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Both cameras were set to Aperture priority exposure mode, stabilisation was disabled for this tripod-mounted test and tone enhancement and lens correction features were left on the default settings. On the T4i / 650D Auto lighting optimizer was set to standard, Peripheral illumination correction was on and Chromatic aberration correction was off. On the D3200 Active D-lighting was on. The ISO sensitivity was set manually on both cameras to 100 ISO.

The image above was taken with the Canon Rebel T4i / EOS 650D in Aperture priority mode with the aperture set to f8 and the sensitivity set to 100 ISO. The T4i / 650D metered an exposure of 1/500 at f8 - compared with 1/400 at f8 on the D3200.

The Nikon D3200 has a six megapixel advantage over the Rebel T4i / EOS 650D so the image detail in these crops is appreciably larger, but I'm not sure the Nikon sensor and lens are actually resolving any more detail. Comparing the first set of crops the Rebel T4i / EOS 650D has a sharper, punchier, more consumer friendly look, but that's largely down to Canon's image processing style.

Despite the challenging weather conditions the lighthouse is cleanly reproduced by both cameras in the second crop, but the houses in the middle and foreground make for a more interesting comparison. Once again, the Rebel T4i / EOS 650D crop is more contrasty and the edge detail is a lot sharper. While much of this is undoubtely due to processing differences, I reckon the T4i / 650D sensor and lens are resolving just a little bit more detail than the D3200.

Moving onto the third crop from the edge of the frame the detail is again sharper and punchier in the Canon crop, but the new 18-135mm STM kit lens suffers quite badly from chromatic aberration at the edge of the frame even at f8. Thankfully, it's not an issue as the Rebel T4i / EOS 650D now has chromatic aberration correction - just remember to turn it on as it's switched off by default.

The final crop from the centre of the frame strengthens the case for the Rebel T4i / EOS 650D; again, the detail is crisp and punchy and it looks very much like the T4i / 650D has the edge in terms of resolving fine detail in this scene.

Check out my Canon T4i / EOS 650D RAW vs JPEG results on the next page or see how these models compare at higher sensitivities in my Canon T4i / EOS 650D Noise results.