6 million pixels - 10D

[Mikey-2u]

They say that 6 million pixels is the threshold for decently quality images. Therefore, is the 10D good enough to use in a professional portrait studio. I will be printout up to 12x10 size? (mainly in black & white) Will I get acceptable, good or excellent prints?

[Canuck]

Mikey-2u wrote:
They say that 6 million pixels is the threshold for decently quality images. Therefore, is the 10D good enough to use in a professional portrait studio. I will be printout up to 12x10 size? (mainly in black & white) Will I get acceptable, good or excellent prints?

You can do them 13x17, shooting RAW (maybe even Large JPEG, Fine setting) without a problem. I can;t confirm the JPEG setting info. I shoot RAW now, almost exclusively. The only way I shoot JPEG is if it doesn't matter, or I have to shoot for someone that wants immediate results. Do you know anyone that has one that is local to you? Check it out for yourself! I forget off hand what the TIFFS are like, sizewise. The JPEGS are 42.67" x 28.44" made from RAW pics and figure between 1/2 and 1/3 is what you can do at 300DPI. TIFF is a lossless format, much like the Canon RAW, except the files you get in TIFF format are about 37MB, but there is some wasted space as it only is a 12 bit camera and saving in 16 bit mode. It's hard to explain. Call the diffence filler.

[Jesper]

Mikey-2u wrote:
They say that 6 million pixels is the threshold for decently quality images. Therefore, is the 10D good enough to use in a professional portrait studio. I will be printout up to 12x10 size? (mainly in black & white) Will I get acceptable, good or excellent prints?

Who are "they"? Why would 6 million pixels be a threshold? And what exactly is "decent quality"? That's a subjective measure.

A 12 x 10 inch print of the 10D will look very good. Note that the ratio of the width and length of this format (12 : 10) is different than the ratio of an image from the 10D (which is 3 : 2), which means you'll have to crop a bit off the picture and you'll be using less than the 6.3 million pixels of your 10D image.

People often ask questions like "how large can I print", or "if I print an N megapixel image at size X times Y inches, will it look good". There is no clear answer to these questions, because what "good" is, is subjective. You should just try it out and see if it looks good enough to you.

[robertwgross]

Six megapixels is fine enough to print fairly large. I print 13x19 inches routinely. Once you go above 20x30 inches, then think about doing some intermediate interpolation.

You have more to worry about in getting the shot right, so forget about enough pixels.

---Bob Gross---

[David Wild]

Remember also that "how big can I print" is related to the way it will be viewed. A print for me to look at in my hand needs to be relatively better than one which is going to be on a wall about two feet away.

[WestFalcon]

I get razor sharp 16x20's from my lab using high quality jpeg at ASA 100. They look as good as my 220 film enlargements. They completely amaze me. People say raw is better but I've never tried since I'm happy with my results and my lab will only accept jpegs on line.

[CyberDyneSystems]

Mikey-2u wrote:
They say that 6 million pixels is the threshold for decently quality images. Therefore, is the 10D good enough to use in a professional portrait studio. I will be printout up to 12x10 size? (mainly in black & white) Will I get acceptable, good or excellent prints?


FYI Mikey,
The 10D does not have a black & white setting.

It really isn't a problme,. as you can shoot in color and use your image editor to convert to a blck and white and thus still have a color "negative" to fall back on with the RAW file,. but,.. if as you say Black&white is your primary concern,....

...I just thought you may want to know there is no B&W setting.

Personally,. I think the 10D can do a spectacular 10X12" print with one hand tied behind it's back :D

No problem at all.

[Jahfakin]

my D30 can do 10x12 with no problem in JPEG at 100 iso. The D30 is comparable to 35mm film. The 10D is comparable to 120/220 film. Just my opinion though. For serious studio stuff, (16x20 or 20x30) i use a S2. But for my other studio stuff I use my D30. 8x10 or 8x12 are stunning.