Late to the Crop Mode Party

[DonovanMediaCenter]

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I’ve been digging around for a straight answer to the question, “What size prints can I make from the Q2?”   Very big, as it turns out…even at cropped megapixels, probably larger than I would often print.  As for screen viewing - all those professionals saying higher MP are overkill on electronic screens…they are right…to a degree.  I’m always going to go for as many megapixels as I can get, and I see minor quality differences in differing sizes.  But that, like prints, is a factor of screen size and viewing distance.  And consider this: an HD television image is less than 3mp.  4K is less than 9mp.  I work in video, and in photoshop, the dpi is usually 72 for screen prepping images…nothing near the 300dpi of finer prints.  So, while I have mostly ignored crop mode on the Q2, I have now begun playing with it a little (but usually just crop the DNG later).  

[bobtodrick]

13 minutes ago, DonovanMediaCenter said:

I’ve been digging around for a straight answer to the question, “What size prints can I make from the Q2?”   Very big, as it turns out…even at cropped megapixels, probably larger than I would often print.  As for screen viewing - all those professionals saying higher MP are overkill on electronic screens…they are right…to a degree.  I’m always going to go for as many megapixels as I can get, and I see minor quality differences in differing sizes.  But that, like prints, is a factor of screen size and viewing distance.  And consider this: an HD television image is less than 3mp.  4K is less than 9mp.  I work in video, and in photoshop, the dpi is usually 72 for screen prepping images…nothing near the 300dpi of finer prints.  So, while I have mostly ignored crop mode on the Q2, I have now begun playing with it a little (but usually just crop the DNG later).  

Yup.

I still have the original Q and regularly print 20x24” prints that sell in the two galleries that handle my work.

Never been to a gallery where the photographer is walking around with a computer ‘showing’ greatly enlarged images at a viewing distance of 12” 😂😂

Edited March 12 by bobtodrick

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[prk60091]

I have the original Q as well--I have 4 - 24" x 36" metal prints hanging on my walls (both at home and at my weekend place). You should have no issue w/your Q2

[Driften]

I've printed 13"x19" from 12mp that was perfect. That is the largest size my printer goes.

[dpitt]

Back in the M8 days, there was a thread on this forum about max printing sizes. The conclusion was that 10MP of this quality is good enough to enlarge indefinitely. As long as you keep the appropriate viewing distance for its size, there is no issue at all.

I have 30x40 cm prints on my wall from my Digilux 2 that where even slightly cropped. So the original was probably around 4 MP.

Edited March 13 by dpitt

[Qwertynm]

Even if you'd print highly cropped images and view them at a distance only few people will even notice. Normal people (so, not photographers who pixel peep) care more about the content of the image not the  amount of resolution. If you don't sell your images/prints, they only have to be good enough for yourself. Crop away

[Marc B-C]

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44 minutes ago, Qwertynm said:

Even if you'd print highly cropped images and view them at a distance only few people will even notice. Normal people (so, not photographers who pixel peep) care more about the content of the image not the  amount of resolution. If you don't sell your images/prints, they only have to be good enough for yourself. Crop away

This is one of my bugbears with photography nowadays. Cameras and photographer consumers (in general) are besotted with pixel count and technical aspects of the photograph / camera with less care for the image content. The sheer number of technically perfect, impressively sharp snap shots being posted on t'internet far outweigh the perhaps not so sharp, but good use of light and composition photographs that draw the viewer in.

[Alberti]

Just joking . .  "good use of light and composition photographs that draw the viewer in" might also be a bourgeois concept, just like sharpness.

Anyway I agree with you, Marc.

On the other hand, many sharp pictures are only sharp in the focal plane, and with that they often present a specific way to grab attention. But then, 95% is 'unsharp" anyway  . .

Grain also has its use (I most often used to like my friend's Tri-X work, more than my own super sharp Agfa-25 work with wide-angles ...). This is also why I cherish my M9M .

(I do select sharp pictures tho for posting, generally. On my M8 I threw away 25% of the pictures. . .; with the M240 it was <10%, with the M10-R <5%)

[Hans-Dieter Gülicher]

I prefer crops of my Q2, M 10-R or S3 dng-data developed by Adobe-Photoshop in sizes 2 :1, 3:1 or 5:1 for printing (design and layout with picture plus added text by Adobe-inDesign) or HDAV-presentations (design and layout with picture plus added text by the old MS PhotoDraw 2002). Size of the final prints up to A3+ by Epson SC P600. Size of the HDAV-presentations up to 4.500 x 3.000 px 16 bit.