Picture size - Simple question, but bugging me....

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Jim_Y

Senior Member
I started out in the mid 70's with Nikon and learned photography using totally manual cameras. That was the best then.... So now I' still learning about digital photography and have some very basic questions. Oh, I just bought a D750 and really pleased!!

1. So when they talk about "image quality", what exactly does that mean??
2. Also, "image size"? I know that refers to the number of pixels in the photo, but how would that translate to a printed 8x10, for instance?

I have tons of questions about the autofocus, but let's not get overzealous just yet. Thanks.
 
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egosbar

Senior Member
image quality to me means the amount of resolution you have in the file , always shoot raw and post process this will give you more data to work with when happy you can save as a tiff or a jpeg
shoot on maximum quality so 8x10 is no problem at all , for web i save a jpeg at 72 dpi at 1000 or around that on the long side , for print i use 300dpi but if you have cropped it going down to 240dpi shouldnt be a problem , in saying that i dont print a lot just how i understand it , the more pixels obviously the larger you can blow a image up
 
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J-see

Senior Member
Jim_Y said:
I started out in the mid 70's with Nikon and learned photography using totally manual cameras. That was the best then.... So now I' still learning about digital photography and have some very basic questions. Oh, I just bought a D750 and really pleased!!

1. So when they talk about "image quality", what exactly does that mean??
2. Also, "image size"? I know that refers to the number of pixels in the photo, but how would that translate to a printed 8x10, for instance?

I have tons of questions about the autofocus, but let's not get overzealous just yet. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Image quality is usually in regards to compression and the higher the quality you desire, the lower the compression used.
 
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Jim_Y

Senior Member
So, does that mean that "image quality" doesn't affect the amount of storage? If that's true, why would I ever want to shoot in anything other than "fine"? What are the advantages of lesser quality?
 
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J-see

Senior Member
Jim_Y said:
So, does that mean that "image quality" doesn't affect the amount of storage? If that's true, why would I ever want to shoot in anything other than "fine"? What are the advantages of lesser quality?
Click to expand...

Image quality does affect file size. The lower the quality, the more compressed, the smaller the size.

Fine quality JPEG is around 12-13Mb each on the D750. Add to that a max RAW and you're looking at some 40Mb for each shot. That size matters less to the card as it does to your buffer.
 
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Fred Kingston

Fred Kingston

Senior Member
Smaller files... If you're in the spray and pray community, you set everything on automatic, aim, and hold the shutter in high speed auto... subsequently, the buffer fills up, the camera slows down to allow the buffer to empty... small files, clear faster... and on some cameras, the results are, the camera is used like a video camera... :eek:
 
J

J-see

Senior Member
FredKingston said:
Smaller files... If you're in the spray and pray community, you set everything on automatic, aim, and hold the shutter in high speed auto... subsequently, the buffer fills up, the camera slows down to allow the buffer to empty... small files, clear faster... and on some cameras, the results are, the camera is used like a video camera... :eek:
Click to expand...

I tried it with the D750. Set all to smallest and keep the button pressed. At 100 it stopped but I wouldn't know if there's a setting allowing me to increase that.
 
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Bill16

Senior Member
I shoot raw myself. But as for print size, you should be able to print just about any size with your high MPs camera! With my 12 MPs cameras I can print 20" x 30" and I believe I can go to 30" x 40" if there is no cropping! Anything bigger would need some distance away from the photo to view it to deal with the lower pixel count!

I hope that helps you! :D
 
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