Can a canon 400d achieve the same clarity as other cameras?
Ross A asked:
When looking through a number of portrait photographs i noticed that they were crystal clear. Most of the photos were taken with really advanced cameras (eg canon 5d, 450d etc)
I was just wondering if there was a way to improve the clarity in my portrait photos and if anyone has taken a crystal clear photo with their canon 400d could they please post it as well?
Thanks!
yes it most definitely can the pixel size and clarity matches that of any other camera on the market today it is an absolute beast of a camera and i have got one myself and named it lenard after the great lenard with the best eyesight ever recordered in British waters
Hi, Ross,
I am using 400D. And I am sure that 400D can achieve most what other cameras can achieve, especially for Portrait shots. If you visit pbase.com, go to the camera database and select 400D, you would find many beautiful shots taken with this camera.
We have not seen your portrait photos, so we are unable to give specific suggestions.
I think reading up and finding out how others would help.
There are a lot of books and internet resource on this. In general, the elements to look into are composition, lighting, field of depth, setting and how you take.
I hope I was able to help. If you need any additional information, please see my recommended resource at
No, the charts for the higher model cameras are much better due to better and improved sensors. To the ***** eye though these aren’t fully obvious unless you are doing large prints and 100% crops.
The higher model cameras also offer better ISO performance for low light use.
However, the 400D is a great camera and you can get some stunning shots with it. Shoot in RAW (and then convert to JPG using the DPP software that comes with the camera if you need .jpg images) and you’ll notice a gain in quality.
Have a look at my website
70-80% of those shots were with a 400D.
Also remember that sharpness and clarity is mainly attributed to the lens that you use. The difference between the 18-55 f3.5-5.6 kit lens and an L prime or even a zoom like the 17-40 f4L is massive
Have a look at this as an example:
Rick
Edit: Well After visiting Rick’s website, and from the answers hes given me he’s nothing impressive. He put down a camera that is equivalent to the one I use
- I wasn’t putting the 400D down at all! It’s a camera I have used and still use extensively, as I said 70-80% of the photos were from a 400D and perfectly sharp enough. All I was saying is that the charts and therefore the resolving capability are not as good as the models with the better sensors. It’s a fact, that if you had bothered to read my answer properly would have noticed that I stated it would only be noticeable in large prints and 100% crops.
Camera with the same sensor size will always give the same results no matter which make you use.
Just because one camera has a 10.1 megapixel sensor and another camera has a 10.1 megapixel sensor doesn’t mean they will be the same sensor. This is especially true between brands as they use different technology, but also between the same brand.
e.g.
The 1D Mk3 has a pixel size of 7.2µm and the 400D a pixel size of 5.7µm. Both are 10.1mpx sensors.
Edit 2: I will also reiterate that the resolving power of the lens is also a massive factor. Like I said an L lens will display much higher quality than the equivalent standard and kit lenses (there’s obviously some crossover when it comes to comparing a standard prime to an L zoom though).
Edit 3: David M is correct. The difference is more obvious moving up to the 1.3 and FF sensors but you will find little difference to the ***** eye between the 400 and 450D.
Well After visiting Rick’s website, and from the answers hes given me he’s nothing impressive. He put down a camera that is equivalent to the one I use. This camera has allowed me to take tons of wonderful images with just as much quality as an SLR. When I purchased my camera I was told I would not be able to do sport photography. I was getting crystal clear shots the next day using the manual setting because I do have the knowledge of aperture and shutter speed as well as overall exposure. This guy is nothing short of a know it all with an expensive camera. Checked out the site. Nothing I couldn’t have pulled off with my camera. Basically if you have your manual read it! Trust me on that one. And if you can work in a lower aperture it can help reduce image noise. Slower shutter speeds also help. READ YOUR MANUAL!!!!!! It will help. I had people tell me my camera couldn’t achieve what a $4,000 lens/camera and I can.
Of course it can. The biggest determiner of image quality is you and then the lens you use. If you use the same lens there would be virtually no difference between the 400D and the higher end models. There is a difference when you move up to the 5D because it is a full frame camera rather than an APS-C sized camera but even then you wont notice until you make very large prints or do a lot of low light photography.
The 400D is a great camera and by the way it uses the same processor and A/D converter as the 30D. The few improvements that were made for the 450D are minimal and not noticeable to the ***** eye.
I suggest you practice and maybe get a nice new lens.
Camera with the same sensor size will always give the same results no matter which make you use.
The best ‘clarity’ is got by using quality lenses, this has far more effect on picture quality than the camera.
All lens design involves compromises, prime lenses have the fewest compromises and will nearly always perform better than any zoom. Wide range zooms (those with a 10X zoom range or more) will perform worst.
A prime lens will have better ‘flat field’ sharpness as any fall off of focus towards the edge of an image can be designed out. Colour contrast will be higher, this is where one area of colour will have a sharply defined edge against another colour area, this can give the illusion of sharpness even when the lens is slightly out of focus. When the lens is in focus its what makes the image ‘pop’.
The other thing that effects clarity is exposure, you’re DSLR can work to 1/3rd stops and it needs to. The sensors response to light is linear, unlike film, but there is none of the exposure latitude that you get with film, 1/3rd of a stop DOES make a difference which is why your camera can define such narrow stops.
Try bracketing the same shot with just 1/3rd or 1/2 stop above and below meter reading. One image will seem to show more clarity than the others, its quite surprising when you try it. This is because of the way DSLR’s work, there is more resolution (a larger range) in the white end of the exposure than the dark end, but you must never get to ‘burn out’. Its like skating on thin ice, you can push it so far then it just collapses on you.
This is one reason you will often see people recommend that you shoot in Manual Mode on this site and most others. Its where the adage ’shoot for the Histogram’ comes from. You will often see shoot for the left, this means avoiding any pixel going to black, but there are good technical reasons to go the opposite way and shoot to the right as there is more range of tones available there, BUT you must not let one pixel go to white as then you can’t bring it back, you have lost control. Note this holds true even when there are white areas in the picture, if you push it too far image quality falls down around you’re ears, hence my skating on thin ice analogy.
Posting a really clear image will not show much difference the resolution of your monitor is not enough to really show it unless its the full resolution file, but printing the result certainly will.
One final point more Mp mean you can print bigger, nothing else. In fact more Mp can mean a slight degrading of quality when you print smaller than the ‘native’ resolution of the sensor. For A4 a 6Mp sensor is optimum, for A3 a 10Mp. Printing the 10Mp at A4 means you have to ‘dump’ pixels to fill the A4 ‘paper space’. Which pixels are dumped depends on the programs ‘engine’ (Photoshop is great at this, some others not so good). The other point is that assuming the same sized sensor the pixels are finer on the high resolution sensor the storage space for photons is smaller, this leads to light photons ’spilling’ out into adjacent pixels and clarity is lost. That’s what all that rigmarole regarding exposure above is all about. You can maybe see that high resolution sensors need far more accurate metering than lower resolution sensors do.
Chris
It’s less about the equipment and more about the person behind the camera.
Not all gear is created equal, that is for sure, however, just about any SLR/dSLR on the market today should be capable of producing professional quality images, provided that the photographer knows how to make the camera do so.
Hi, I’m new to these forums. Please bear with me whilst I figure things out! I think the 400D is a great camera, I have owned one since they were released. I have also used a lot of the higher model cameras through friends. I would agree that the quality of photos when using the same lens is higher with the 5D and 1D cause of the difference in sensors. The higher models will do a good lens more justice. I think a couple of people have already said it but the most important factor is the lens you use. All the canon cameras will yield great clear results with good glass attached. Hope this is helpful. I am going to ask some questions of my own now.
It certainly can. If you aren’t getting clear photos, get a better lens!!
There’s not too much more to add to what has been said -
Yes, a better camera will help but probably not much (if they weren’t any better, why would people ever buy anything but an XTi)
Lenses will make the biggest diference. The kit lenses are not bad, but are not known to be exceptionally sharp.
One point I will make is that for portraits having perfect focus on the eyes is critical. While you can get away with some softness in other places, eyes need to be clear and crisp. If you are not adjusting your auto-focus point, by changing it in camera and then by focusing on the eyes, pressing the shutter half-way and holding it, recomposing the picture and then fully press the shutter release, you may be surprised at the improvement. The manual has instructions on this.