Canon 90D Image Quality

Canon 90D Print Quality & Image Quality Comparison

Canon 90D Print Quality Analysis

Print Quality Summary: The Canon 90D, with its high-res 32.3MP APS-C sensor and new DIGIC 8 image processor, offers great print quality performance, particularly at lower ISOs. Up until ISO 400, the 90D can produce excellent prints with lots of detail and great colors all the way up to 30 x 40 inches. As the ISO rises past this point, we see a steady increase in fine-grained noise and a simultaneous increase in softening due to noise reduction processing. Nevertheless, you can still create fairly large prints at higher ISOs, such as a pleasing 16 x 20 at ISO 1600, and even an 8 x 10 up until ISO 6400. At ISO 25,600, the 90D's maximum native ISO, we see the limit to acceptable printmaking, with a usable 4 x 6 print. The extended high ISO of 51,200 should be avoided for printing purposes due to the high noise and general, overall softness.

ISOs 100 through 400 all display excellent detail and very minimal noise across this ISO range, offering excellent print quality up to our maximum testable size of 30 x 40 inches. You can see very subtle noise increases at each step up the ISO scale here, but it's truly minimal and doesn't negatively impact the print size performance at all. Noise at ISO 400 is extremely minimal. The 90D's new 32.5MP sensor does a great job resolving detail here at these ISOs, though you can see the faintest hint of pixelation at 30 x 40 inches. For typical viewing distances for such a large print, this isn't an issue.

ISO 800 is where things start to get a little tricky. Image quality is still very good, but noise is now much more noticeable. Noise reduction begins to soften things a bit too much for our taste, particularly at 30 x 40 inches; it's a bit too soft now for our liking, and 24 x 36 is right on the cusp. As we found with the 80D, however, we're more comfortable calling it at 20 x 30 inches at ISO 800. At this size, noise is very well controlled, and the overall print looks great. A 24 x 36 inch print might be possible for less critical applications or with careful post-processing.

ISO 1600 images begin to display a noticeable noise increase, but as with the predecessor, there's a fine-grained appearance to the noise. NR processing is quite refined, not displaying any egregious processing artifacts while allowing a good amount of detail to come through. We do see some detail loss in our trickier test scene objects, like the notorious lower-contrast red fabric, but elsewhere detail and colors remain pleasing up until 16 x 20 inches.

ISO 3200 prints display a bit more softening due to noise now, and while a 16 x 20 might be possible here with some careful post-processing, we're calling it at 13 x 19 inches for this ISO.

ISO 6400 images display stronger noise and noise-related softening now. Higher-contrast detail is still pretty good here, as are colors for the most part, but they don't seem as rich and vibrant as with low ISO images. Prints work well here up to 8 x 10 inches, with an 11 x 14 potentially usable for less critical applications.

ISO 12,800 prints definitely show lots of softening, but the noise reduction processing (at default) does a rather nice job of reducing strong graininess. The downside is softness. An 8 x 10 might work for less important printmaking, but we'll stick with 5 x 7 inch prints at this ISO.

ISO 25,600, the 90D's maximum native ISO, works for a usable 4 x 6 inch print. A 5 x 7 is also possible for less critical applications, but the noise and noise-related softening is very strong now and is less than ideal for pleasing prints.

ISO 51,200 images are very soft and display a lot of noise, preventing us from calling this an acceptable ISO for printmaking. We recommend avoiding this ISO for all critical prints.

Canon 90D Image Quality Comparison

Below are crops from our laboratory Still Life target comparing the Canon 90D's JPEG image quality to its predecessor, the 80D. We've also compared it to a number of similar and competing models: The Canon M6 Mark II, which uses the exact same sensor and processor, as well as the competing Nikon D7500 DSLR. We've also included the Olympus E-M5 Mark III for a comparison to a recent Micro Four Thirds camera as well as one of Sony's latest APS-C mirrorless cameras, the A6400.

NOTE: These images are from best quality JPEGs straight out of the camera, at default settings including noise reduction and using the camera's actual base ISO (not extended ISO settings). All cameras in this comparison were shot with our very sharp reference lenses. Clicking any crop will take you to a carrier page where you can click once again to access the full resolution image as delivered straight from the camera.

Canon 90D vs Canon 80D at Base ISO

Canon 90D vs Canon M6 Mark II at Base ISO

Canon 90D vs Nikon D7500 at Base ISO

Canon 90D vs Olympus E-M5 III at Base ISO

Canon 90D vs Sony A6400 at Base ISO

Canon 90D vs Canon 80D at ISO 1600

Canon 90D vs Canon M6 Mark II at ISO 1600

Canon 90D vs Nikon D7500 at ISO 1600

Canon 90D vs Olympus E-M5 III at ISO 1600

Canon 90D vs Sony A6400 at ISO 1600

Canon 90D vs Canon 80D at ISO 3200

Canon 90D vs Canon M6 Mark II at ISO 3200

Canon 90D vs Nikon D7500 at ISO 3200

Canon 90D vs Olympus E-M5 III at ISO 3200

Canon 90D vs Sony A6400 at ISO 3200

Canon 90D vs. Canon 80D, Canon EOS M6 Mark II, Nikon D7500, Olympus E-M5 III, Sony A6400