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Cameras

High ISO Test: Olympus EP3 vs Canon 5D Mk II vs 7D

Chris Gampat
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07/09/2011
2 Mins read
high iso test chart 7d ep3 5d mk ii

Last Updated on 08/28/2011 by Chris Gampat

According to DXoMark, the Fuji X100 has an amazing sensor and it has been rated to be better than the Canon 5D Mk II and the 7D (correction: the 5D Mk II is still rated to be better). With the announcement of the Olympus EP3, I decided to put the camera against the two DSLRs myself. So how does the new internally developed sensor do against the mainstream giants?

Disclaimer: Yes, we know the sensor are different sizes. Yes, we know that you’ll go over to other sites to look for this information anyway. Yes, we are trying to answer the question for you.

Test Conditions

The cameras were all set to the 3:2 aspect ratio. After that, they were set to around the same size dimensions (around 2,000 pixels wide) and were shot in RAW + JPEG. The exposure metering was based upon what the EP3 stated was balanced for it based off of metering the center of the area. Each camera was set up to shoot as close to the same scene as possible. When imported into Lightroom 3, all of the histograms looked very similar.

Then 100% crops were done.

For this test, we will be testing the JPEGs. A RAW test will be conducted in a future posting.

Image Samples

EP3 at 1/15th and f/4 iso 6400 (corrected)
5D Mk II 1/15th at F4 ISO 6400
7D 1/15th at F/4 at ISO 6400

Conclusions

Based on the image samples, the Canon 5D Mk II is still way ahead of the other two cameras. However, the EP3 is almost on par with the Canon 7D’s high ISO output results.

This must be exciting news for the company as they have struggled for years with getting better high ISO output results. Here’s a better look with the EP3 on the right and the 7D on the left.

EP3 (right) vs 7D (left)

As you can see, in JPEG mode the image quality is starting to catch up to the Canon 7D. With this said, I can estimate that the noise levels may be on par with the old Nikon D300 (please note that this is not the D300s that I’m talking about.)

Canon 5D Mk II (left) with Olympus EP3 (right)

Now take a look at this, the 5D Mk II is still holding its ground very well even after all of these years at ISO 6400.

Overall, the new Olympus EP3 has been able to vastly improve the high ISO output and may finally creep up within the next iteration of the camera (or maybe even in RAW).

Thoughts? Comments? Let us know!

Update: the Olympus EP3 Raw File test has been added. We now see that the EP3 isn’t as good as the 7D in RAW, but still okay and workable.

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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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