Does 20D Resolve Enough for Large Group Shot?

Hi, I'm a recent acquirer of a 20D and I haven't had a chance to test this scenario with it, but I am responsible for the giant group shot at our family reunion. 18mos ago I used a 4x5 film camera and had the neg drum scanned. The image wasn't an asthetic tour de force, but at a 100% the subjects are well defined and fairly impressive - not drop dead great but eminently suitable. In the Lightjet 8x10's everyone face is small, but easily recognized. The weather has been cold and miserable to do tests, but if anyone has comments or input - that would be nice. I plan to either shoot it with a 17-40L or a 28 f1.8 prime depending on which lands in my hands first.
Sincerely,
Richard

Yes, it will be fine. The limitations and difficulties you will encounter with this kind of shot are a) lighting b) getting everyone posed and looking at the camera. Gear will not be your limiting factor, the light and your communication skills will be. Nail those and you're good.

Yes, it'll be fine as an 8x10, and even bigger. It won't be as good as a 4x5 film camera, but unless you want to blow it up larger than 15" and view with with a magnifying glass I don't think you'll have any problems. I shot plenty of weddings with 20D's and have lots of 8x12" prints of group shots that look great.

The 20D is quite capable of resolving to the degree you need for this shot.

Thanks for the input everyone. I'm really looking forward to the reunion. I've got some great picture ideas and I'm setting up a 'portrait station' where everyone has to check in at in order to ensure at least one picture is taken of every person attending. We have this very old (late 1800's) portrait of Hiram and Tassa and their farm dog taken sitting in wooden chairs in front of trees. I'm going to set up a 'stage' with a couple of similar chairs with a group of trees in the background and do families &/or individual shots that invoke that original composition and style.
I love POTN, I haven't learned so much since my college days, I think.
Richard

Just out of interest, how many people are going to be in the shot of the large group?

given your nick I'd say that the 17-40 may come a little short about quality and details on those little faces , in any case stop down the lens

first a question: why not a 4x5 again?

if you are new to digital , coming from film the first thing to watch will be the tendency of blown highlights (with any digital camera as a matter of fact), along with a limited dynamic range. Make sure that the faces are well exposed and use flashes if the group is large.

the 20D gives enough resolution but groups are difficult. In any case try to frame the group properly as you shoot so you don't have to crop the shot after the fact.

a tamron 17-50 would be the better lens for that. (or the canon counterpart). And since you're shooting digital take several shots to reduce the risk of eyes closed or funny expressions. well, that's the good thing with digital.. you don't have to change the roll eheh

good luck

Hi All,
great input, I'll say once again. POTN is a frequent daily stop for me. I am not new to digital -BUT- it's my first high resolution digital. I've been shooting EOS Film Bodies for about 15years and I picked up a Canon D2000 (kodak dcs-520) about 2 years ago quite inexpensively and really have learned a lot from it, but it's only 2mp and while good for 4x6/5x7's and the occassional 8x10 (surprisingly), but only if I nail the sharpness and exposure. Personally, I use it a big @ss point and shoot - a point and shooot built out of a EOS-1n Film body!!!
The reason I'm leery of going the 4x5 route again is that even though I did 2 exposures, the camera creeped to the left as I was perched on an unstable ladder and I lopped off about 10 people from the exposure - not good. The group was about a 75 all told and many more are expected this year. It also cost me a nice chunk of change as well getting the scans done - I have expensive lens tastes, but a 'beer' Budget! Seventy smackers for dud's images hurt a bit and disappointed people, they were understanding, but it was painful.
Thanks again. I wonder what people suggest as to the 'perfect' lens to shoot this with?

ZeissFan wrote in post #4822335
I wonder what people suggest as to the 'perfect' lens to shoot this with?

a zeiss of course

or the canon EF 35mm 1.4L

How large a group are you talking? I've shot groups of upwards of 100 with my 20D.

Perfect: probably a 16-35 F2.8L. I'd use my 17-55 F2.8 IS though.

Oh and i've done group shots with over 300 people with the 20D, it's printed 8x12 and you can see everyone fine. Bring a ladder, or shoot from a balcony. Set it up then have someone else hit the button so you can be in the photo.

What Lens choices are best for this?

Hi All,
the input has been great folks . My current EOS usable Zeiss is a Pancolar 50mm f1.8 M42. (I just ordered an adapter with built in AF Sensor Activation Chip! I've now got a direct view, 9 af point, RANGEFINDER). I was about to pull the trigger on either a 17-40 f4 or the non-IS 70-200 f4 L when I found out my soon to be ex-employer is opting not to accommodate my Light Duty work restrictions -or- continue my FMLA leave. Sigh.
I have access to great resources for finding a willing employer and they are getting the ball rolling to get me off the factory floor and back to desk work again - possibly with Degree completion assistance. I also don't have to worry about starving or losing a roof over my head - my folks spend 6 months out of the year on the road and in return for house sitting and helping with the mortgage a bit, I get a nice 'suite' to myself with private entrance.
Anyway, I have about 5 full months to find the right lens for this Group shot thing. My 80mm equiv f1.8 is just too long. I'll have to research what focal length I'll need and if I can find a Flektogon or something that'll work if need be. With luck, something will shake loose quickly in the job situation - 4 or 5 years ago they found me something dang quick.
Has anyone tried a contax, leica, and the like EOS adapters? That might be a nice bet?
My ABSOLUTE FIRST CHOICE HERE is a NEW 17-40 while the rebate is active. I can get it out the door for about 650.00 at the local shop. I REALLY want to go 5D, 1ds, or even the Kodak pro/c, and I'm trying to avoid the ef-s option. But the Tokina and Tamron are pretty appealing in aps-c.
Thanks All,
Richard

You can do an obvious calculation – you just need to know how many people will be lined up in a row. For e.g. 75 people, you might have three rows of 25 people each – the kids sitting on the floor in the first row, the second row sitting on chairs and the third row standing behind.
A 20D resolves about 3500 pixels horizontally, that means 3500/25 = 140 Pixels per person if you frame perfectly. 140 Pixels is not much, but should be enough to get still recognizable faces.

In order to meet or even exceed the quality of your medium format shots, I’d suggest stitching. Use your camera with a lens that is really sharp across the frame – any 50mm is supposed to deliver that kind of performance, whereas most wide angels would only do if stopped down quite a bit or not at all. Then hold the camera in portrait orientation (better yet: mount in on a tripod that allows the camera to be turned into portrait orientation) and then take three (or even more) overlapping shots of the group. It should not be a too big deal to mount the shots together in post processing, provided that the people at the intersections didn’t move too much.
Doing it this way is a little more effort, but you get in turn at least the resolution of a 1 Ds Mk.II or even more, if you don’t stick with the 3/2 ratio and make the group shot a “panorama”, consisting of more than 3 shots. This is one of the strengths of digital, since stitching with good results is much easier than it was with film.

Good focus is what you need, the camera's resolving power is sufficient.