Nikon D300 giving me mixed 72ppi and 300ppi?

LCa

New member
I am shooting with a Nikon D300. I have the camera set to the largest possible size and set to fine jpg, and it gives me a mixture of 300ppi and 72ppi... I've even tried it on RAW and the same thing happens.. there will be four 300ppi images followed by like twelve 72ppi images, etc etc ... over and over again .. has this happened to anyone?
 

LCa

New member
when I open the images in photoshop, I like to check the image size. When I do that, some say 300 and others say 72. I do not change the settings to be lower on the camera, and the ppi jumps around after shooting one set of photos consecutively from one shoot
 

fotojack

Senior Member
Yeah, it's definitely not the camera. It all depends on the picture taken. Some pictures contain more ppi than others. Ever notice how some pictures are larger than others in megapixels? :)
 

LCa

New member
If I use my speed light with some photos and not with others, would that effect the pixels? It can't be photoshop because it happens when I check the image size in other programs as well. How can I control this if the camera is set up properly ?
 

Pierro

Senior Member
Is it possible that shooting long bursts results in the camera compressing the last few files because of buffering ? Thats if you're actually shooting CH ( high speed )
 

Geoffc

Senior Member
PPI/ DPI is not relevant to the image unless it's being printed. All full size images should be the same pixels high and wide. For example a 12 megapixel camera will produce an image that is 12 megapixels in dimensions albeit compressed if jpg is used which alters the reported Megabytes. This figure allows you to work out dpi and set it for printing specific sizes. This sounds like a photoshop issue or just a red herring.

I spent some time researching DPI recently to get it straight in my mind.
 

LCa

New member
it's all just so confusing. When I shoot on my D90 , all of the photos always come in at 300ppi. Although the D90 is a good camera, I feel more comfortable with my D300, and i'm having this issue with it, which may be just nothing - but it bothers me .. i know thats pixels per inch and dpi is dots per inch... how can i see in Photoshop what the dpi is? I sound like such an armature but, I shoot portraits for people and although I have never gotten any complaints, I want to make sure I am giving them the highest quality I can so they can print them, because they will print them.
 

Geoffc

Senior Member
If you shoot RAW you get max quality all the time but need to post process. If you shoot jpeg fine/large it also gives max image resolution.

I think your dpi thing is a red herring. All you need to know is that the image is max width and height in pixels for that sensor.

If an image is 1000 pixels wide and you want it printing 10 inches wide, that would be 100dpi. The same image 5 inches wide would b 200dpi.
 

LCphoto

New member
I have 2 d5100's and have recently noticed the same thing...I found this thread bc I am searching the internet for answers. I also do portraits and I have noticed as I am editing in Photoshop that some pics look horribly pixelated (pretty bad when you see it on your computer screeen), while other look great. Every time I see one of the crappy ones, I go into the file info and sure enough it says the resolution is 72! The others that look nice are still at 300. I haven't changed my settings, I am opening them at the same time in photoshop, I have no clue what is wrong. It is super frustrating when you think you have a great pic until you open it in photoshop. Thank you that someone else in the world having the same problem...now if someone can help us correct it, please! :beguiled:
 

pedroj

Senior Member
Ok I've had a look at some of the files from my D300 and all the jpeg {2.1mb}files come up at 300 DPI

The NEF raw[11.6 mb] files when I've processed and opened them in CS5 they are 240 DPI but after cropping they are 300 DPi

Doesn't matter if shooting bursts or single shots....
 

Geoffc

Senior Member
At the risk of repeating myself, DPI is only relevant in telling a printer how big you want the print. Take a 300dpi image and get Lightroom to output it as jpg. Then export a second version and set it at 72dpi. Same MB output files! This is because they are identical apart from a metadata tag that the printer would read.

I struggled with DPI until I spent some time working out what it means and on your screen it is the pixels wide X pixels high that determine what the image looks like.

If I have got his completely wrong, somebody please tell me, but whenever I have verified the theory it is spot on.
 

LCphoto

New member
Just to be sure I am clear... Geoffc, you are saying that even though the resolution is showing 72 in photoshop, it won't effect the quality when I print? I hope this is the case! Thanks for your expertise :)
 

Geoffc

Senior Member
Just to be sure I am clear... Geoffc, you are saying that even though the resolution is showing 72 in photoshop, it won't effect the quality when I print? I hope this is the case! Thanks for your expertise :)

You should change the dpi to whatever you need for printing if the printer is deciding how big the print should be. You can do this in Lightroom or photoshop.

As a test I saved a file at 1 DPI and the other at 1000. They were identical size and quality. Try it yourself and it will make sense.
 

pedroj

Senior Member
You should change the dpi to whatever you need for printing if the printer is deciding how big the print should be. You can do this in Lightroom or photoshop.

As a test I saved a file at 1 DPI and the other at 1000. They were identical size and quality. Try it yourself and it will make sense.

If this were the case why would you have to change the DPI for printing..

I just saved one at 1 DPI and it's size is 12.5 KBs and the 1000 DPI 31.4 MB...Unless I'm missing something there is a huge difference in the file sizes..
 

RickSawThat

Senior Member
I have 2 d5100's and have recently noticed the same thing...I found this thread bc I am searching the internet for answers. I also do portraits and I have noticed as I am editing in Photoshop that some pics look horribly pixelated (pretty bad when you see it on your computer screeen), while other look great. Every time I see one of the crappy ones, I go into the file info and sure enough it says the resolution is 72! The others that look nice are still at 300. I haven't changed my settings, I am opening them at the same time in photoshop, I have no clue what is wrong. It is super frustrating when you think you have a great pic until you open it in photoshop. Thank you that someone else in the world having the same problem...now if someone can help us correct it, please! :beguiled:

I am seeing the same thing on random shots I have taken recently too.... D5100 camera setting at jpeg Fine+RAW loading into a MacBook Pro and using Aperture and PS for editing.
 

Berkerk

Senior Member
If this were the case why would you have to change the DPI for printing..

I just saved one at 1 DPI and it's size is 12.5 KBs and the 1000 DPI 31.4 MB...Unless I'm missing something there is a huge difference in the file sizes..

Did you miss the resampling check box? It should be unchecked.

As has been said before PPI is for print output only, however, if you resample the image when changing the PPI it will adjust the original.

As for the OP's issue - maybe this is a problem with your import workflow?
 

Ruidoso Bill

Senior Member
Did you miss the resampling check box? It should be unchecked.

As has been said before PPI is for print output only, however, if you resample the image when changing the PPI it will adjust the original.

As for the OP's issue - maybe this is a problem with your import workflow?

Berkerk is correct, also, if resampling is checked and you attemp to increase the PPI you will notice the print size in inches will decrease.
 

pedroj

Senior Member
Did you miss the resampling check box? It should be unchecked.

As has been said before PPI is for print output only, however, if you resample the image when changing the PPI it will adjust the original.

As for the OP's issue - maybe this is a problem with your import workflow?

OK your right about the resampling box, but tell me how is the ops issue related to my work flow
 
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