Again, due to the picture style system the shadows and contrast are pretty similar. Because the Canon EOS 30D overexposes in about +0.4/+0.5EV, we had to set its exposure down by -0.3EV. There are still minor contrast differences between the two cameras despite that.

Noise reduction

It is hard to discuss the noise reduction subject in 100 ISO, check the 1600 ISO comparison.

Notes

After evaluating these results, 10 MP don’t seem to create a big advantage. With DIGIC II and the picture style system we get quite similar results. 10 mega pixels can get the enthusiast printer the extra push needed for big prints, and can resolve some false color issues DIGIC II should have handled.

The pixel size of the Canon EOS 400D is 5.7µm, small as all other 10 MP DSLRs. The Canon EOS 30D has a 8MP sensor so its pixel size is bigger, 6.4µm. Keeping in mind those two cameras are using the same DIGIC II image pipeline, an high ISO scene should be really interesting. Can the old DIGIC II cope with the extra pixel-size weight?

Canon EOS 400D: Jpeg Fine, PS: Standard, AutoWB, ISO1600, 1/100,
Canon 50mm@f9
Canon EOS 30D: Jpeg Fine, PS: Standard, AutoWB, ISO1600, 1/125,
Canon 50mm@f9

Canon EOS 400D	Canon EOS 30D

Sharpening

Due to the picture style system, the sharpening levels are equal in both cameras. If we compare it to 100 ISO, that sharpening levels were somewhat lowered.

Details

The 10MP sensor of the Canon EOS 400D has a small advantage. If we watch carefully we can find a few details that are softer in the Canon EOS 30D.

demosaicing, false colors

These symptoms are reduced when shooting in high ISO. Although the Canon EOS 30D has a little bit more problems at cut 13.

Contrast and color

Again, due to the picture style system the shadows and contrast are pretty similar.

Noise reduction

We didn’t expect to see much difference in the noise reduction area considering that these are the same algorithms of the DIGIC II that are doing the job. There is little differences in the dark areas of the image, where signal to noise ratio is low. In these areas we can see a tiny bit of an advantage to the EOS 30D due to it’s lower MP, having lower pixel density. As all Canon cameras based on the DIGIC II there is a small amount of chroma noise.

Notes

It seems that Canon has stretched the limits of the DIGIC II with the EOS 400D. We would say that 8MP is the acceptable limit of the DIGIC II. The EOS 30D has less noise and an almost similar amount of detail. It’s hard to say if the price of some noise is worth the addition of some detail.

Welcome to our color transformation database. Here you can compare, explore and understand how color is transformed by the cameras we test. To understand more about this database please read this help file.

Lab Plot

Canon EOS 1D Mark III Standard Canon EOS 1D Mark III Portrait

Delta C

Visual Differences

Canon EOS 1D Mark III Standard Canon EOS 1D Mark III Portrait ColorChecker 24 reference

Gamut (out of Gretagmacbeth DC chart)

Gamma (Luma)

Our Noise analysis contains a database of Noise measurements we have made in our lab. The readings below are the average of standard division values taken from the 6 gray patches in the Gretagmacbeth 24 patch chart. You can read more about our lab noise tests here.

Please choose one or more cameras to compare noise standard division statistics.