How important is high megapixels?
Gpruitt54 wrote:
How important is a high Megapixel camera for macro work?
Exactly as important as it is for any other kind of work. In other words, it depends entirely on what you want to do with the images.
- 12mp is 1:1 on a 4k monitor.
- 45-50mp is an 8x10 print at 720dpi, basically as sharp as a contact print from an 8x10 view camera, or a pretty killer 16x20 or 13x19.
- 100mp gets you an 11x14 at 720dpi, and an even better 16x20 or 13x19. But the GFX-100s is a bit awkward camera.
- 128mp is what you want for large-format contact-print quality on a 13x19 at 720dpi. That's the limit of my printing capability here. It's also a 4-panel stitch from a Nikon Z7, and each panel is a stack of a couple hundred images. Such an image is an all-day job.
The sort of critical sharpness needed to make a 45mp image "pop" is something that comes with practice (lots) and work (much). In macro it comes with solid setups and focus stacking. That sort if thing is much easier in tasks like still life, landscape, art repro, architecture, etc. I've done lobby art in the 800mp range, but it's not an everyday occurrence.
tl;dr?
Clearly the D800 with 36MP would be a better choice for macro... Yes/No?
No. You don't have good enough technique yet for 36mp. I can tell by the questions you're asking. So, 24mp with "technique boosters" like lower vibration (that's mirrorless) better focusing (mirrorless, again) and image stabilization (yep, mirrorless) will do more for your work than raw insane megapixel counts.
-- hide signature --
The term "mirrorless" is totally obsolete. It's time we call out EVIL for what it is. (Or, if you can't handle "Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens" then Frenchify it and call it "LIVE" for "Lens Interchangeable, Viewfinder Electronic" or "Viseur électronique").
-----
Stanley Joseph Wisniewski 1932-2019.
Dad, so much of you is in me.
-----
Christine Fleischer 1947-2014.
My soulmate. There are no other words.
-----
Rahon Klavanian 1912-2008.
Armenian genocide survivor, amazing cook, scrabble master, and loving grandmother. You will be missed.
----
Ciao! Joseph
www.swissarmyfork.com