Compared to...

Studio scene comparison (JPEG)

This is our standard studio scene comparison shot taken from exactly the same tripod position. Lighting: daylight simulation, >98% CRI. Crops are 100%. Ambient temperature was approximately 22°C (~72°F).

Canon EOS 500D vs. Canon EOS 450D

Camera settings:

• Canon EOS 500D: Canon EF 50 mm F1.4 lens, Aperture Priority, ISO 100
  JPEG Large/Fine, Manual WB, Default Parameters (Standard), Self-Timer (with MLU)
   
  
• Canon EOS 450D: Canon EF 50 mm F1.4 lens, Aperture Priority, ISO 100
  JPEG Large/Fine, Manual WB, Default Parameters (Standard), Self-Timer (with MLU)
  

Canon EOS 500D	Canon EOS 450D
4.8MB JPEG (4752 x 3168)	3.7MB JPEG (4272 x 2848)

Finally let's have a look at the 500D side-by-side with its predecessor, the EOS 450D. The 450D was amongst the best within its peers in terms of JPEG quality, and can still easily keep up with most of the latest generation APS-C sensor DSLRs. The older model offers superb pixel level sharpness and despite its increased resolution the 500D struggles to squeeze much more detail out of the JPEG files. The color response is unsurprisingly almost identical.