Re: A simple question...


"David J Taylor"
<david-taylor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
message news:OVfhk.30937$E41.13651@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Neil Harrington wrote:
[]
That's interesting, David. I will have to try some comparisons with
my own cameras. I have three Coolpix "prosumer" types with 8 MP
(8400, 8700 and 8800) that have the so-called 2/3" type sensor, and a
few with roughly similar resolution and slightly smaller sensors
(7900, P3, P5100 and P50). My D70s, D40 and D80 of course don't
exactly match any of those for megapixels but are in the general
ballpark. I'll try a brick wall or something and some general
subjects, maybe store windows with lots of lettering.

Not sure when I'll get to this. It's been hot and humid here lately
and at such times I avoid the great outdoors.


Of course, my wife has a better eye for a good photo, so hers often
win irrespective of the technical quality!

A lot of folks here obsess too much about technical quality, I think.
Some of the best photos I've seen were not that good technically.

You've surely seen Dorothea Lange's "Migrant Mother." If you've ever
seen a large print of that you've immediately noticed that the focus
is wrong -- Lange was using a large-format camera, depth of field was
extremely shallow and the plane of best focus was not on the
subject's eyes where it should have been, not even close. The texture
of part of her clothes is tack sharp but her eyes are not sharp at
all. (On web images this is harder to see. I used to have a big
Graphic-Graflex book with this and some other famous photos in very
high quality full-page prints, and the focusing error really jumps
out at you.) But it's still a great shot.
Neil

Neil,

Do let me know the results of your tests - it could be something as simple
as the anti-alias filter or default sharpness setting being different, or
it could be something more fundamental associated with the smaller sensor
(perhaps working nearer the diffraction limit). I found general subjects,
but including a few sharp edges, would show the difference on a 1.9MP
display (1600 x 1200).

I will let you know -- it'll have to wait for more comfortable weather
though.

I don't have a monitor with that much resolution -- my newest and biggest is
a 22" widescreen with 1680 x 1050, but mostly I've used a 19" standard with
1280 x 1024.


Sorry, but I've not heard of nor seen Dorothea Lange's work. Although I
do a lot of "record" type photos to help me remember trips or locations,
it's the "moment" type photos which really stand out, and they could
probably be taken with a cell-phone!

Lange did most of her best-known work during the Great Depression of the
1930s. She's one of the most famous American photographers, but probably not
so well known outside of the U.S. At that time she was using a huge Graflex,
4 x 5 or it might have been 5 x 7. "Migrant Mother" is easily the best known
of her photographs, and you can see a good copy of it (looks like it needs a
bit of spotting, though) here -- click on it for higher resolution:
http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/fsa/8b29000/8b29500/8b29516v.jpg

Neil


.

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