Lens Envy

curiousgeorge wrote in post #2199589
How does RAW help when producing large prints, if the resolution is the same? I thought it all dpends on the dpi.

If you are doing large prints, you'll need to up-res up to 240-300dpi. I find interpolating a 16-bit TIFF file to yield better results than interpolating an 8-bit JPEG file, atleast for my Qimage-based printing workflow. Vandit

curiousgeorge wrote in post #2199865
If you have that much contrast in a scene then surely the image can never look good, no matter how much adjustment you try. You can expose the hightlights properly or the shadows, but not both.

I dont agree with that. If you can capture 2-3 additional stops of dynamic range, then you *can* get both the highlights AND the shadows. With post-processing, you get a very worthwhile image out of it. There is a reason a lot of photographers are clamoring for more DR, not more megapixels. One of the biggest reasons I switched to digital was the increased DR of camera RAW (a good 2-3 stops more than Velvia) and the ability to adjust tonality to my needs - throwing that away for convenience doesnt make any sense for what *I* do. Your mileage, needless to say, may vary. Vandit

I know this is a continuation of OT, but here's my problem with the RAW vs JPEG discussion, so I shoot both.
One is the RAW file, the other is the Large JPEG (I shoot Raw + JPEG) with supposed exact processing. Opening both pics in DPP will show that the RAW appears sharper but both seem close to the same. The RAW still looks better. 100% Crops

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.