Making paper copys from digital pictures?

[Erik D.]

How large paper copys to hang on the wall can one usually make from a 6mb digital camera (such as a Nikon D70/D70s)?

Taking into consideration of course that the digital picture is sharp etc...

I presume that it isn't close to what one can make out of 35mm slides, but am unsure.



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[Grant Johnson]

This is one of "those" tough questions - a lot of it is in the eye of the beholder - many people are delighted with something that a pro photographer would tear up in disgust.

GENERALLY a 6mb camera should print adequately to 11"x14", perhaps 16"x20" if you're not too fussy.

(I AM fussy - so factor that into your thinking! )

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Grant Johnson

Seek, and ye shall find.
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One world, Two wheels.
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

[Matt Cartney]

Hi,
Digital pix can be blown up reasonably large, despite what some people say regarding picture quality. I'd suggest 10" x 8" or thereabouts is a good size. Big enoughto make a nice pic to hang on the wall but not so big as to look grainy. (Remember the first thing people will do when they are told it was taken on digital will screw up their eyes and see if they can see the grain!) The most important thing is not really how many megapixels your camera is, but the settings when you take the pic.
With a dig SLR this is not a problem. For travel i would always use the camera on at least Large/Fine Jpeg compression, if not TIFF or even RAW. Also use it on the finest ISO setting the lighting conditions will allow. 200 if possible, and try not to go over 400.
Apart from that its experimentation, as said, it also depends on your own personal demands. Remember that the best travel pix for most people are really the ones that stir your memories and not the ones that perhaps look as if Cartier-Bresson took 'em! Since turning pro my photography has obviously got a lot better than it was but my walls are still covered with shots that are badly composed/slightly soft/poorly exposed by my current standards. However my walls ain't a photo competition, they're reminders of my past! I guess what I'm trying to say is dont discard photos just cos there a little grainy etc. see them for what they are!
Sorry if that was long winded, a subject close to my heart though!
matt

[Erik D.]

Thanks for the input guys. I see that enlarging pictures up to 40cm X 60cm as I've done before when using Fuji Provia will not be an option with a 6mb camera. I'm pretty picky!

I then have one more question though.

"For travel i would always use the camera on at least Large/Fine Jpeg compression, if not TIFF or even RAW."

I've been told by some that using Jpeg at large/fine is qualitywise often just as good as TIFF or RAW. Except that the RAW has retained all the info without being "pre-prosessed" in the camera.

Is this right, or is RAW the way to go?

Thanks again for the info!



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[Matt Cartney]

you are right that using the JPEG compresses the file more and so some information is lost. This inevitably has an effect on the final image, even if this effect is minimal. I also know some pros who claim that colour repro and contrast is better in RAW, although I think this is a little speculative. Also, for some publications, TIFF is a requirement due to high quality reproduction, however this could simply be to sift out low quality JPEGs being submitted. RAW and Tiff have the disadvantage of huge file sizes meaning much less pics per card and so for most purposes, particularly for amauters, even keen ones, JPEG is probably the way to go. Some competitions require an original RAW file to prove the pic has not been 'shopped' too much. I guess the only advice I can give you is to tell you what I'd do: If I was shooting travel pix for publication/competition purposes I'd shoot on RAW. However, on holiday, most of the pics I would take would be large sized, fine JPEGS.
matt

[unhinged]

I've never used this but I believe it's got a good reputation for making enlargements:

http://www.lizardtech.com/products/gf/