Cropability of Q2

[Richard K]

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One of the selling points for the Q2 is the cropability available from its 47Mpx sensor. Given that its lens focal length is likely around 26mm, this is actually roughly a 24 Mpx 35mm camera with cropability no better than my Sony rx1r. i.e. a 50mm FOV crop gives roughly the same pixel count resolution. So really the Q2 47Mpx are most useful if one makes large prints with no cropping. Is this approximately correct?

[LocalHero1953]

You have made a correct analysis if sensor size, pixels and focal length are your only criteria for comparing cameras.

[Richard K]

Definitely not the only criterion. Just commenting on the practical implications of a 47 megapixel 28ish mm camera with regard to cropping. 

[jankap]

vor 4 Stunden schrieb Richard K:

So really the Q2 47Mpx are most useful if one makes large prints with no cropping. Is this approximately correct?

How large is the print, and what is the viewing distance? With how many pixels can you feed your printer?

Edited November 12, 2023 by jankap

[jaapv]

A simple question,a complicated answer:

https://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/48710/what-are-the-pixel-needs-for-huge-prints

https://www.adorama.com/alc/pixels-and-printing-size-matters/

[jaapv]

As for the focal length/pixel number, I don't think that the digital correction argument holds. You must use the pixel size of the raw file to base your calculations on.

[jankap]

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But don't forget TOPAZ AI resize!

[idusidusi]

7 minutes ago, jankap said:

But don't forget TOPAZ AI resize!

Yes exactly, that is a very useful tool!

 

[jaapv]

29 minutes ago, jankap said:

But don't forget TOPAZ AI resize!

Indeed, postprocessing is of great influence on print quality, actually more so than pixel number ( within limits). Resolution only determines the amount of detail, the quality of the detail is far more important. 

[bobtodrick]

And as this chart shows a 40mp sensor will give you a good 40x60 inch print.

As others have stated throw in some post processing and there is lots of room cropping…unless as the author says you are going to attack the print with a magnifying glass.

https://improvephotography.com/34880/how-big-print-with-megapixel-camera/

[idusidusi]

2 minutes ago, bobtodrick said:

And as this chart shows a 40mp sensor will give you a good 40x60 inch print.

As others have stated throw in some post processing and there is lots of room cropping…unless as the author says you are going to attack the print with a magnifying glass.

https://improvephotography.com/34880/how-big-print-with-megapixel-camera/

Very interesting link thank you!

[Daniel C.1975]

I answer this question in a different way.

 

I have pictures hanging here from a 2005 5mp Olympus E1 Four Thirds camera. Processed and printed in 2005 to 2007.

The pictures are still looking amazing, and yes, the file quality was miles below what we have now on our hands

Therefore, depending on the application, ISO, output size, wanted depth of field, etc pp, the cropabilty of the Q2 or Q3 is quite high and comes in very, very handy.
Especially with all these new software possibilities to upscale and denoise  

 

Edited November 12, 2023 by Daniel C.1975

[bobtodrick]

It’s kinda like the ‘old’ days (film).

There were always those that were of the opinion that you couldn’t make a decent picture unless it was shot on 4x5.

People like Cartier-Bresson begged to differ 😆

[jankap]

vor 6 Stunden schrieb bobtodrick:

And as this chart shows a 40mp sensor will give you a good 40x60 inch print.

As others have stated throw in some post processing and there is lots of room cropping…unless as the author says you are going to attack the print with a magnifying glass.

https://improvephotography.com/34880/how-big-print-with-megapixel-camera/

I don't agree with this chart. The critical format is DIN A4 (around 8" x 10") at reading distance, for me. And with a larger format, the realistic distance grows too. So the number of pixels stays constant. Of course, more pixels is better.

Edited November 12, 2023 by jankap

[dpitt]

It all depends on the quality of the pixels in the first place. The chart seems to suggest that you need to have 12MP to print 11x14".

I have excellent prints of my Digilux 2 (5 MP) at 30x40 cm to prove this is not always true. It is true that it looked about the same as the results from my 12 MP Canon 5D. So YMMV.
At the time we could find discussions about the 10MP M8 that concluded you could enlarge these files as large as you want. At normal viewing distance they will always look perfect.

And this was before tools like TOPAZ AI were available.

[bobtodrick]

2 hours ago, dpitt said:

It all depends on the quality of the pixels in the first place. The chart seems to suggest that you need to have 12MP to print 11x14".

I have excellent prints of my Digilux 2 (5 MP) at 30x40 cm to prove this is not always true. It is true that it looked about the same as the results from my 12 MP Canon 5D. So YMMV.
At the time we could find discussions about the 10MP M8 that concluded you could enlarge these files as large as you want. At normal viewing distance they will always look perfect.

And this was before tools like TOPAZ AI were available.

Yes, this is where there is a lot of differing opinion.

If we are looking at images on a computer screen and magnifying a couple hundred percent…well heck, the more pixels the better.  If you are making prints for display, at normal viewing distances I have 16x20” prints from my Panasonic DMC-LC1 (DigiLux 2, 5mp) that still sell.

I don’t sell captures from my computer screen 😂

Edited November 13, 2023 by bobtodrick