Reading mode: Light Dark

Resolution question, probably asked a hundred times

Go to last post
Jimusny

Jimusny

Senior Member
Messages
2,115
Solutions
3
Reaction score
1,554
Location
Mid Hudson Valley, NY, US
and maybe a dumb question, just want to be sure my thinking is correct

the D7200 24 Mp image size 6000x4000

The D500 20MP largest image size 5568 x 3712

so with same lens on both and a subject shot at same settings and distance and I zoom 100 percent the d7200 subject would be larger even though both an APC sensor and FOV the same correct?
 
Jimusny said:
and maybe a dumb question, just want to be sure my thinking is correct

the D7200 24 Mp image size 6000x4000

The D500 20MP largest image size 5568 x 3712

so with same lens on both and a subject shot at same settings and distance and I zoom 100 percent the d7200 subject would be larger even though both an APC sensor and FOV the same correct?

--
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jimusny/
Click to expand...
Yes, except the D500 is 21 MP, not 20.

--
Tony
 
Last edited:
wildlifr said:
Jimusny said:
and maybe a dumb question, just want to be sure my thinking is correct

the D7200 24 Mp image size 6000x4000

The D500 20MP largest image size 5568 x 3712

so with same lens on both and a subject shot at same settings and distance and I zoom 100 percent the d7200 subject would be larger even though both an APC sensor and FOV the same correct?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Jimusny said:
wildlifr said:
Jimusny said:
and maybe a dumb question, just want to be sure my thinking is correct

the D7200 24 Mp image size 6000x4000

The D500 20MP largest image size 5568 x 3712

so with same lens on both and a subject shot at same settings and distance and I zoom 100 percent the d7200 subject would be larger even though both an APC sensor and FOV the same correct?
Click to expand...
Yes, except the D500 is 21 MP, not 20.
Click to expand...
OK Thanks, I thought so but just wanting to be sure I understand all this res stuff
Click to expand...
The question remains though in your scenario when viewing 100 x 100 pixels from the D7200 file if it yields more detail than viewing 93 x 93 pixels from the D500. If the lens is good enough, if you are careful enough, if the conditions allow it, then yes but only very marginally and it would be hard to show in a print of the entire files or any reasonable crop of them.

A close miss with one camera that the other gets can amount to a bigger difference in resolution than the mere number of pixels used to record the shot. When it comes to photographing moving targets I will take the better AF system every time.

--
http://imageevent.com/tonybeach/twelveimages
 
Last edited:
Tony Beach said:
Jimusny said:
wildlifr said:
Jimusny said:
and maybe a dumb question, just want to be sure my thinking is correct

the D7200 24 Mp image size 6000x4000

The D500 20MP largest image size 5568 x 3712

so with same lens on both and a subject shot at same settings and distance and I zoom 100 percent the d7200 subject would be larger even though both an APC sensor and FOV the same correct?
Click to expand...
Yes, except the D500 is 21 MP, not 20.
Click to expand...
OK Thanks, I thought so but just wanting to be sure I understand all this res stuff
Click to expand...
The question remains though in your scenario when viewing 100 x 100 pixels from the D7200 file if it yields more detail than viewing 93 x 93 pixels from the D500. If the lens is good enough, if you are careful enough, if the conditions allow it, then yes but only very marginally and it would be hard to show in a print of the entire files or any reasonable crop of them.

A close miss with one camera that the other gets can amount to a bigger difference in resolution than the mere number of pixels used to record the shot. When it comes to photographing moving targets I will take the better AF system every time.

--
http://imageevent.com/tonybeach/twelveimages
Click to expand...
And another point highlighted by your comparison of 93x93 pixels versus 100x100 pixels: 93 pixels is 7% less than 100. So the D500 resolution decrease is approximately 7% rather than the 14% difference between 24 megapixels and 20.66 megapixels.

This reminds me of an accounting standard that was employed when I was in the corporate financial world. Situations that were expected to result in a difference greater than 10% were deemed to be "material" events and needed to be disclosed and commented about. Differences less than 10% were deemed to be "immaterial".
 
Doug Haag said:
Tony Beach said:
Jimusny said:
wildlifr said:
Jimusny said:
and maybe a dumb question, just want to be sure my thinking is correct

the D7200 24 Mp image size 6000x4000

The D500 20MP largest image size 5568 x 3712

so with same lens on both and a subject shot at same settings and distance and I zoom 100 percent the d7200 subject would be larger even though both an APC sensor and FOV the same correct?
Click to expand...
Yes, except the D500 is 21 MP, not 20.
Click to expand...
OK Thanks, I thought so but just wanting to be sure I understand all this res stuff
Click to expand...
The question remains though in your scenario when viewing 100 x 100 pixels from the D7200 file if it yields more detail than viewing 93 x 93 pixels from the D500. If the lens is good enough, if you are careful enough, if the conditions allow it, then yes but only very marginally and it would be hard to show in a print of the entire files or any reasonable crop of them.

A close miss with one camera that the other gets can amount to a bigger difference in resolution than the mere number of pixels used to record the shot. When it comes to photographing moving targets I will take the better AF system every time.
Click to expand...
And another point highlighted by your comparison of 93x93 pixels versus 100x100 pixels: 93 pixels is 7% less than 100. So the D500 resolution decrease is approximately 7% rather than the 14% difference between 24 megapixels and 20.66 megapixels.

This reminds me of an accounting standard that was employed when I was in the corporate financial world. Situations that were expected to result in a difference greater than 10% were deemed to be "material" events and needed to be disclosed and commented about. Differences less than 10% were deemed to be "immaterial".
Click to expand...
True, and while we are on that it is worth noting that Thom Hogan has said that the linear resolution would need to be about 14% before it would be visible.
 
a17a8c38a3b846c7a46a467e5486d3fb.jpg.png



de4de210175c402abefdc7d8fa95a1fb.jpg.png

These are my phone screen captures but I think are showing what you asked for..

Resolution is a little bit higher on D7200 and noise is a little bit better in D500. I choose a very usable high ISO of 1600 because noise reduction will take some detail and resolution in post processing .

But difference is so minimal that an exported picture may not show any... unless you crop in a really heavy way..
 
Jimusny said:
the D7200 24 Mp image size 6000x4000

The D500 20MP largest image size 5568 x 3712
Click to expand...
At the "basic" level if you use 300 dpi as a standard for printing you get the same resolution in a 20 inch print from the D7200 as you get from an 18.56 inch print from a D500; both cameras at 100 ISO.

This about 7.5% difference in dimension I consider to be moderate.

The D7200 looses more resolution at higher ISO's than the D500 so there soon comes an ISO level where the D500 delivers equal and then higher resolution than a D7200.

The angle of view through the viewfinder stays the same.

Beyond "basic" level; DSLR camera ability to achieve good resolution, especially at high ISO's, regardless of MP improves over time. I remember about 8 years ago when I went from a 10 MP D200 to a 12 MP D300 with a new process engine the increase in resolution was a little more than the increase in MP in isolation. I also got what a called good resolution at 400 ISO with the D300. Much better than D300 400 ISO performance are possible with a D500 beyond 1600 ISO.

--
Leonard Shepherd
You can buy kit. The rest is mainly down to you.
The more you practice, as with a musical instrument, the better you are likely to become.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for all the replies, I am not too worried about the difference, just was seeing if my thinking was s true, it gets confusing to me with crop factors.. they are all DX 1.5X but I would think that sensor density also affects crop factor.. so we cant really just use that as a rule? or maybe my thinking on that is flawed, I know I was worried about crop size when I switched from Olympus 2X to Canon and Nikon 1.6 and 1.5X, but the advantage of more MP actually seemed to make a full crop even larger at the same Equiv focal length
 
Jimusny said:
Thanks for all the replies, I am not too worried about the difference, just was seeing if my thinking was s true, it gets confusing to me with crop factors.. they are all DX 1.5X but I would think that sensor density also affects crop factor.. so we cant really just use that as a rule?
Click to expand...
The more you think about these things the more confusing it will become, but if you follow the concept into the rabbit hole you can come out the other end better informed.

The "crop factor" has to do with comparing one format to another and how that effects lens magnification and gathering of light -- so that's about relative apertures and either shutter speed or ISO on different formats, which is referred to in the photography world as "equivalency."
Jimusny said:
or maybe my thinking on that is flawed, I know I was worried about crop size when I switched from Olympus 2X to Canon and Nikon 1.6 and 1.5X, but the advantage of more MP actually seemed to make a full crop even larger at the same Equiv focal length
Click to expand...
If the pixel density is the same then you can crop from a larger format and get the same number of pixels as well as an equivalent shot as you can get from a smaller format. The thing about equivalency though is that it presumes that on different formats you use different focal lengths and to keep DOF the same you use different apertures; but if you take a 300mm shot taken at f/4 on FX format and a 200mm shot taken at f/2.8 on DX format and then you crop the FX shot to match the framing of the DX shot you will have a 200mm equivalent shot from the FX shot and it will still be f/4 and have more DOF than the DX shot that was taken at f/2.8.

If the pixel density is greater and (as has been discussed earlier in this thread) if the pixels are well resolved then you can print or display a higher MP file at a larger size than a lower MP file. Keep in mind though that as you enlarge more then DOF becomes less, so even if everything else about these two files is the same except for the level of enlargement, the DOF will not be the same because the enlargement changed (unless you correspondingly change the viewing distance, which is also a factor in DOF; so just back up from from your computer screen or print with the larger file so that its FOV matches the FOV of the smaller file and the DOF will again be the same).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Keyboard shortcuts

f
Forum
m
My threads
Mobile site
About
Editorial content
Cameras & Lenses
Community
All content, design, and layout are Copyright © 1998–2025 Digital Photography Review All Rights Reserved.
Reproduction in whole or part in any form or medium without specific written permission is prohibited.
When you use DPReview links to buy products, the site may earn a commission.
©GPS Media - Guides, Products, Services.
Back
Top