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Zooms, mega pixels vs PhotoShop blowups.
Dunnroamin
31-10-2010
I wasn't sure if this query belonged in the computer forum, apologies if it does.
My question is: Which is best for large prints from cropped images. A camera, with a superzoom, to take me close to the distant subject at the time of taking, or a high resolution, multi megapixel camera and the use of a good photo editing programme in the computer with which to crop and enlarge.
psionic
31-10-2010
I would have thought getting as close as possible with optical zoom on the camera is best. Then you can do any minor cropping etc. on the computer.
chrisjr
31-10-2010
A camera with good optics but only 5 megapixels will more than likely produce better photos than a 10 megapixel camera with a cheap and nasty lens. So the answer is a bit of both. Good lenses and a good sensor are more important than absolute pixel count.

By and large if you want to crop or reduce the size of an image it is best to start with a high resolution. That should give you the best results. It is also best to have the part of the image you are cropping out to be bigger than or as close as possible to the final image size as possible.

Let us say the final image is going to be 800x600 pixels. You take two pictures. One where the area you want to crop is 1600x1200 pixels and another where it is only 200x150 pixels. In my experience downsizing the larger image will produce a much better result than enlarging the smaller one.
PrinceGaz
31-10-2010
A better optical zoom is always preferable to cropping (which is effectively the same as using a digital zoom). Whilst more megapixels can be desirable, it usually comes at the cost of increased sensor noise, especially with smaller physical sensor sizes, so it is a mixed blessing.

Also bear in mind that a 2x digital zoom reduces the pixel count by a factor of 4, so if you started with a 12MP image (4000x3000) and crop it to 2000x1500 (the equivalent of a 2x digital zoom), you end up with a 3MP image. You've thrown away three-quarters of the information captured by the sensor.

In all cases, using an optical zoom to take the picture you want is the best option, and you never want to be in a position where extreme cropping means you are contemplating actually blowing up a picture from say 400x300 up to 800x600 as the result is always substandard. In fact the way most digital-camera sensors work means the camera is already interpolating the sensor sub-pixel information to produce a full resolution JPEG image so it is less than ideal to start with even without sensor noise, therefore the last thing you want to do is enlarge those errors.
dodgygeeza
01-11-2010
Superzoom lenses usually have one or two image quality sacrifices made in order to achive the large zoom range, but generally speaking you're better off using as much optical zoom as needed then cropping the resulting image slightly if required. High optical magnification leaves you more susceptible to unsharpness due to camera movement though, particularly if you don't have manual control of the shutter speed.

Better option is to get closer or use a smaller range zoom/fixed focal length telephoto lens but I presume we are not counting either of those as an option here.
Dunnroamin
01-11-2010
[quote=dodgygeeza;45280964]Superzoom lenses usually have one or two image quality sacrifices made in order to achive the large zoom range, but generally speaking you're better off using as much optical zoom as needed then cropping the resulting image slightly if required. High optical magnification leaves you more susceptible to unsharpness due to camera movement though, particularly if you don't have manual control of the shutter speed.

Better option is to get closer or use a smaller range zoom/fixed focal length telephoto lens but I presume we are not counting either of those as an option here.[/QUOTE]

Actually your final paragraph is exactly where I wanted to go with the original question. There are two megazoom cameras currently competing with each other, that I have been considering. The Canon Powershot SX30 and the Panasonic Lumix FZ100 (although, not really being interested in the video facility, I might look at the Panasonic FZ45). Some reviewes I've read, mentioned the noise aspect due to smaller sensors, that got me thinking about bringing distant objects in a picture closer, using the computer to zoom in (using of course, a high resolution camera with either a modest, or no zoom) rather than (say) one of the two cameras mentioned. To illustrate hyperthetically: A distant building or landmark that I am unable to get close to. I have two cameras, one with fixed focal length and a high resolution 10 megapixel sensor, the other camera, also with 10 megapixels, but equiped with a 24x zoom lens. From which do those with more knowledge than I think would produce the best samesize A4 print. Unfortunately I haven't seen much mentioned in reviews about which cameras have large, as against small sensors.
CS Aye
01-11-2010
You'd be better off with the zoom lens in that scenario. Bear in mind you can zoom out a bit and crop the image a bit (the big issue with zoom lenses tends to be quality at the corners of the image). You don't have to use the full zoom where any quality issues are at their worst.
PrinceGaz
02-11-2010
You are always better off getting a better image onto the sensor in the first place, regardless of the camera. If that means a longer telephoto lens, fine.

As soon as you start cropping an image, you are throwing away data the camera captured originally. By the time you get to a 2x crop/digital zoom, all other things being equal, an ancient 4MP SLR will likely give a better picture than the cropped result from a modern 12MP SLR.
gemma-the-husky
03-11-2010
zoom first. definitely
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