Copression Settings S40

[aboxster]

I understand why shooting at the Large setting produces the most pixels for image quality (except for RAW). But how much does image quality deteriorate as one goes from superfine>fine>normal compression settings. I will occasionally print 8x10's but will often crop images with PS. Currently my compromise is to use Large res. and Fine comp. settings. Any comments or experience?

[octathlon]

The more compression, the less memory space the file will use and therefore more color information is lost. Use superfine for the least amount of compression.

To see the difference put your camera on a tripod and take the same photo, changing the setting each time, and you will see the difference.

[Maestro]

Well, obviously the less compression used the better the quality of the picture.. But the real question is: will I really notice the difference between Superfine, fine and normal.. I suppose it depends on two things:
Your eyes, and what you want to do with the final image.

There really isn't a huge difference between superfine and fine. They're both very good and produce very nice pictures. Normal does produce some visual artifacts which limits its usefulness for anything except pictures which are being printed in a small format. For the best quality I would shoot in RAW, and shoot in Fine JPG mode if I was looking for more pictures per Meg of memory.

[Comberboy]

I have read all the notes and agree that one would expect a significant difference in the various degrees of compression. Accordingly, I mounted my S40 on a tripod, set a 2 second delay to obviate any mechanical disruption, and took three photographs of a colourful Mexican blanket using flash. The large file was chosen, and the records were recorded in SF, F and N modes.
At 10 x 7.5 size I could see no difference either in definition or in colour response. Accordingly, I removed parts of these files using Photoshop, such sections being one quarter the linear dimensions of the full file. These were now enlarged to 10 x 7.5 approx - linear dpi is 56.8. When printed full size, these represent parts of prints 40 x 30 inches in size.
Viewed objectively, the SF image is marginally better than the N image, but were I to print 40 x 30 images which should be viewed at no less than three feet, I would find no discernible difference - I use N for everything. If someone would tell me how, I will send these enlarged files to anyone that is interested