8mp APS-H: how big?

ThatCanonGuy

Just wondering how big you've printed from an 8mp APS-H sensor, like that of the 1DII/1DIIn, or something similar (like the 1D3 sensor).

ziggy53

I regularly print to 30" x 20" from 8 MPix files. (Canon 1D MKII, XT/350D, XT/350D-IR converted and 40D cropped to 8 MPix or so, as well as a few from Minolta DiMAGE A2.)

TeamSpeed

I have also printed 20x30 with the 30D's images (same overall image size, sensor type doesn't matter). I uprezzed it in photoshop though, and reprocessed a bit of sharpening, etc.

oakfieldphotography.com

Great to hear that news. Just one thought, what are the steps leading up to printing at this size, ie what do you look out for in one of these prints that you would not have to worry about in say a 10 by 8 print? Sorry if it looks like i am hijacking this tread but it looks like a logical step after finding out the sizes you can print to.
Regards
Patrick:D

mercphoto

ThatCanonGuy wrote: »

Just wondering how big you've printed from an 8mp APS-H sensor, like that of the 1DII/1DIIn, or something similar (like the 1D3 sensor).

With a good lens, and who would put a bad lens on a 1-series anyway, you can print as big as you care to go. People get way too worried about how many MP they have and how big they can print as a result.

ziggy53

oakfieldphotography.com wrote: »

Great to hear that news. Just one thought, what are the steps leading up to printing at this size, ie what do you look out for in one of these prints that you would not have to worry about in say a 10 by 8 print? Sorry if it looks like i am hijacking this tread but it looks like a logical step after finding out the sizes you can print to.
Regards
Patrick:D

If the image looks suitable for an extreme enlargement, or if this was a project with the intention of printing large, I recommend using ACR to interpolate to 25-36MPix from the RAW file*, and then performing sharpening/post-processing upon that interpolated image. This seems to help avoid obvious haloing and allows a better idea of how the image will look at size.

Some subject matter will be pretty interesting almost regardless of detail and image size where other subjects require additional detail from the file to be printed large. There is no absolute best answer and test prints are often the best way to determine print size suitability.

It's better to use a stitched panoramic or camera with higher starting detail if you need extreme amounts of detail in a large enlargement print.

---

*ACR has an intrinsic ability to interpolate most RAW files to 25 MPix. To go larger you need to employ a "trick":

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=158823

ThatCanonGuy

mercphoto wrote: »

With a good lens, and who would put a bad lens on a 1-series anyway, you can print as big as you care to go. People get way too worried about how many MP they have and how big they can print as a result.

I kind of agree, but a 30x40 print is gonna look better if it's from a 5DII than from a 1DII. And I'd like to see a 24x36 from a 4mp 1Dmk1 file

I guess if you uprez it you can go pretty high, even with low mp counts. I see your point.

mercphoto

ThatCanonGuy wrote: »

And I'd like to see a 24x36 from a 4mp 1Dmk1 file

I have. It looked great because the 300/2.8 lens used was fantastic and the guy who took the shot was a master at what he did.

Seriously...... you're worrying too much about pixel counts and print sizes. Everybody does.

ThatCanonGuy

Alright... thanks! Good to know.

jhefti

It also depends on how close the print is intended to be viewed. If you put a very large print on a stairwell, where everyone passes close by, then no amount of uprezzing will give you the detail you might want. If you are looking to put the print in a large room, then it is relatively easy to successfully make a large print.

And definitely increase the pixel count before editing; you'll get a much better result.

Art Scott

I make really big prints off 6mp and 8mp cameras .......
I make really big prints off 6mp and 8mp cameras .......BUT I CHEAT....BIG TIME.......


I have printed as large as 40x60 off an 8MP Konica Minolta A2 and off a Konica Minolta 7D (6MP)....but I cheat and I have cheated or taken artistic license for many years...I print nothing larger than 8x10 off of native files....and it is mostly smaller than 8x10....starting with a file that is approx 300 dpi which on my cams show an image of almost 8x10 in size I then go to Genuine Fractals and up rez to 30x40, 40x60 at 300 DPI....this gives a few truly hugely whooping sized jpgs to store and unfortunately I cannot store a jpg that large on Smugmug......yet......the reason I do that is because early in my digital career I had a degreed interior decorator that did not understand viewing distance.......the distance needed to make a large image look really good when you look at....the reason billboards are so far away.......so I did some googling and yahooing and found Genuine Fractals....actually I found a funny named company that caught my eye and decided to look into this company named Lizard Tech......and found Genuine Fractals and a totally usable and savable with out watermarks trial offer....then I went to Shutterbug asking about an article I had read, I thought on making billboards off scanned 35mm transparencies and was pointed back to Lizard Tech's Genuine fractals....so I gave it a try....it was great even tho you had to do it in a stair step fashion and it was saved in a special format and then had to be changed from that to a usable jpg.....but it was still 1000 times better than uprezing photoshop....now it is mostly a 1 step to uprez and then if someone wants an even larger print but doesn't mind a bit of noise and viewing distance we can go billboard at 300dpi and a viewing distance of several feet and they will look as good as when an 8x10 is viewed upclose and personal.......

also along with the MP's of the camera ...it depends on how much you crop the file first and also how well it is exposed and all before cropping and deciding to print what size........

Genuine Fractals was sold by Lizard Tech to OnOne software and the name was changed late last year to Perfect Resize ...........I am currently using Genuine Fractals 6 .....it does everything I need, so no reason to upgrade right now........

travischance

This was very good information as I too have wandered how large of a print one could make with a Mark III. I've been considering picking up a used body to compliment my 7D. Thanks again.

Brett1000

Art Scott wrote: »

I make really big prints off 6mp and 8mp cameras .......BUT I CHEAT....BIG TIME.......

.

I agree, Genuine fractals is the best program for upsizing smaller pics