Canon T5 Image Quality

It's clear that the higher-resolution 18MP sensor captures more fine detail than the older 12MP sensor found in the predecessor. The T5 also handles the often-difficult red and pink fabric swatches slightly better.

Given that both cameras here share the same 18MP sensor, it's no surprise that the images look quite similar -- both capture excellent fine detail. The T5i, however, has a newer DIGIC 5 image processor, which could account for slight differences, such as the T5i's better handling of the red and pink fabric.

Not only does the D3300 have a higher-resolution 24.2MP sensor, it also omits the optical low-pass filter, which helps it capture finer, sharper detail than the T5.

The Canon and Pentax share a more similar sensor resolution (18 vs. 16.3, respectively). The Pentax produces some very sharp images (at default settings for in-camera JPEGs) compared to the Canon. Both here display very good fine detail, however, the Pentax does really well with fine detail in the red fabric, while it struggles with the pink fabric.

Again, we're dealing with a higher-resolution sensor over the Canon, as the Sony's 24.3MP sensor does well capturing very fine detail. The Canon still does well, but small items like the handling of the pink fabric tip in Sony's favor.

Bumping up the ISO to 1600, we start to see high ISO noise and in-camera noise reduction (at default levels) taking its toll on fine detail in both the T5 and T3 cameras -- which share the same DIGIC 4 image processor. The shadow noise and the fine detail in the mosaic still looks quite good from the T5, but both cameras struggle with detail in the fabric swatches.

Despite the newer image processor of the T5i, images here look very similar once again. Noise is well-controlled and fine detail looks good, while both models have a tough time resolving the leaf details in the red fabric.

At ISO 1600, the Nikon tones down the noise reduction more compared to the Canon, which in turn helps it capture more fine detail, especially in the mosaic, but at the expensive of more visible noise and grain. The Nikon also does ever-so-slightly better wiith the red fabric compared to the Canon.

The Canon does really well here compared to the Pentax, which displays rather strong, harsh noise reduction processing. NR artifacts are visible in the Pentax crops, and it really takes its toll on the red fabric, which is almost entirely smoothed out.

While some fine detail areas, such as the bottle crop, are softer from the Sony, the T5 does well at controlling visible noise here at ISO 1600. The red fabric is also slightly more detailed in the Sony image, though the detail in the leaf pattern is rather distorted.

At ISO 3200, noise and the subsequent noise reduction processing is becoming very apparent. Both cameras, however, are still able to capture and resolve some fine detail, such as the mosaic tile pattern. Fabric details have become quite soft and mushy though.

Like the previous comparisons with these two models, image quality performance at ISO 3200 is strikingly similar. Both are able to resolve detail in the mosaic, but display visible noise in the shadows and struggle with detail in the fabric swatches.

Again, we see the Nikon's trade off for sheer detail resolution over noise reduction. The Nikon displays more visible grain than the Canon here at ISO 3200, but the detail is crisper, in all three crops -- especially in the mosaic and the bottle label.

The Canon takes the edge over the Pentax here, with a good balance of noise reduction and fine detail. The Pentax displays very strong noise reduction, which unfortunately hurts overall fine detail in the image.

The Sony's default NR processing does very well at smoothing out and removing noise, but at the expense of some fine detail here at ISO 3200. The Canon is able to resolve a bit more fine detail in the bottle and mosaic crops, though it still struggles more with the red fabric.