d2hs users...question re: landscape pictures

All,

I recently traded my D200 (+cash +a few primes) for a new D2Hs and I am very happy with this beautiful piece of photographic machinery!

However, with all of the conflicting information on the web (and on this forum), I am still unclear as to whether the 4 MP sensor is sufficient to print pictures up to 12 x 18 inches (with good detail). This is the largest size I would want/need--I previously printed this picture from my D70 at 12 x 18 and was very pleased with the results:



My question: will the 4 MP of the D2Hs compare favourably to the 6 MP D70 (or even the 10 MP D200!) when printing up to 12 x 18 inches?

Thanks,

PK.

(Now that I've experienced a D2 series body, I never want to go back, but my only other option is the D2Xs, which is more cost-prohibitive than my D2Hs!)

Not two weeks ago I printed an image from my D2H at 14 x 20 inches and was thrilled with the results. I can stick my nose right up to the print and drink in plenty of fine detail without seeing any pixelization.

If you shoot in RAW and use good technique, 12x18 is no problem at all. I've printed 20x30 inches from a D2H file with very pleasing results.

--
A camera is just a tool - no matter how much one loves it.

If you print large increase the resolution before you print. It wont give you more detail, but will decrease pixelation.

Thanks...was the photo a landscape one?

I do shoot RAW and I use Capture 4.4.2 to convert.

PK.

There must be other D2Hs users out there.

PK.

Can't see any problem with A4 prints with my D2H

pk-toronto said:

There must be other D2Hs users out there.

Click to expand...

PK,

I am a long time D2H owner/user (same 4mp)

I have 2 30 inch prints of pit stops at the Indianapolis 500 on the wall of my office. I took one of them in 2005 with my D2h and one in 2006 with my D2x. Both have been published. Both are good pictures. Both look great on the wall and both elicit compliments from visitors. Both are good prints.

Now...if you get right up next to both prints, you can see bugs smashed on the helmet visors of the drivers in both prints, but you can see the veins in the wings of the bugs in the D2x picture and you can't in the D2h picture.

I think the veins in the wings of a bug or the needles on a pine tree might matter a little more in a landscape picture than they do in my pit stop pictures, but I think you can blow a D2h picture up to a much bigger size than 12x18 with results that will elicit the compliments of lots of folks. However, the fact of the matter is, that if you want to see the needles on the pine trees on the mountains in the backgrounds of your pictures, 12MP or 24mp or a zillion mp is going to do it better than 4mp.

Cheers.

--
John Cote
http://www.johncotephotography.com

'Cameras are just cr@p we have to lug around because there is no direct brain to printer connection...yet!'

What about a 12 x 18 print?

PK.

...this is exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for.

Thanks again,

PK.

Pk, I print on a regular basis at 12x18. Costco is my best friend!

I have also done a series at 20x30, framed and located at places where the individual can get to within inches of the print. Still very crisp and clear.

The D2H has been fantatsic at these size prints. I never print smaller than 12x18.

I have a D2H and have printed 16x20 with very good results. I'll have to say though that I invested in a D2XS because I "wanted to see the veins-like in a previous poster" and have been asked by some, could I print larger. I really feel better now printing larger landscapes with the D2XS than with the D2H. But if 12x18 is as large as you will ever print, then you don't really need anything else. Be sure to buy the best glass you can get otherwise it will show.
--

Jerry

The 14x20 photo I recently printed was, indeed, a landscape, albeit an "urban landscape." It was an image of a large fountain in Chicago and contained a ton of fine detail.



It was taken handheld with a D2H and Tokina 12-24mm f/ 4 lens in NEF format.

I've also done many "traditional" landscapes with the D2H and have not hurt for detail at similar large print sizes.

If I took identical images with both a D200 and D2H and viewed the large prints side-by-side, yes there would be some difference. But it's only evident when both images are viewed in comparison. Looking at the D2H image alone has never caused any complaints for me.

--
A camera is just a tool - no matter how much one loves it.

I have own a D2Hs and own a D200 today, D2Hs can take stunning pictures for sure, but D200 is a better choise when it comes to landscapes, it can produce much smaller details in a landskape scene, I can clearly see that in a A4 size print.

kent

--yes you can print stunning pictures from a d2h , but using both (d2h and d2x) i have to admit that the d2x files just have more detail.

But if you want to have more detail with a d2h just take pano's.

This week i printed a pano of about 25 inch long made of 7 pictures and stiched with cs3.

I took these pictures without a tripod and just by hand and i must say : I WAS (and still am) IMPRESSED !! CS3 is stiching perfectly. So if you really want to have detail, just stitch in cs3



Gear : Just two eyes ..........................

yes, you'll do just fine at 12x18 as long as you are skilled in creating the image to begin with (and use good glass, as noted by others). i've done several magazine covers, many other publications, and several images at 12x18 or larger for competitions. there have never been suggestions or complaints about lack of clarity - and these have all been straight jpegs w/ only slight post processing and a bit of unsharp mask. not seeking to brag here in any way, just to answer the question... i drive my d2h cameras hard, and really like the way they handle and work; but more importantly, my clients and i really like the results i create for them, and i have lots of fun while i'm at it. in the end, these are all what really count!

lee

A 12x18 of a dragonfly ... detail is pretty stunning. The texture on the body blew me completely away. It is one of my favorite large prints.

Not sure why you asked before running the same test .... but I think you should do it and see.

--
http://letkeman.net/Photos