The D800, a case for the higher resolution

Yeah, 36mp is almost like a case of too much quality... oh no, wait, let me correct that one.

That extra quality is great, but not considering the overall burden that comes along.

Do I want extreme quality? Yes I do, but I do not want to spend all my day retouching just five or six 36mp files, and have no time left to reply emails, and do all the really necessary business connections.

36 mp offers a threshold of quality very few (I mean VERY, VERY few) clients will ever care, yet to please this really small percentage of clients, you trade in too much time and energy.

So I guess 16 - 24 mp is a reasonable proposition for me. The "right balance".

If you guys don't believe me, the last time I've been to a retouching house in my town, the guy there said no one has already showed up yet with D800 files, but if anyone did,  they would find it a real pain, slowing down their workflow.

And that's coming from a respected dedicated retouching house.

And again, I can't charge more for extra resolution because clients already expect me to offer the full resolution my camera delivers, period,  no matter the figures.

To tell you guys the truth,  many clients are non-photographers (obviously). They do not care about mp.  They really don't.

If I present the talk "I'll charge more for extra megapixels", the client will only remember too things:

1.  He does not exactly know the impact of more megapixels. Depending on the client, he may not even know what megapixels is.

Remember: DPreview folks love technical stuff,  mp, DR, DXO...  But ordinary people don't give a d@mn

2.  After that, the client will only remember one single fact: "that guy wanted to charge more for something he should have offered in the first place".

But really, we all deal with different realities.

I understand you guys may encounter a different scenario, but in my particular case, it goes pretty much like that.

More megapixels do not translate into more value.  Just more time spent in front of Photoshop.

--
Marcio Napoli

www.marcionapoli.com