// Canon 5D Mark II versus Nikon D3//

Is the Canon EOS 5D Mark II Really Sharper Than the Nikon D3?

25 December, 2008 by Roland Lim

After I published my review of the 5D Mark II, some people were quite surprised that the 100% crops of 5D Mark II photos looked significantly sharper and more detailed than those from Nikon D3 (see sample above, 5D Mark II on the left and D3 on the right). Rather than believing that the difference was due to higher resolution sensor of the 5D Mark II, some people were questioning whether the focus for the D3 photos were wrong, or maybe it was unfair to use a Nikkor 35mm f/2 prime lens on the D3 to compare with the EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM zoom lens on the Canon. If I gave an unfair advantage to a camera, in fact, it would have been in favor of the Nikon. The 35mm prime should in all fairness be even sharper than the Canon 16-35mm zoom.

However, I am not the only one who can demonstrate this difference. You can go to Imaging Resource’s comparometer, then download full size pics from both the 5D Mark II and D3 to do the comparison (http://www.imaging-resource.com/IMCOMP/COMPS01.HTM ). However, it would be best to download the pics to your computer and resize one of the pics to match the 2 cameras files resolution. Either downsize the 5D mark II file to match D3 resolution or upscale D3 file to match 5D Mark II resolution.

I have downloaded ISO 100 photos from both cameras and downscale the 5D Mark II photo to match D3 resolution and made the following 100% crops comparison. Again, 5D Mark II crop is on the left an D3 crop on the right.

I think it is quite clear that the 5D Mark II crop on the left looked sharper and more detailed than the D3 crop on the left. Well, actually, if you look at the D3 photo at 100% on it’s own, it looks pretty sharp. It is only when you compare it side by side with the higher resolution 5D Mark that make the D3 crop looks soft.