[meteorite-list] Digital Photography

From: Martin Horejsi <martinh_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:02:28 2004
Message-ID: <B8B4E70F.23B4%martinh_at_isu.edu>

On 3/13/02 8:04 AM, "Jim Strope" <jim_at_catchafallingstar.com> wrote:

> According to some friends of mine who are very involved in photography,
> Digital camera resolution will equal that of 35mm when the digitals reach
> 17megapixels.


Hi Jim and All,

I don't know if the 17 megapixel limit is right or not, and I don't dispute
it, however there is another side to that limit.

Most people cannot take a picture that is anywhere near the limit of what
35mm photography is all about. I used to do high resolution art photography
with 35mm. I know that sounds like a contradiction, and in a way it was, but
that's what I did.

To reach the limits of 35mm cameras, one first must have the best equipment.
Retail, that would probably be Leica. However I used Nikon which I felt was
definitely in at least second place, but not by much.

Then there is the film issue. One would have to shoot very low EV black and
white film (maybe ASA 10-12) and use special development procedures to get
the proper limit of resolution.

Then their is the support issue. Lightweight tripods won't cut it. Nor will
very fast or very slow shutter speeds. There is an optimum range for max
resolution.

Then there is F-stop (or F-step as some like to say). Each lens has a
particular f-stop where it will be sharpest and it is never the max number.

Finally, there is the exposure of the image. Again, few people could ever
measure a proper exposure without training. However, the excellent matrix
metering in today's auto cameras makes this less of an issue.

So you can see, there is really much to the theoretical comparison of 35mm
and digital. When you put all of this through a filter of general use
photography by the serious consumer, I believe 5 megapixel is actually
plenty for 99+ percent of all digital use, in fact, it is usually overkill.

Now when you are using only a computer monitor for viewing (ie Internet,
email), all of this is mostly meaningless because of the limited color
quality (or at least color control and predictability), and the low
resolution of monitors (about 72-75 dpi).

Just my two rolls of film.

Cheers,

Martin
Received on Wed 13 Mar 2002 01:22:56 PM PST