Best Pixel Size for Photo Quality

[jordancej]

I'm a 1st time digital camera owner, just bought a Canon A520 4.0 mp. I have a 256mb sd memory card. Trying to maximize the memory on my card, going to WDW in about 2 1/2 weeks, and also will be purchasing a 512 mb card.

Ok to the question, which is the best setting to get photo quality shots? I will most likely only have these printed up as a 4x6 photo print.

2272x1704, 1600x1200 or 1024x768
Settings at Superfine,Fine, or Normal

Thanks a mil!

 

[MICKEY88]

? I will most likely only have these printed up as a 4x6 photo print.

2272x1704, 1600x1200 or 1024x768
Settings at Superfine,Fine, or Normal

Thanks a mil!

key words being most likely, what happens if you get a once in a lifetime shot that you want to get printed larger,,,for this very reason I recommend, using the best settings, it's always better to have more info than not enough in your images...

 

[Razor Roman]

2272x1704, SuperFine.

1024x768 would be out of the question, unless you only want good looking Wallet Sized prints

The Superfine, Fine, etc... refers to the JPEG compression applied to the image. Superfine being the least compressed. When a picture is compressed as a JPEG some of the information is "thrown out" based on the computer guessing what is least important, what you're leastlikely to notice, etc. The less compression, the less info is thrown out. When you compress highly, the colors look blotchy, and the image looks yucky. Especially printed.

I would agree with the previous poster - I always shoot on the best quality I can.

 

[jordancej]

Thanks so much!

 

[Charade]

Unless you are shooting pictures strictly for ebay, always shoot at the highest resolution (max pixels by max pixels) and the least (but not necessarily no) compression the camera offers.

 

[robertchance]

i respecfully disagree with mickey88,, use the lowest setting that gets you quality 4x6 prints,, this way you can get more shots of your trip. there's a reason its called ONCE IN A LIFETIME,, it rarely happens. since you are a new digital camera owner, there's something that you will find out very quickly,, since you won't be paying for film processing,, you will probably find that you are shotting many many hundreds of pics of your trips, and you will only be bringing so many film cards. bigger is not necessarily better,, if you have an occasional pic that you feel you might want to make into an 8x10 or bigger print, then just change your quality settings for that pic. a good rule of thumb would be to think of how many picture you have in your house that are 8x10's or bigger. if all your pics are 4x6, then use that quality setting on your camera. another thing you will probably notice is that you don't make many prints, if at all, from your shots,, you will probably always look at them on your computer. i can tell you for a fact that for every 250 pics i take, i probably make a print of only one to send someone. most often you end up emailing pics to others if they want to see your trip

 

[jordancej]

Yea, i see what you mean. I've taken a bunch at home, just trying to figure how my pics will come out, and i've deleted alot of them... i seem to have a problem on holding the camera still... pics coming out blurry.. just didnt have the money yet to buy a camera that has an image stabilizer in it. I am finding that my outside pics are turning out alot better than my indoor pics. So thats a plus there, since we are always outdoors at the parks, atleast i know those will be good!

Thanks for your input!

Man! What would we do without these boards!!

 

[robertchance]

When you compose and shot a pic, keep your elbows tight against body and the camera against your head to stabilise, also, push the button softly and don't snap it down,, hold breathe also just before pressing the button

 

[MICKEY88]

i respecfully disagree with mickey88,, use the lowest setting that gets you quality 4x6 prints,, this way you can get more shots of your trip. there's a reason its called ONCE IN A LIFETIME,, it rarely happens. since you are a new digital camera owner, there's something that you will find out very quickly,, since you won't be paying for film processing,, you will probably find that you are shotting many many hundreds of pics of your trips, and you will only be bringing so many film cards. bigger is not necessarily better,, if you have an occasional pic that you feel you might want to make into an 8x10 or bigger print, then just change your quality settings for that pic. a good rule of thumb would be to think of how many picture you have in your house that are 8x10's or bigger. if all your pics are 4x6, then use that quality setting on your camera. another thing you will probably notice is that you don't make many prints, if at all, from your shots,, you will probably always look at them on your computer. i can tell you for a fact that for every 250 pics i take, i probably make a print of only one to send someone. most often you end up emailing pics to others if they want to see your trip

I respectfully disagree.... shooting at the higher resolution also allows you to shoot a wider area, then crop out a small part of a picture, and enlarge it to get the shot you want. increases your chances of getting that once in a lifetime picture because you don't always have the time to frame the picture exactly the way you want it to end up... which in the long run produces more pictures worth printing...

memory cards are so inexpensive compared to film..
I'd much rather invest in a few more cards, than shoot low resolution pics and then be sorry that I did get that one in a million pic that was worth blowing up to poster size, but will only print well as a 4x6

edited to add:

also higher resolution pictures allow for easier editing and correcting with a photo editing program..

 

[cindyding0412]

How do you think the quality of these photos?

http://www.drivehq.com/file/ShowFol...are=true&shareID=0&parentID=36026&refID=26601

I scan them into the machine,
I think they are nice!

 

[LordAthens]

I also agree that you should absolutely shoot in the highest resolution possible. Why buy a 4+ MP camera in the first place if you're only going to shoot in a lower resolution?

I shoot close to 3 gig's of photo's a day when i'm at the park and then dump them to my laptop in the evening when I get back.

Additionally, Archos (as do a number of other manufactures, Epson, etc) makes a VERY cool "photo wallet" that allows you to download pics from your media card to the internal harddrive and a lot more for that matter. You can pick them up for ~$400 which if you compare it to other things, is the cost of a couple big, fast memory cards.

Memory cards are cheap. Memories are not.

 

[TheLionKing]

Memory is relatively cheap. Shoot the highest quality. That gives you the most flexibility in terms of printing and cropping.

A 2 GB flash card weighs about the same as a 256 MB flash card.

 

[JimVL]

I am finding that my outside pics are turning out alot better than my indoor pics.

That was one of the first things I noticed when I got a digital camera. I was using the auto ISO. I changed the ISO to 400, because that was what I always used indoors with film, and it was a huge improvement.

Jim

 

[LordAthens]

Outdoor pictures almost always turn out better because typically, you have FAR more ambient light available, thusly the camera can run a faster shutter and the pics will turn out considerably sharper than that of an indoor.

I want to hit on something JimVL mentioned, ISO 400 on a digital camera unfortunately doesn't mean the same thing in "real" film. Most consumer digital's will only run up to ISO400, most of the time resulting in horrible digital noise in a picture.

I would HIGHLY recommend shooting at an ISO of 100-200 on your camera and try it out. If you must, kick it up higher indoors, but outdoors, you'll get much cleaner images with a lower ISO.

 

[salmoneous]

I know somebody already said it, but even if you never want to print an 8x10, you *will* want to crop some pictures and only print the part you like. That's esentually the same thing, and makes all those pixes worthwhile.

 

[Brainhammer]

I also agree that you should absolutely shoot in the highest resolution possible. Why buy a 4+ MP camera in the first place if you're only going to shoot in a lower resolution?

I shoot close to 3 gig's of photo's a day when i'm at the park and then dump them to my laptop in the evening when I get back.

Additionally, Archos (as do a number of other manufactures, Epson, etc) makes a VERY cool "photo wallet" that allows you to download pics from your media card to the internal harddrive and a lot more for that matter. You can pick them up for ~$400 which if you compare it to other things, is the cost of a couple big, fast memory cards.

Memory cards are cheap. Memories are not.

Megapixels has little, if anything, to do with picture quatlity. Higher resolution does not equal better picture quality.

A 3MP pictue looks pretty much the same as a 6MP picture, even if you blow it up beyond 4x6. Try it and see.

For example, 3MP Digicams have from 2048 pixels across (horizonatally). 14MP cameras have 4500. Not a huge difference. So, larger MP's do not mean better resolution or better picture quality.

The real question is how will the picture look when printed? If the picture is clear you can pretty much print just about any image size you want. Unless you plan to look at the image from a very close distance, then I submit that the average joe cannot discern the difference between a picture shot at 3MP and one shot at 8MP.

The entire resolution issue is one of scale and viewing distance. Of course ore resolution is better at bigger sizes, but how sharp your image is has little to do with how good it is. I care more about if the colors are correct and whether or not any sharpening was done tastefully. And a lot of digital cameras suck at sharpening.

 

[safetymom]

Pixel size is part of the package that determines the quality of an image. It also has to do with the optics contained in the camera.

Take at the highest resolution so you have plenty of information to work with if you decide to print.

You shouldn't be doing the sharpening in the camera.

 

[LordAthens]

Megapixels has little, if anything, to do with picture quatlity. Higher resolution does not equal better picture quality.

A 3MP pictue looks pretty much the same as a 6MP picture, even if you blow it up beyond 4x6. Try it and see.

For example, 3MP Digicams have from 2048 pixels across (horizonatally). 14MP cameras have 4500. Not a huge difference. So, larger MP's do not mean better resolution or better picture quality.

The real question is how will the picture look when printed? If the picture is clear you can pretty much print just about any image size you want. Unless you plan to look at the image from a very close distance, then I submit that the average joe cannot discern the difference between a picture shot at 3MP and one shot at 8MP.

The entire resolution issue is one of scale and viewing distance. Of course ore resolution is better at bigger sizes, but how sharp your image is has little to do with how good it is. I care more about if the colors are correct and whether or not any sharpening was done tastefully. And a lot of digital cameras suck at sharpening.

How can you possible spew that babble? While I will partially agree that it's not the only thing that affects picture quality, it certainly has a large bearing on it. That's like saying APS film will be the same quality as medium format, shot with the same glass, same equipment, but difference resolution film's. That's absurd. But lets get real here, it's totally senseless to say a 3mp image will look the same as a 6mp image at say, 16x20 which is well beyond your 4x6.

By your theory, my 1.3mp camera on my cell phone should be able to produce a beautiful 8x10 since it can produce a great wallet print. It obviously cannot, it simply doesn't have to resolution to do it. Back to my film scenario, there's a reason medium format film is used in professional work. You have more resolution to work with!

Additionally, if you're going to basically re-word something you read online (*cough* Ken Rockwell), you should try to do it better. And don't forget, just because you read it on that thar intarweb from someone who has lots and lots of money, doesn't mean it's true.

 

[Brainhammer]

How can you possible spew that babble? While I will partially agree that it's not the only thing that affects picture quality, it certainly has a large bearing on it. That's like saying APS film will be the same quality as medium format, shot with the same glass, same equipment, but difference resolution film's. That's absurd. But lets get real here, it's totally senseless to say a 3mp image will look the same as a 6mp image at say, 16x20 which is well beyond your 4x6.

By your theory, my 1.3mp camera on my cell phone should be able to produce a beautiful 8x10 since it can produce a great wallet print. It obviously cannot, it simply doesn't have to resolution to do it. Back to my film scenario, there's a reason medium format film is used in professional work. You have more resolution to work with!

Additionally, if you're going to basically re-word something you read online (*cough* Ken Rockwell), you should try to do it better. And don't forget, just because you read it on that thar intarweb from someone who has lots and lots of money, doesn't mean it's true.

Megapixels do not equal resolution. Better optics and larger sensor = better resolution. The reason your cell phone camera will not produce a beautiful 8x10 is not because of the lack of megapixels, it is because of the lack of quality optics and sensor size in the cell phone camera. By your logic a 5MP DSLR will produce the same color a P/A 5MP camera will. That is clearly not the case. But hey, if you want to throw money away on more megapixels, thinking it will make you a better photographer, be my gues.

 

[Charade]

Pixel fight!!!!