4 replies to this topic

[whoopazz]

So I'm at a point with my art work that I want (need) to start thinking about making printed reproductions of the original paintings. The first step of course is a quality digital image. To that end I have no idea what I'm doing, but am too cheap to pay someone to do it. An article I read said to use an 8 to 12 megapixel camera to make the images. I have one I can borrow but I think it's only 6 MP (its a Nikon D50). I have a tripod and will use only natural light, then crop and touch them up using picassa, but I could use some advice on whether or not this camera will be good enough, or maybe I should just bite the bullet and buy a good one (how much $$ am I looking at?). The ultimate product will be a giclee reproduction but I'll outsource that part. TIA

[tbimm]

First of all congrats on the art work developing to this stage. That is awesome!
http://www.photograp..._explained.html
This article explains megapixels.
As you can gather from this article the size of your prints and any cropping being done will greatly effect your needed megapixel count.

The first thing I would do is take some shots with the D50 and get to work on Picassa. I also use Picassa and you can set your cropping up for standard print sizes and also custom. Set it up for the size you want and see what the image looks like. I believe if you want to go any more than 8X10 you are going to find you may need a bit more camera. If that is the case check back in and I will help in any way I can to point you towards the right camera for you. Unless you are looking to become a shutter bug you really wont need to spend a fortune to get a camera to suit your needs. Also if all your doing is portrait reproduction you will only need one lens. The 50mm 1.8 I have will handle all your work. I think I paid less than 200 for that lens if I remember right.

[whoopazz]

Thanks, I'll play around with this and report back. The lens on this D50 by the way is a Nikon AF 28-80 (which means nothing to me but may tell you something). My concern is that the paintings are a variety of sizes so if I shoot one that is, say 10 x 20 inches with this 6.1 mp camera, then I have to crop out nearly a third of the image. If I understand correctly, I then have an image of about 4 mp that I'll try to print out at 10 x 20 on paper, which will result in a grainy reproduction, right?

[rocknrobn26]

whoopazz, on 07 July 2012 - 01:13 PM, said:

Thanks, I'll play around with this and report back. The lens on this D50 by the way is a Nikon AF 28-80 (which means nothing to me but may tell you something). My concern is that the paintings are a variety of sizes so if I shoot one that is, say 10 x 20 inches with this 6.1 mp camera, then I have to crop out nearly a third of the image. If I understand correctly, I then have an image of about 4 mp that I'll try to print out at 10 x 20 on paper, which will result in a grainy reproduction, right?

Good article by Tom above, but they forgot to talk about interpolation (the way the camera's s/w manipulates the capture during processing) which unless you are shooting RAW, is an immeasurable function in all cameras.  You would literally need to take identical photos w/ a variety of cameras, print @ 10"x12" and evaluate.  One might think that if one manufacturer does a good job in a particular camera it runs along all the lines of said manufacturer.  Sorry to say that's not true.  I had/have a Olympus C770 4mp camera that I used in a photo class and my Alaska trip.  Blew up all the pics to 10"x12" w/ heavy cropping (up to ~50%)/zooming @10x and my instructor swore it was at least a 6mp camera or better.  Bought the next generation Oly in an SLR w/ an Oly E-500 SLR and the results were not that much better considering the MP's doubled to 8!

Hope that helped you rather than muddy the waters, but believe me what the average person thinks they know about cameras, resolution, printing, etc. could fill volumes of inaccuracies.

Keep shooting!
Tom
rr26

[Cunning Linguist]

sorry so late to reply to this, been a busy summer!  
You should have no problem printing up to 18 x 24 with a clean image shot with a 5 to 6 mp, but keep in mind, garbage in/garbage out. If your image is soft, it will exagerate the pixelization at size.   It all depends on the cameras CCD or CMOS sensor. Tom is right, if you can, always shoot in RAW. Big files, but big results.  
My old Canon 30D has an 8mp sensor, and i have blown those images up to 40" x 60" on stretched canvas and paper with no loss of detail.  My newer 7D can go even bigger.  
Again, Tom is right on, try enlarging your image, crop it to a small printable size (on your own photo printer if you have one) and you'll see the detail. Stand a few feet from it, if it looks good, it will be fine to send out for big prints!
I've used Canvasondemand.com for tons of prints, they do a great job
CL