Who only 16k for a camera sensor

Brisn5757 wrote:

Usually I print at 6x4 inch and the largest I can print is A4, but I tend to chop some of my photos.

Based on the fussy rule of 300 original camera pixels per inch of print, then .....

• For 6x4 inch print edge to edge 1800x1200 pixels = 2.16MP is perfect
• For A4 at 8.27x11.69 inches edge to edge means 2482x3507 = 8.7MP

At a less fussy but still quite adequate 200 camera pixels per inch then.....

• For 6x4 inch print edge to edge 1200x800 pixels = 0.96MP
• For A4 at 8.27x11.69 inches edge to edge means 1654x2338 = 3.9MP

Edge to edge printing is called "full bleed" and to allow for paper size variations and positional differences in handling the paper within the printer, then the full bleed print is actually up to a few mm bigger than the paper, so some pixels are "wasted" on all edges in that case and make the MP requirements a whisker larger.

PS: for anyone reading this this the first word in the title should have been 'Why' and not 'Who'

"Why" means that we need to listen to what Olympus used to stress that "12MP is all that is needed to replace 35mm film".

In my own practical experiments and lots of printing from digitised film and from low MP cameras in early days of digital for camera club competitions, then I would have to say that "8MP looks better than 35mm film" as long as it is not printed too big.

The reason being that film printed too big hides the loss of resolution in the grain. Digital printed too big is far "cleaner" than film and there's no hiding the lack of resolution, so digital has a harder top size limit for printing.

It all gets down to how far the viewer is from the print, if we allow for always close examination, then it's best to stick to calculating on 300 original camera pixels per inch of print, wandering down to 200 allowable for some subjects, dreamy scenes, female portraits etc where absolute resolution is not important. Below about 180 camera pixels per inch then it does just begin to look soft.

Good printing methods also help, I've always used Qimage for printing and that does a noticeably better print than any photo edit program that I've tested over the years. It auto interpolates to the internal needs of the printer driver depending on model and make and also auto sharpens to suit the print size requested.

Modern tricks can be used like "overdrive" in Qimage on some newer printers where better resolution can be achieved by upping the interpolation a notch. https://www.ddisoftware.com/qimage-u/tech-prt.htm

Now my club competition days have long gone, so currently only occasional 6x4 dye-sub prints for memories or give-aways. Keep in mind that 6x4 printing is actually more critical than any large print as inevitably the viewers drag out a magnifying glass and look for detail of signs and identifying faces in crowds. So they should always be a well done 300 camera pixels per inch or better effort. Thus you need to keep to that 1800x1200 crop or better for the postcard size, but in truth the 1200x800 number is acceptable for most things.

The advantage of the 6x4 print is the ability to "zoom" by crop, so early days wandering with my Panasonic LX3 with it limited zoom of "24 to 60mm" I can stretch the zoom when printing 6x4 to make it something like a "24 to 180mm" camera with an acceptable print. Nice.

Similarly with my current Sony RX100M6 with its "24-200mm" lens can be made into a "24 to 608mm" camera at 300 resolution and "24 to 912mm" camera at 200 resolution on those postcards.

Regards.... Guy