EXR: picture size 'L' (HR) useless - better stay with 'M' (SN/DR) !

MY PROOF

The following crops are from two shots straight out of my S200EXR.

The first one shows a crop taken from an EXR HR image @ 12 mega pixels, while the second one shows the same area cropped from the same image after downsizing it to 6 mega pixels using Sinc (Lanczos3) in The Gimp.

The third one shows the corresponding area cropped from an EXR DR image @ 6 mega pixels.
The in-camera sharpness setting was the same for both shots.

THE EVIDENCE

The 12 mega pixel image (HR) looks bloated, lacking any per-pixel sharpness. Although the in-camera noise suppression was set to the lowest possible setting for all pictures, there seems to be a heavier smudging of details in the 12 mega pixel shot.

The downsized image (simulating picture size 'M' in post-processing) looks a bit better, as expected.

Watch out now! The 6 mega pixel image (DR) looks sharpest on pixel level, revealing much more fine detail than the 12 mega pixel image. Have a close look at the conifer!

MY CONCLUSION

The F200EXR and S200EXR don't come close to the S100FS resolutionwise. Telling the truth, the F200EXR and S200EXR are 'better 6-mega-pixel cameras' with excellent performance DR-wise. They should be regarded as 2x6 mega pixel cameras rather than as real 12 mega pixel cameras. This is somewhat similar to the Fujifilm S5Pro that wasn't a 16 mega pixel camera either but an 8 mega pixel camera with each color-filtered pixel being accompanied by a second luminance-sensitive pixel.

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Regards,
Wolfram

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