Re: How many megapixcels equivalent to 35 mm in quality

On May 30, 10:40 pm, u...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
Mark Thomas wrote:

As to the original question, here's my opinion, assuming a reasonable
sized sensor...

Normal 100-200 print film - 6-8 Mp

This I believe

Good!

Pro quality 100-160 print film - 8-12 Mp

What do you mean by this? I have always felt, and felt strongly, that
"pro" film was always inferior to the latest generation "drugstore" film,
simply because the latter was always a generation later.

I'm referring to those films specifically for professional use, eg NPS/
NPH/Reala and Kodak Supra, maybe even Portra. Ie, the ones at the top
of this table...
http://cacreeks.com/films.htm

I admit to having not done scientifically valid direct comparisons of
high grade scans of those films with digital images, but my impression
of what could be done with those films from my wedding and portrait
shooting days back before digital, and my experience since then with a
variety of digital formats suggests that it would need a bit more than
6-8 MP to match the enlargability. But note that I am ONLY referring
to absolute resolution here - NOT dynamic range, etc.

I will admit that Ektar 25 was very special indeed, and under the
absolute best conditions just might beat an 8 MP digital
in certain ways, especially ultimate resolution limit at
low MTF readings.

As, imo, would Fuji NPS/NPH and my favorite 'odd' print film, the
remarkable Konica Impresa 50.
I miss it almost as much as K25..

Slide film* (Velvia, Kchrome) - 12-24 Mp

This I disagree strongly. The "impression" of superiority here was always
the exceptionally high contrast of slide film. The down side was
hopelessly bad dynamic range.

?? But I am specifically referring to resolution only here. I
addressed the topic of dynamic range elsewhere in that post, and of
course you are right that most transparency film is contrasty and has
very limited drange.

A nailed K25/Velvia slide (with good technique) will clearly outrun an
8Mp image in terms of detail/resolution.
Here, the much quoted Roger Clark site indicates he puts Vevlia at
between 10 and 16 Mp.
http://www.clarkvision.com/imagedetail/film.vs.digital.summary1.html

But in many ways we are comparing apples and bananas, so your point is
taken.



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