Do you have a sweet spot regarding megapixel count?

[JohnSil]

I don't do a lot of cropping so my situation may be different than most,

but I'm looking at some of these newer cameras with 45 megapixel resolution and I'm just thinking about the amount of space to Archive that amount of imagery.

WHY do you think everybody except you crops?

If you're running an ancient computer with an equally small/slow hard drive, there's no reason to be concerned with storage space or speed.

Even some phones today have a TB of storage!

The first time you print 60x40 you'll throw out all those cheap cameras!!!

John

 

[alcelc]

I don't crop heavily, I won't print larger than A4, 8~9 Mp would probably be more than enough to me. In fact my 4K TV would be happy with 8Mp resolution, and 1080 video is still looking good on 4K monitor/TV.

In reality, tracing for higher Mp is just making self feel better. I am good with 12Mp, 16Mp would be very much more than enough. 20Mp is just to feel not very behind the industry...

 

[Ron Poelman]

Given most of my stuff is 6Kish at 16:9 , there is already a substantial crop, so, the extra headroom is welcome.
More is nice, I have 61mp on tap for birds, but 33mp should be fine for most purposes. That said, it's becoming more obvious every day that A7RIII owners have every reason to look smug and sweet at 42mp, especially given the noise performance !
--
Ron.
Volunteer, what could possibly go wrong ?

 

[aldoc]

...for mypersonal and and subjective liking

 

[Daneland]

[No message]

 

[Bob A L]

I agree with your comments, except I do crop heavily and extensively and still get along well with 20-24mp max and have a couple of 12mp cameras that I use a lot.

 

[Flavil]

36+

Love the high megapixies and the amazing things one can do with that much info in RAW.

 

[nopix]

I use my Sony A7R3 a lot (42MP)

I also use my Canon M6M2 (33MP) also

It is easy to see the difference between these and the 20MP cameras.

 

[Ed B]

I love prime lens cameras, but one of the big reasons I keep the older camera I currently own is because I want nothing to do with the high megapixel cameras like the Sony RX1rii or the Leica Q2.

And, when you consider manufacturers are pushing cameras with even more megapixels, it's ridiculous.

It's just a way to justify higher prices. Even landscape photographers are fooling themselves if they think they need this.

 

[ChuckB]

Perhaps it's because I shot slide film so long, I am very happy with 16MP on my APSC and 24MP on my RX10. Got a 13x19 on the wall shot with a 6MP P&S and it's sharp as a tack.

When I went back and digitized my old slides I saw that my first digital, a Coolpix 950 (2MP) was already in the same neighborhood for quality and it's only gotten better. I'm not interested in buying a FF 40+ MP monster and bird lens to lug around. Won't improve my output.

Another reason to be happy with fewer pixels - today's editing software on those few occasions where you need to denoise, sharpen and upsize. No GAS here.

 

[tex]

[No message]

 

[Mr Flip]

For wildlife (and since I never crop) though 12mps gets me nice 11x16 prints, I prefer at least 36mps (and higher) for impressive16x24 prints.

However, 61mps doesn’t give me the 30x46 print capability I am accustomed to from 4x5 drum scans. So ideally for landscapes, something well above 61mps is preferred, and while the X2D would give me the latter, that with 3 lenses is far too expensive.

(PS, having used the GFX 50s extensively, I am not a fan due mostly to color output).

 

[sportyaccordy]

Somewhere in the 30s, though I really want HEIF output.

 

[Hike Pics]

I'm talking small to small + (1/1.7"-ish) sensors here.

For APS-C, I can't tell that much difference between my 10MP and 20MP. Maybe a little. But I don't print photos.

 

[PhotoTeach2]

There's no right or wrong answer here I'm just curious what most people find to be their sweet spot.

For me, it's 20 megapixels. I have a Canon that is 26mp, and some of my other 20 mp gear can shoot 50 or 80mp composites, but I find that I really don't need anything more than 20 for almost everything.

I don't do a lot of cropping so my situation may be different than most, but I'm looking at some of these newer cameras with 45 megapixel resolution and I'm just thinking about the amount of space to Archive that amount of imagery. While I do like the increased frame rates and a lot of the higher performance aspects of these models, I just don't need the resolution.

A reference is that (approx) 16mpx was equivalent to 100ASA (ISO) 35mm film. (And about 5000dpi on a scanner.)

8mpx was sufficient for 300dpi 8"x10" and the theory is that is sufficient for ANY size since larger (than 8"x10") are normally viewed from a greater distance, (aka highway-bilboards).

The problem begins when cropping because a 1/2X crop loses 4X effective mpx. (1/3X crop equals 9X loss)

For those that relied on 6x7/9cm for bigger enlargements/murals it would be about 100mpx.

(And about 230mpx to equal 4"x5".)

 

[KLO82]

All my final output photos are 8.64 MP (3600 x 2400 pixels), good for 200 PPI 18" x 12" prints. To get that output resolution even after some occasional cropping, it seems 16 to 20 MP is ideal.

 

[OpticsEngineer]

For many years I have been happy with 24 or 26 MP.

But as prices are coming down, especially on used gear, I am rethinking that.

 

[JohnSil]

For many years I have been happy with 24 or 26 MP.

But as prices are coming down, especially on used gear, I am rethinking that.

hmmm, so are you saying that your sweet spot varies by price??? LoL

John

 

[joslocum]

You can't ever have too many depending on the quality. But assuming the quality of the sensor is good, you can't have too many.

I've seen some extreme crops with the Leica M11 and they're amazing.

With that said, I'm not crazy about working with huge files so my 24MP sensor is just fine for what I do. Even the SOOC JPEG's are 8-12MP, which seem to be fine.

I can only imagine the folks who do work with a Hasselblad-type medium format files.

 

[BertIverson]

I have 20 MP currently on a 1" sensor. But today I would opt for a 40 MP sensor on 1" because the new noise reduction SW mitigates the small pixel noise issue. And I believe modern lenses can cope with that many pixels for digital cropping/zooming.

my 0.02
Bert