Canon T3i vs XSi Image Quality Smackdown

I’m still not ready to part with 3,300 clams for the 5D Mark II kit, but I am ready to upgrade from the XSi.  I’ve had some real fun with it, but I’m tired of all the noise and the need to sharpen every shot.  I recently bought a T3i for work – the HD video and swivel screen make it a great all-around camera and we shouldn’t need to upgrade for years.  Taking some test shots with the T3i, I thought it would be a good idea to do some side-by-side comparison shots with both models.  Using a tripod, I used identical settings and the same nifty fifty lens.  The compositions incorporated areas of light and dark and different colors.

The T3i creates images with better resolution and much less chroma noise.  I increased the fill light on several of the images to enhance the detail and exaggerate the noise.  See for yourself in the images above:  the T3i photos are the top half and the XSi photos the bottom half of each image.  The T3i looks like a good choice for my price range.

Here is also a specs comparison of the two models.

P.S.  Why do I feel like someone should be cutting me a check for this post?