Image Quality

Resolution 

So, will the leap from 8 to 10 million pixels make a difference? Not that much: there’s only a slight increase in image resolution, and only a narrow margin of difference in the amount of detail recorded.

Colour and Saturation

The Jpeg processing corrects most exposure errors quite well, as can be seen by the difference between Raw and Jpeg files – the Raw images are slightly darker by about a third of a stop. Colours are good, though there’s a propensity to over-saturate – the test charts show 112% saturation, which is higher than its rivals, and a tendency for colours to be warmer. This can also be seen in the Auto White Balance charts, which show a much higher shift than we’ve seen on other cameras.

Noise and Chroma Control

When it comes to noise, the CMOS sensor behaves very differently to the recent CCD-based models, with more chroma noise. Overall noise levels are very low, especially the luminance, but certain colours and the shadow areas show spikes of noise that we don’t get in other models. This can make images look noisier, especially low key or images with a lot of shadows. It’s easy enough to fix in Photoshop CS2 too, though.

Noise is better controlled in Raw images than Jpegs. Overall, images have a smooth tonality, with well-controlled highlights and an almost silky look which is attractive. Canon tends to produce lower-contrast images than other manufacturers, but the 400D seems to up the contrast just a little, producing (in my view) a better image than that of the 350D.