Last year, I wrote a post about some
great hardware comparison tools to use when looking for your next camera. As
cool as those sites are, they are only part of the camera research toolbox. What
should matter more for your next camera is the quality of the images it
produces. On that note, I recently came across two image comparison tools that I thought I
should share. Both of these tools offer handy side-by-side comparison images of
the exact same subjects, taken with various cameras, across a range of ISO
sensitivities.
There’s no question that
these tools fully amount to “pixel peeping.” That means looking at images at 100% resolution and comparing the
smallest details. While I think doing that can be valuable for comparing one
camera to the next, try to stop doing that once you actually get the camera. A
memorable image can be blurry, noisy, improperly framed, poorly lit, etc. The
subject, story, emotions, and so much more, are far more important than any pixel-level
imperfections. See what I mean by checking out this Anti-Pixel Peeping thread.
That said, I like to know
that I’ve done everything I can (within budget) to ensure that my gear isn't what’s
preventing me from getting the shots that I want. These tools help me know what
a camera is capable of under ideal conditions. I strongly recommend bookmarking
the following two sites for your next camera search.
