S3 6MP ? ? doubts... thoughts... ? (hmmmm...)

Remember that there is an ideal viewing distance for prints, and for a print that size, the assumption is that the viewing distance will be no less than the longer size, so in this case, 28 inches (over 2 feet). So you can print at a really low resolutioon and get good results. Add skillful choice of interpolation and appropriate sharpening, and there is a good chance that you can get a really nice print in that size from virtually any 6MP+ DSLR camera. The S3 may have a 50% edge due to the sensor design, making it closer to a 9MP camera, so the quality may be better that a regular 6MP camera, but it still won't make an ' ideal' 19x28 print when viewed at 6 inches. Marketing is correct, if "ideal viewing distance" is taken into consideration.

Jefrey said:

With all the official informtion put out by Fuji about the cameras
specifications, is it resonable to consider this to be a 6MP
camera. Looks to me like the sensor does in fact have 12.3 discreet
pixels to take in light information. Not interpolated to create a
12.3 MP image. Why are some still dismissing it off as a 6MP? Or am
I just gettting my little hopes up thinking perhaps it is in fact a
12MP effective sensor. But 19"X28" photo quality (as I've seen
advertised) print sizes and 24 MB Raw files? Could a 6MP sensor
accomplish anything near that? thoughts... ?

Click to expand...

Just to put some uneducated talk to rest, go to this comparisson on this web site.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujis2pro/page16.asp

Look at the pictures and go to the next pages as well. You can form a good opinion yourself.

Cameras that came out after the S2 were often compared to it. I am not sure which they were in the time line but it showed that 8 MP to 9 MP was a good ballpark guess for the actual quality of the S2 RAW converted file. This would only hold true if converted in Fuji's Hyper Utility EX. Adobe ACR is not quite that detailed but even then this S2 is still better than 6 MP
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Rinus of Calgary/Kelowna