Great light over a great camera every time. A good lens over megapixels every time. An interesting subject over any of the above. Most photographers are chasing the wrong dream.
DPReview has just published an interesting video by Nigel Danson. He usually shoots with a Zed 7, but he took a Canon 250D and 18-55 on some outings, and then printed some. In his opinion, the results were of professional standard.
@Rob S The old 4/3 and m4/3 sensors have an optical density of 315 dpi. The newer 350 dpi while the Canon 5D only 72 dpi (Apple Mac 1984 standard 🤣 ). In practice, if you do not make large prints, it makes no sense to take pictures more than 5mpx because it is enough even for a 4K screen.
Thanks! All cameras have reached an IQ standard that is usually more than we need... the handling of the gear and talent of the photographer make the difference.
Brilliant analysis. UA-camr gear heads obsess about sensor size, megapixels, MFT charts and hardware in general because that's what gets the clicks but the reality is if the picture is not good enough the limiting factor is usually the photographer.
When this video appeared in my timeline I first thought ‘not again, another print size m43 video’ but your video turned out to be very good and added value, thank you! One remark regarding your ‘10% crop from a wildlife shot’ example: Yes, if I would have taken the shot with the latest 61mp Sony a7r iv i could crop the hell out of it, but if I would have been out with a m43 camera I would have been able to cary a very long lens without the need of special large photo bag.
You reinforce my experiences exactly. I don’t make larger than 20 x 24 prints from my EM5/2, and no one has ever commented on any lack of sharpness or dynamic range. For me the portability of MFT systems is more important than megapixels. In addition, I make 12 x16 prints from my iPhone 7, and they are absolutely acceptable and when I challenge friends to guess which camera was used, no one can definitely decide.
Did a similar test between my D800 and an E-M5 just before choosing to switch to MFT for good! It is indeed surprising how close the output is between cameras of such different resolution. Well presented and practical video as usual!
I‘m just a hobbyist, like most people debating the usefulness of micro four thirds. Just for fun, I printed a 20 Megapixel Image from my LUMIX GX-9 shot with the 12-32 kit lens ad 1,40m at the long side. If I had the space, I‘d be more than happy to hang it up, even to view at fairly close distance. Most „normal“ people won‘t see any difference between this and a 40 megapixel image shot on „full frame“. I would be so happy if people didn’t mistake „not quite as good in low light“ for „completely unusable“ and knew more about the sizes we‘re talking about when we say „large prints“.
Fantastic! Thanks for that! I love seeing these kinds of stories! My mentor printed billboard ad photos with his 5MP camera. All in the eye of the beholder and yes for the love 'o' Mutt, don't A-B things.
Several years ago I photographed that same skyline from the west. I used a D7200 with Tamron 17-50. A year later I photographed the same scene with a D750 with Tamron 24-70. Comparing these images on my screen at pixel level, the smaller sensor of the D7200 actually looked to be sharper on fine detail than the full frame sensor with the same megapixel count.
Thank you, Joseph, for this down to earth comparison. Most photographers nowedays are more concerned about pixel peeping at >200% on their 4K monitors than actually taking photographs (at least on yt). I first thought the mp race was over, we had the dynamic range rush, now that every camera has about 12 to 15 stops of DR (at base ISO), the manufacturers marketting departments started a new MP race on their camera systems. Arguably the major advantage is more room to crop an image, if you have good optics. I recently dove back into the m43 world with a OM-D E-M1mk2 paired with pro and semi pro optics. For a project I had to print a so so image to DIN A2 size (16.5"x23.4") by request of my art teacher, the image came out fine. I mostly print my images and I am very happy with the results so far. I recently reprinted a Leica M8 picture (10Mp) to the same DIN A2 size without any difficulties. I still have FF equipment for specific purposes like e.g. black cats in a coalmine :-)...
The old 4/3 and m4/3 sensors have an optical density of 315 dpi. The newer 350 dpi while the Canon 5D only 72 dpi (Apple Mac 1984 standard 🤣 ). In practice, if you do not make large prints, it makes no sense to take pictures more than 5mpx because it is enough even for a 4K screen.
Here in 2021 I have DXO Deep Prime and lens sharpening along with Topaz upscaling. The print sizes could be even bigger. These programs will keep my Olympus camera images as good as desired until they bite the dust. Nice videos.
I have done plenty of 16" and 24" printing from micro four thirds without issues. Last month I printed three 4ft by 7.5ft tall (approx) prints for a triptych series gallery showing - not without some trepidation mind you. The images were shot from an Olympus OMD EM5 II. They turned out stellar.
Back in the day (I'm talking 1980 for me), if I wanted to make a 3 foot wide print from a 35mm negative, I'd have to shoot PanF or Kodak TechPan and even then, my Olympus OM-D E-M5 would outresolve that. MFT cameras and sensors are capable of producing excellent large prints in most scenarios. For that tiny percentage of photographers who actually NEED more resolution, then you have full frame or medium format at your disposal. MFT has some disadvantage, but for me, the small size and light weight (not to mention less cost) are huge pluses for me.
The old 4/3 and m4/3 sensors have an optical density of 315 dpi. The newer 350 dpi while the Canon 5D only 72 dpi. In practice, if you do not make large prints, it makes no sense to take pictures more than 5mpx because it is enough even for a 4K screen.
Great to hear this kind of comparison! I just got back from a trip to the North Woods near the U.P. on the WI side and shot my e-m1 mark 3, and a Sony a7r3. I can definitely say that the dynamic range of the Sony was it's strength, however, many of the pics I took with the Olympus were my favorites, probably because of the colors and the lens qualities. I am doing a lot of landscape/wildlife shots, unless I needed the resolution and extra dynamic range, I prefer to use my mft. Oh should mention, that for astro shots of the milky way, the Sony definitely had an advantage (although I am not super advanced at astro yet).
My first digital camera, which my company bought for me, was a 2.1 megapixel Kodak DC220. I don't think I would get away with making any wall sized prints from it but at the time I did do company portraits, product photography for brochures and online, and of course recording company and industry events and no complaints from anyone about image quality.
How I wish other photography channels talked this much sense, and concentrated on what they were shooting, instead of the sensor size. Oh well what ever blows you hair back !!
If you "raise" the files taken by the 3/4 cameras then what you are implying is 1-that the original 3/4 files could not compete with those obtained by the bigger sensors used, 2-that you needed to boost/process the 3/4 to match the other images obtained from bigger sensor... so what we are judging now is the efficiency of the software used in order to boost the original files.
I agree to 100%! For most of us 8-20MP are far enough - for nearly all purposes there is no practical difference between 36-61 MP full frame and 16-20MP mFT! But many inexperienced amateurs believe they would become a better photographer with a 36-61MP full frame camera - and of course the marketing departments of Canon, Nikon and Sony reinforce them in that belief. That's why I don't shoot any longer with full frame, but with the Olympus E-M1 Mk III and 10 Zuiko- lenses. It's more compact, lighter, and in most situations I don't need a tripod any more. And also very important for my landscape photography: I do not have to care about the weather. And last but not least there is a wide choice of about 130 native lenses for mFT - some of them of excellent build- and optical quality.
Are all your Zuiko lenses the new MFT digital ones or do you have any old Zuiko lenses used on film cameras? I'm thinking about what I've just spent on lenses this year. Four new ones but the first two of those took the whole enjoyment of the cameras and photography a whole leap further. The second two arrived last weekend and included the 60mm macro lens. Now I'm broke!🙄🤣 I'm guessing that you most likely have a bunch of PRO lenses since you mentioned the weather.☔🌧⛈🌨🌦⚡☃️💧🌀🌈🌥🌤🌞📷
Being on a budget, I started in MFT with the EM10 Mark ii in around 2017. Seeing and handling this tiny, jewel like camera in the ahoo blew me away. It was probably similar for someone buying a new OM1 in 1972 or a new OM2 in 1975. I really started to love the camera when I got the 17mm f/1.8. Since shooting some events for favours and for fun I was fully hooked and have added to my lenses. I'm not going to reach 10 though! I did enjoy using one or two legacy OM Zuiko lenses for a while that I had from long ago - but the response of the new ones and the autofocus make them much more usable in many situations.
The old 4/3 and m4/3 sensors have an optical density of 315 dpi. The newer 350 dpi while the Canon 5D only 72 dpi. In practice, if you do not make large prints, it makes no sense to take pictures more than 5mpx because it is enough even for a 4K screen. Resolutions of the order of 8-20mpx are needed only for large photos and posters.
The biggest problem is that most people posting on forums are not professionals, many are techno-gearheads -- and want to compare everything at pixel level. Clients never do that. So the question is, can I use m4/3's to produce a 30X40 in. canvas portrait that will look stunning when hanging on a client's wall -- the answer is yes. I had a corporate shoot for an Omni Resort where I needed to do an indoor portrait of 215 employees -- the client wanted large prints for their 12 corporate offices and smaller prints for managers. I positioned them on 3 sets of bleachers, used 3 - 400 watt sec. monolights with shoot thru umbrellas, and shot multiple series of 5 pano shots in portrait orientation using my Olympus E-M1 Mk1 mounted on a panorama tripod head -- then stitched everything in Photoshop. The results were amazing, with tons of detail -- the client was ecstatic with the finished product, and it resulted in one of my biggest sales ever. So I simply laugh at the endless forum arguments about m4/3's. In the end you just need to use what works for you and what gives you enjoyment.
To be honest, I think the image compression artefacts or noise reduction mushing can give more deterioration to the image than lower megapixels unles you're cropping and magnifying big.
Great video! The "megapixel wars" continue in the marketing of cameras. It's much better to spend $$ on good lenses than a new camera body with the latest and greatest sensor. But, alas, the "mine is bigger than yours" hype continues.
if you're concerned about resolution and fine detail from a 4/3 file, turn it into a Tiff. and presto, huge 100meg plus file with all the detail preserved.
Chagrin Valley-Web Chagrin Valley-Web Same question as before. Converting to TIFF doesn’t add detail. It doesn’t improve print resolution. It does provide a lossless format with support for considerations like 16 bit color, but here we are still discarding data we had from any original RAW file. In fact, we can save file size and keep more information by remaining in the original RAW format. TIFF becomes more important once storing certain files (e.g. with smooth gradients that may be subject to bending if converted to an 8-bit JPG) after working in Photoshop.
A.. series - each size has SQRT(2) = 1.4 HxW relation. Each next size has 2x the area. A4 has about 1' long side that becomes the short side of A3. So A3 has 1.4' long side that becomes the short side of A2. Or, A2 has a 2' long side.
Many thanks for this comparison. I did a similar test where I compared a standard shot from my EM-1 Mk 2 with a high res shot from the same camera. I upscaled the resolution of the standard shot in ON1 Photo Raw then printed out 200dpi and 300dpi crops. If anything, the standard shot (upscaled) was better than the the high res shot. Because of this, I don't use the high res feature any more. Like you suggest, if I need an especially high resolution image, I'll either upscale it in post or shoot a pano.
My first try at high res. Underwhelmed. ua-cam.com/video/lAoU5ORZwy0/v-deo.html Bad subject and I didnt look that closely at the fine details. Later, I realised the roof and chimney were considerably improved.
My second attempt at high res mode. Significant / large improvement seen. EM5 Mk iii, so will be virtually same as your EM1 Mk ii. ua-cam.com/video/sNLykjmzDIk/v-deo.html
To compare closely, I didnt print but just transferred the jpegs directly to my phone and maced out the magnification. I shot RAW + jpeg LSF 20Mp and high res in RAW + jpeg 50 Mp F and 25 MP F with the EM1 Mark iii.
Great video as always. I often crop in over 50% and my images come out great on print and on the web. My usual print size is A2. Thanks as always for sharing this info. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 oh btw I use an OMD EM1 Mkii
Totally agree, until you push that ISO to 800 plus. Had to jump to full frame because those m43 files just start falling apart. Sucks, cause man I love my Oly!
Hi Joseph thanks for your great videos- Im in the UK and have the mark 2, but questioning if I should just trade it in ( gut feel) to omX which is larger but seems to be magic value now and very rugged? Im wanting to explore nature, urban landscapes and some abstract fine art stuff….ambient light with least amount or zero flash and printable..
I can only answer for myself. I have owned many, many cameras over the years and the E-M1x is hands down the best camera I've owned. It is a feature rich camera that is built like a tank, and has amazingly effective IBIS. I have the Olympus 75-300mm lens, and I used to have to shoot on a tripod to get very sharp results. Earlier this evening I was getting consistently sharp hand held results at 1/2 Sec at full zoom -- a 600mm equivalent. You can can check the math, but that's at least 8 stops from what I calculate. I often leave my compact, light carbon fiber tripod at home these days. I'm a retired professional photographer, and now do occasional print exhibits/sales and shoot mostly scenic, nature, and wildlife.
Thanks, I enjoy your videos and your realistic, enthusiastic outlook about Olympus and MFT. I'm sure the place you print from is also important. Where do you get prints? What should you worry about when ordering prints or types of prints? Do you suggest avoiding certain printing companies? Anyone is free to comment and offer suggestions. I've had good luck with Nations photo's with prints, but I'm also printing to make improvements in my photography and photo processing not always as a final print.
A1 is about 595x840mm about 23.4 x 33.1 inches. A0 =1189mm x 841mm = 1 square metre area. A million sq mm. Genius. The long side is 1.41x the short side. Square root of 2, so when it's cut in halves across the long side it's still a ratio of 1.41:1 (or 0.71 to 1 the other way) and is of course half the area and half the weight. Someone got it so right there with that design. A4 = 297 x 210 mm, fairly close to 12"x8" and is 1/16 the area of A0 and 1/16 the weight so a sheet of A4 80gsm paper weight 5 grams. Those Rötring technical drawing pen were always at ratios of 1.41:1 too, like f-stops. So if you used a 1.4mm pen to draw and A3 and photocopied it 71% to A4 it would look the same as if you drew it on A4 with a 1mm pen. 71% being 1/square root of 2.
When you send files to the printer what format do you use? Last year I did a test, using RAW images I'd shot with a Nikon D7100. I converted the images to .jpg and .tiff formats. This was the first time I had converted RAW images to .tiff, and I was surprised at how big the files were. I had all the files printed at my local Costco photo center on 11" x 14" (roughly A3) glossy paper. I could not tell any difference between the .jpg and .tiff prints. I'd appreciate knowing what file format you use for printing.
11 inches printing 300ppi means 3300 pixels for the shorter edge and 4200 for the longer both served by ths E-M10! Tiff files are useful for two reasons: 1) if no raw image is preserved tiff offers a loss-free storage format 2) if the printer offers enough resolution and color and the print size is enormous
I remember going a while back to a Martin Parr's exhibition. There was a lot of prints, some very old from a b&w 35 mm camera taken in his youth, some rather recent from at least a medium format if not a land camera. Well, of course, the IQ had increased. But what made him famous was style, not IQ, and his youth work was already every bit as Martin Parr-esque as the recent stuff.
I have never made a print larger than 11x14 on my Olympus and that was with the original 16megapixels EM5. My EM1.2 clearly has better IQ and so I am expecting even better prints but I just got it and haven’t made a print yet.
The old 4/3 and m4/3 sensors have an optical density of 315 dpi. The newer 350 dpi while the Canon 5D only 72 dpi (Apple Mac 1984 standard 🤣 ). In practice, if you do not make large prints, it makes no sense to take pictures more than 5mpx because it is enough even for a 4K screen.
It's always amusing to see camera manufacturers engage in megapixel wars...as if more makes a better camera (regardless of lens used!) and therefore a better photographer. Unless one is going to make a print the size of a billboard, it's best to keep you money instead of upgrading to the latest and greatest. i.e gear envy. The 16 megapixel em2 takes great images. I"ll keep using it for now and stay out the the hype.
Some photographers are also to blame for the megapixel wars because they harp about how much megapixels camera A has over camera B. Manufacturers know this and pile on the pixels knowing that photographers will buy their latest cameras.
My bad, ressed up is the process of telling photoshop to make the image bigger by interpolation. It’s never as good as having that size/resolution natively but it allows us to give the printer more data for a really big print.
Great video, thanks for the hard work. What do you think about using a MFT camera like the GH4 for print media (magazine)? I got a possible job for that coming up but I don't know if my camera has enough pixel density for product photos in print media. I mostly use it for video...
Joseph, well said .... I have no comments . However the 20Mp will hunt OLUMPUS for long time and marketing-wise it is a big handicap. People just want to see more MPx, just because everyone else does it.
The old 4/3 and m4/3 sensors have an optical density of 315 dpi. The newer 350 dpi while the Canon 5D only 72 dpi (Apple Mac 1984 standard 🤣 ). In practice, if you do not make large prints, it makes no sense to take pictures more than 5mpx because it is enough even for a 4K screen. Resolutions of the order of 8-20mpx are needed only for large photos and posters.
Jarle Abelhaug Eek Actually if you visit the Dropbox link in the description there is an EM10.3 for comparison. Honestly it’s right in the mix, it is possible to see differences but only in certain use cases.
Joe mentions uprezzing. I did not catch how he did this. Software, stiching? If it is software then maybe he is judging how well the software is working at uprezzing. Also, if it is stiching then maybe he is evaluating how well the stiching looks. Can someone inform me what he is doing?
Well billboards don’t require much resolution which is why iPhones at 12MP are used for Apple billboard ads - the reason being that viewing distance is critical and we never get close enough to a billboard to really examine the details. Now a fine art print is another matter because many people love to examine them closely in a gallery or home and that is where (for some) resolution is an advantage. For me, a m43 image at 20MP does really well for 99% of my jobs even at wall print sizes and I can always stitch, use High res mode or otherwise plan if I know I’m going (for example) above 6ft/2m across. And if the assignment is best solved with another camera, then I’ll do that as needed.
I printed 50x70cm with an E-1 file not too long ago. Resolution has exceeded the needs of actual photographers long ago. Not to talk about online presentation - even 2mpx is enough for Instagram
I have a friend who only shoots with a Sony 7RII (now 7RIII) with its 42 MP sensor, because he likes to go lightweight and most of the time only has his 35 mm Loxia with him - and the rest he does by cropping, and there 42 MP gives him lots of room for doing so. Personally, I prefer the smaller files (and have some small lenses with me that suit my needs) of a 20 or 24 MP sensor, and I'm completely happy with the results, but some like high resolutions … :-)
You know, when I worked at Sears Portraits during college, our standard studio cameras were Olympus E1's. I also liked that we had a little more freedom to change settings, where at Picture People and Lifetouch they actually gave us cameras with aperture rings on the lenses, glued in place at F/8.
I'm completely happy with the 20 MP files I get out of my Olympus Pen F, and the hi-res shots I did (80 MP, realistically around 60 MP "real" resolution) to date were never used. The 24 MP that come out of my Sony A7 are only slightly better (it is the highlight retention that makes all the difference, not resolution). That said, 24 MP is the sweet spot of resolution for me, and yes, stitching can do the job in many situations (even large group shots if done fast enough; the hand-held hires mode of the E-M1X might also work in this situation if the shutter speed can be high enough).
The old 4/3 and m4/3 sensors have an optical density of 315 dpi. The newer 350 dpi while the Canon 5D only 72 dpi. In practice, if you do not make large prints, it makes no sense to take pictures more than 5mpx because it is enough even for a 4K screen. Resolutions of the order of 8-20mpx are needed only for large photos and posters.
I know the size of A1 so thank you for that. But when using imperial units, please include some metric units as well. You have an international audience and you americans are the only country left who still live in the dark ages of measurements. Its such a hassle pausing the video and doing the conversions. Just a tip.
One upon a time, the Canon 5D Classic was considered one of the best cameras in the world by pros. Its images have appeared in countless millions of papers, magazine, editorials, blogs, and bill boards, every where in the world. it has 12 mega pixels. I rest my case.
The old 4/3 and m4/3 sensors have an optical density of 315 dpi. The newer 350 dpi while the Canon 5D only 72 dpi. In practice, if you do not make large prints, it makes no sense to take pictures more than 5mpx because it is enough even for a 4K screen. Resolutions of the order of 8-20mpx are needed only for large photos and posters.
Recently discovered your You Tube channel and been enjoying your posts. Great subjects and content. Thank you. I have been trying to find info on in camera photo stacking for the Olympus e-m10III camera. My Lumix g85 can do in camera photo stacking but can not find a mention in the Olympus menu. Do you have any info on this subject?
As far as I know, the OMD EM10 MKIII has focus bracketing but not focus stacking. You can access focus bracketing from the AP menu, it's a bit hidden because you must scroll all the way to the right to find it. Maybe it'll come as a firmware update in the future but until then I the stack will require a computer for processing.
Over my bed I have a 90cm wide picture, taken with the E-M5 and the 45mm/1.8 lens (16 mp), hand-held. It is very nice and nobody will complain about it's resolution. But it is viewed from 2m distance. On another wall, where we have to pass very closely (don't have that much space in Europe like in Texas...) there I have a 120cm wide picture, taken with E-M1 II in tripod highres mode and the old, but very sharp 50mm/2 lens. You can put your nose directly on it and examine the smallest details, if you like. But that is only for my own personal pleasure…
I keep it simple for almost everything, I just use Photoshop - Image Resize - and turn on Preserve Details 2.0. The only time I might not do this is when I'm working with a lab on a very large print and they prefer to do the resizing themselves.
Nice test. What about at higher ISO like 1600 or 3200? How big could you print then before seeing noticeable differences? I’m interested to see how the noise would compare.
Another great video, Joe. One question, though. What is your method for doing the upres? Do you do it directly in Photoshop or an equivalent, or using outboard software like Qimage?
Can't see why not! Give it a go. As meantioned in the video, keep in mind the viewing distance. A1 you would view quite a distance away. I highly doubt you would notice any meaningful degradation! If you are really concerned, just print it onto canvas :) hides it all
In a future video I’d like to see you address the high res mode. Frankly my attempts with the E-M1 II hardly justify carrying the tripod. The results are so slightly better that I’m disappointed. Maybe I’m missing a step somewhere. The other thing is the high res mode gets greyed out occasionally and is not available. Any insights would be appreciated. Thanks
Also, I found in my short test that the ISO may matter. I could see differences between normal and high res at ISO 200 and 1600 but of course the images at 200 were better in all modes. 25Mp high res was marginally better than LSF 20Mp even though the file takes up less data and 50 Mp high res was a lot better to my eyes. ua-cam.com/video/sNLykjmzDIk/v-deo.html Lens quality and optimal aperture choice will also be factor but you might have covered all those already of course! I shot with the 17mm f/1.8 at f/5.
Does high res get greyed out if you already selected an aperture above f/8? Also I think a good tripod and non windy day are also essential. By good tripod, a short tripod on a large piece of rock or a wall would probably be at least as good. Plus using the delay feature. I would suggest 4 seconds. I did my comparison using self-timer or delay of 4s for all images and silent shutter mode on all images. ua-cam.com/video/sNLykjmzDIk/v-deo.html
To compare closely, I didnt print but just transferred the jpegs directly to my phone and maced out the magnification. I shot RAW + jpeg LSF 20Mp and high res in RAW + jpeg 50 Mp F and 25 MP F with the EM1 Mark iii.
My second attempt at high res mode. Significant / large improvement seen. EM5 Mk iii, so will be virtually same as your EM1 Mk ii. ua-cam.com/video/sNLykjmzDIk/v-deo.html
My first try at high res. Underwhelmed. ua-cam.com/video/lAoU5ORZwy0/v-deo.html Bad subject and I didnt look that closely at the fine details. Later, I realised the roof and chimney were considerably improved. Bad video too but I posted it to compare with the next one.
Three points. One is that you had to res up the Olympus pictures. Two is, assuming you just print say, 13 X 19 or 30 X 26 and no res up with the Olympus, how would they do? And three is as you said, cropping, I have to crop most of the time and could be as much as 50% to 67% cropped with wildlife and birds. How would the Olympus's stand up to that. I would be cropping to get the subject larger in the frame to begin with.
I shoot everything in raw but there is no difference in resolution. Now the EM1x, EM1 MKII and PenF allow for high-resolution shooting which takes a series of shots and creates either a jpg or raw file which is higher resolution than the standard 20MP.
@@JosephEllisPhotographer Thanks. I always shoot jpeg for convenience and smaller files. Good to know I'm not losing resolution. I have an OM-D (16 MP) and an old Pen EPL1 (only 12 MP) but plenty for vacation pictures.I have found that lens sharpness and camera (noise) makes more of a difference than number of MP when prints are enlarged. That is why I like to shoot with primary lenses where possible.
I got a 40" 4k screen and my 24mp pictures are flawless in full screen mode and if the picture is good they are flawless in pixel pip mode too. 40"... I can't even think how big a 100mp picutre can be printed on.
The Nikon D2X and D3 own 12 MP, the D4 16 MP and had been used by famous pbotographers for famous images assepted by notorious pixel peepers as National Geographic! Yes and remember - it is the decisive moment that counts as Henrie Cartier-Bresson stated ...
Great video. I love the monochrome look of your office (i kind of copied it in mine humble little space). The soda can is very distracting. As a photographer you know how an unnecessary object can take a lot away from a brilliant photo. Even if you are going for sponsorship, pop it out at the beginning, set it off frame and then bring it back for a satisfying drink at the end. Then it will not keep drawing the eye from where it needs to be. Your doing great, please keep it up.
Micro Four Thirds "M4/3" gets a really bad rap, so does cropped sensors of 1.5 or 1.6 Sad but true! You need full-frame cameras to be a professional photographer! This is false! I'm so glad you did this video and bring some Truth and knowledge to the "sheep" of photographers. If you watch @Joe Edelman He had an image printed much bigger for Olympus. Also, @Mark Wallace many years ago did a video about how big can you print based on viewing distances. Thanks
The old 4/3 and m4/3 sensors have an optical density of 315 dpi. The newer 350 dpi while the Canon 5D only 72 dpi (Apple Mac 1984 standard 🤣 ). In practice, if you do not make large prints, it makes no sense to take pictures more than 5mpx because it is enough even for a 4K screen. Resolutions of the order of 8-20mpx are needed only for large photos and posters.
Great, lot of truth here. I take lots of professional photographs with Olympus Micro Four Thirds with no problems at all. How much did Pepsi pay you for the product placement Joseph?
Great video. One thing I’d add is that the PRINTER also enters into the equation. Each printer has it’s own resolution, it’s own software and it’s own “look”, even though we don’t want to talk about that. The camera may be wonderful (any brand) but the printer has the final touch to the printed image.
Sony used to have a printing service called Image Station. I ordered some FANTASTIC 20"x30" prints from that service from 8mp files, I mounted them as part of my senior art exhibit and still have them today, framed. I just sent them the JPEGs (they were good files, but I didn't have RAW editing software besides the included camera software and iPhoto), wish I knew what they did with them to make the final prints.
I own a recent model FF camera and a recent model m4/3 camera. The IQ is visibly better on the bigger one. I keep both, because the m4/3 has it's advantages, namely being small and easier to carry around. But in terms of IQ and which print is looking better - you lost me, man. I see the files, I see the prints, the difference is there.
The old 4/3 and m4/3 sensors have an optical density of 315 dpi. The newer 350 dpi while the Canon 5D only 72 dpi (Apple Mac 1984 standard 🤣 ). In practice, if you do not make large prints, it makes no sense to take pictures more than 5mpx because it is enough even for a 4K screen. Resolutions of the order of 8-20mpx are needed only for large photos and posters.
"I res'd up the Olympus files..." That's the problem. Printing from native resolution is best without having to manipulate the files by "adding" resolution by interpolation? Thank you, no.
Great light over a great camera every time. A good lens over megapixels every time. An interesting subject over any of the above. Most photographers are chasing the wrong dream.
DPReview has just published an interesting video by Nigel Danson. He usually shoots with a Zed 7, but he took a Canon 250D and 18-55 on some outings, and then printed some. In his opinion, the results were of professional standard.
👍👍👍
@Rob S The old 4/3 and m4/3 sensors have an optical density of 315 dpi. The newer 350 dpi while the Canon 5D only 72 dpi (Apple Mac 1984 standard 🤣 ).
In practice, if you do not make large prints, it makes no sense to take pictures more than 5mpx because it is enough even for a 4K screen.
Thanks! All cameras have reached an IQ standard that is usually more than we need... the handling of the gear and talent of the photographer make the difference.
Brilliant analysis. UA-camr gear heads obsess about sensor size, megapixels, MFT charts and hardware in general because that's what gets the clicks but the reality is if the picture is not good enough the limiting factor is usually the photographer.
When this video appeared in my timeline I first thought ‘not again, another print size m43 video’ but your video turned out to be very good and added value, thank you! One remark regarding your ‘10% crop from a wildlife shot’ example: Yes, if I would have taken the shot with the latest 61mp Sony a7r iv i could crop the hell out of it, but if I would have been out with a m43 camera I would have been able to cary a very long lens without the need of special large photo bag.
With my 5Ds, I can shoot at 600mm AND crop the hell out of it. It's heavy though.
You reinforce my experiences exactly. I don’t make larger than 20 x 24 prints from my EM5/2, and no one has ever commented on any lack of sharpness or dynamic range. For me the portability of MFT systems is more important than megapixels. In addition, I make 12 x16 prints from my iPhone 7, and they are absolutely acceptable and when I challenge friends to guess which camera was used, no one can definitely decide.
Did a similar test between my D800 and an E-M5 just before choosing to switch to MFT for good! It is indeed surprising how close the output is between cameras of such different resolution. Well presented and practical video as usual!
I‘m just a hobbyist, like most people debating the usefulness of micro four thirds. Just for fun, I printed a 20 Megapixel Image from my LUMIX GX-9 shot with the 12-32 kit lens ad 1,40m at the long side. If I had the space, I‘d be more than happy to hang it up, even to view at fairly close distance. Most „normal“ people won‘t see any difference between this and a 40 megapixel image shot on „full frame“. I would be so happy if people didn’t mistake „not quite as good in low light“ for „completely unusable“ and knew more about the sizes we‘re talking about when we say „large prints“.
Fantastic! Thanks for that! I love seeing these kinds of stories! My mentor printed billboard ad photos with his 5MP camera. All in the eye of the beholder and yes for the love 'o' Mutt, don't A-B things.
Several years ago I photographed that same skyline from the west. I used a D7200 with Tamron 17-50. A year later I photographed the same scene with a D750 with Tamron 24-70. Comparing these images on my screen at pixel level, the smaller sensor of the D7200 actually looked to be sharper on fine detail than the full frame sensor with the same megapixel count.
Thank you, Joseph, for this down to earth comparison. Most photographers nowedays are more concerned about pixel peeping at >200% on their 4K monitors than actually taking photographs (at least on yt). I first thought the mp race was over, we had the dynamic range rush, now that every camera has about 12 to 15 stops of DR (at base ISO), the manufacturers marketting departments started a new MP race on their camera systems. Arguably the major advantage is more room to crop an image, if you have good optics. I recently dove back into the m43 world with a OM-D E-M1mk2 paired with pro and semi pro optics. For a project I had to print a so so image to DIN A2 size (16.5"x23.4") by request of my art teacher, the image came out fine. I mostly print my images and I am very happy with the results so far.
I recently reprinted a Leica M8 picture (10Mp) to the same DIN A2 size without any difficulties.
I still have FF equipment for specific purposes like e.g. black cats in a coalmine :-)...
The old 4/3 and m4/3 sensors have an optical density of 315 dpi. The newer 350 dpi while the Canon 5D only 72 dpi (Apple Mac 1984 standard 🤣 ).
In practice, if you do not make large prints, it makes no sense to take pictures more than 5mpx because it is enough even for a 4K screen.
I’ve never had any problems shooting and printing with m43, despite what the internet says!
True! The resolution of film camera prints look great on the wall (and they are grainy)! High resolution is for fashion and product photography.
had to pause and marvel at the shot @7:59 ... that's a dream shot!!
Here in 2021 I have DXO Deep Prime and lens sharpening along with Topaz upscaling. The print sizes could be even bigger. These programs will keep my Olympus camera images as good as desired until they bite the dust. Nice videos.
I have done plenty of 16" and 24" printing from micro four thirds without issues. Last month I printed three 4ft by 7.5ft tall (approx) prints for a triptych series gallery showing - not without some trepidation mind you. The images were shot from an Olympus OMD EM5 II. They turned out stellar.
Did you use the High Resolution mode for the picture or just the regular 20mp?!
@@c.s.n.7695 The 20mp.
@@AlexZafer Ok good to hear.
@@c.s.n.7695 I should clarify, 16mp. The prints I'm referring to come from the OM-D E-M5 Mark II.
Which further proves that too many photographers get far too hung up on mega pixel counts.
Back in the day (I'm talking 1980 for me), if I wanted to make a 3 foot wide print from a 35mm negative, I'd have to shoot PanF or Kodak TechPan and even then, my Olympus OM-D E-M5 would outresolve that. MFT cameras and sensors are capable of producing excellent large prints in most scenarios. For that tiny percentage of photographers who actually NEED more resolution, then you have full frame or medium format at your disposal. MFT has some disadvantage, but for me, the small size and light weight (not to mention less cost) are huge pluses for me.
The old 4/3 and m4/3 sensors have an optical density of 315 dpi. The newer 350 dpi while the Canon 5D only 72 dpi.
In practice, if you do not make large prints, it makes no sense to take pictures more than 5mpx because it is enough even for a 4K screen.
Great to hear this kind of comparison! I just got back from a trip to the North Woods near the U.P. on the WI side and shot my e-m1 mark 3, and a Sony a7r3. I can definitely say that the dynamic range of the Sony was it's strength, however, many of the pics I took with the Olympus were my favorites, probably because of the colors and the lens qualities. I am doing a lot of landscape/wildlife shots, unless I needed the resolution and extra dynamic range, I prefer to use my mft. Oh should mention, that for astro shots of the milky way, the Sony definitely had an advantage (although I am not super advanced at astro yet).
My first digital camera, which my company bought for me, was a 2.1 megapixel Kodak DC220. I don't think I would get away with making any wall sized prints from it but at the time I did do company portraits, product photography for brochures and online, and of course recording company and industry events and no complaints from anyone about image quality.
I have printed a 36 inch panorama taken with my Olympus OMD em5 with the 12-50 lens. It is absolutely pin sharp despite also being hand held.
How I wish other photography channels talked this much sense, and concentrated on what they were shooting, instead of the sensor size.
Oh well what ever blows you hair back !!
Simply brilliant!
Great 'real world' advice indeed ! Thanks
If you "raise" the files taken by the 3/4 cameras then what you are implying is 1-that the original 3/4 files could not compete with those obtained by the bigger sensors used, 2-that you needed to boost/process the 3/4 to match the other images obtained from bigger sensor... so what we are judging now is the efficiency of the software used in order to boost the original files.
I agree to 100%! For most of us 8-20MP are far enough - for nearly all purposes there is no practical difference between 36-61 MP full frame and 16-20MP mFT! But many inexperienced amateurs believe they would become a better photographer with a 36-61MP full frame camera - and of course the marketing departments of Canon, Nikon and Sony reinforce them in that belief. That's why I don't shoot any longer with full frame, but with the Olympus E-M1 Mk III and 10 Zuiko- lenses. It's more compact, lighter, and in most situations I don't need a tripod any more. And also very important for my landscape photography: I do not have to care about the weather. And last but not least there is a wide choice of about 130 native lenses for mFT - some of them of excellent build- and optical quality.
Are all your Zuiko lenses the new MFT digital ones or do you have any old Zuiko lenses used on film cameras? I'm thinking about what I've just spent on lenses this year. Four new ones but the first two of those took the whole enjoyment of the cameras and photography a whole leap further. The second two arrived last weekend and included the 60mm macro lens. Now I'm broke!🙄🤣
I'm guessing that you most likely have a bunch of PRO lenses since you mentioned the weather.☔🌧⛈🌨🌦⚡☃️💧🌀🌈🌥🌤🌞📷
Being on a budget, I started in MFT with the EM10 Mark ii in around 2017. Seeing and handling this tiny, jewel like camera in the ahoo blew me away. It was probably similar for someone buying a new OM1 in 1972 or a new OM2 in 1975. I really started to love the camera when I got the 17mm f/1.8. Since shooting some events for favours and for fun I was fully hooked and have added to my lenses. I'm not going to reach 10 though! I did enjoy using one or two legacy OM Zuiko lenses for a while that I had from long ago - but the response of the new ones and the autofocus make them much more usable in many situations.
The old 4/3 and m4/3 sensors have an optical density of 315 dpi. The newer 350 dpi while the Canon 5D only 72 dpi.
In practice, if you do not make large prints, it makes no sense to take pictures more than 5mpx because it is enough even for a 4K screen.
Resolutions of the order of 8-20mpx are needed only for large photos and posters.
The biggest problem is that most people posting on forums are not professionals, many are techno-gearheads -- and want to compare everything at pixel level. Clients never do that. So the question is, can I use m4/3's to produce a 30X40 in. canvas portrait that will look stunning when hanging on a client's wall -- the answer is yes. I had a corporate shoot for an Omni Resort where I needed to do an indoor portrait of 215 employees -- the client wanted large prints for their 12 corporate offices and smaller prints for managers. I positioned them on 3 sets of bleachers, used 3 - 400 watt sec. monolights with shoot thru umbrellas, and shot multiple series of 5 pano shots in portrait orientation using my Olympus E-M1 Mk1 mounted on a panorama tripod head -- then stitched everything in Photoshop. The results were amazing, with tons of detail -- the client was ecstatic with the finished product, and it resulted in one of my biggest sales ever. So I simply laugh at the endless forum arguments about m4/3's. In the end you just need to use what works for you and what gives you enjoyment.
To be honest, I think the image compression artefacts or noise reduction mushing can give more deterioration to the image than lower megapixels unles you're cropping and magnifying big.
Great video! The "megapixel wars" continue in the marketing of cameras. It's much better to spend $$ on good lenses than a new camera body with the latest and greatest sensor. But, alas, the "mine is bigger than yours" hype continues.
Joseph I use a Panasonic 16 mp camera and I shoot 3:2 ratio (14 mp) and I've printed 20 x 30 inches and the images are awe inspiring.
if you're concerned about resolution and fine detail from a 4/3 file, turn it into a Tiff. and presto, huge 100meg plus file with all the detail preserved.
Chagrin Valley-Web Curious what your thought process here is. Converting a file to a TIFF does not add detail. It simply preserves it.
I don't understand your comment. A raw file processed in Lightroom, Capture One etc loses absolutely no detail.
correct, but it makes it easier to print large and preserve the detail
Chagrin Valley-Web Chagrin Valley-Web Same question as before. Converting to TIFF doesn’t add detail. It doesn’t improve print resolution. It does provide a lossless format with support for considerations like 16 bit color, but here we are still discarding data we had from any original RAW file. In fact, we can save file size and keep more information by remaining in the original RAW format. TIFF becomes more important once storing certain files (e.g. with smooth gradients that may be subject to bending if converted to an 8-bit JPG) after working in Photoshop.
Excellent video Joseph!
A.. series - each size has SQRT(2) = 1.4 HxW relation. Each next size has 2x the area. A4 has about 1' long side that becomes the short side of A3. So A3 has 1.4' long side that becomes the short side of A2. Or, A2 has a 2' long side.
Pepsi ad placement hehe, they must be great sponsor man :)
Adding Pepsi to the final print improves contrast and resolution. Pepsi Max increases resolution.
Many thanks for this comparison. I did a similar test where I compared a standard shot from my EM-1 Mk 2 with a high res shot from the same camera. I upscaled the resolution of the standard shot in ON1 Photo Raw then printed out 200dpi and 300dpi crops. If anything, the standard shot (upscaled) was better than the the high res shot. Because of this, I don't use the high res feature any more. Like you suggest, if I need an especially high resolution image, I'll either upscale it in post or shoot a pano.
My first try at high res. Underwhelmed.
ua-cam.com/video/lAoU5ORZwy0/v-deo.html
Bad subject and I didnt look that closely at the fine details. Later, I realised the roof and chimney were considerably improved.
My second attempt at high res mode. Significant / large improvement seen. EM5 Mk iii, so will be virtually same as your EM1 Mk ii.
ua-cam.com/video/sNLykjmzDIk/v-deo.html
To compare closely, I didnt print but just transferred the jpegs directly to my phone and maced out the magnification. I shot RAW + jpeg LSF 20Mp and high res in RAW + jpeg 50 Mp F and 25 MP F with the EM1 Mark iii.
The first camera I know with pixel shift was Hasselblad, a few years ago. Sony and Panasonic both use it too, my G9 can do 80 megapixels.
Great video as always. I often crop in over 50% and my images come out great on print and on the web. My usual print size is A2. Thanks as always for sharing this info. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 oh btw I use an OMD EM1 Mkii
Oh it makes a difference. I may not see it, but deep down in my heart, the image quality demon whispers: "Your sensor was too small." 😂
Totally agree, until you push that ISO to 800 plus. Had to jump to full frame because those m43 files just start falling apart. Sucks, cause man I love my Oly!
Unless it's a setting you have no control on ...you should never use high ISO. 9 out of 10 settings would be easily controlled.
Hi Joseph thanks for your great videos- Im in the UK and have the mark 2, but questioning if I should just trade it in ( gut feel) to omX which is larger but seems to be magic value now and very rugged? Im wanting to explore nature, urban landscapes and some abstract fine art stuff….ambient light with least amount or zero flash and printable..
I can only answer for myself. I have owned many, many cameras over the years and the E-M1x is hands down the best camera I've owned. It is a feature rich camera that is built like a tank, and has amazingly effective IBIS. I have the Olympus 75-300mm lens, and I used to have to shoot on a tripod to get very sharp results. Earlier this evening I was getting consistently sharp hand held results at 1/2 Sec at full zoom -- a 600mm equivalent. You can can check the math, but that's at least 8 stops from what I calculate. I often leave my compact, light carbon fiber tripod at home these days. I'm a retired professional photographer, and now do occasional print exhibits/sales and shoot mostly scenic, nature, and wildlife.
Thanks, I enjoy your videos and your realistic, enthusiastic outlook about Olympus and MFT. I'm sure the place you print from is also important. Where do you get prints? What should you worry about when ordering prints or types of prints? Do you suggest avoiding certain printing companies? Anyone is free to comment and offer suggestions. I've had good luck with Nations photo's with prints, but I'm also printing to make improvements in my photography and photo processing not always as a final print.
A1 is about 595x840mm about 23.4 x 33.1 inches. A0 =1189mm x 841mm = 1 square metre area. A million sq mm.
Genius. The long side is 1.41x the short side. Square root of 2, so when it's cut in halves across the long side it's still a ratio of 1.41:1 (or 0.71 to 1 the other way) and is of course half the area and half the weight. Someone got it so right there with that design.
A4 = 297 x 210 mm, fairly close to 12"x8" and is 1/16 the area of A0 and 1/16 the weight so a sheet of A4 80gsm paper weight 5 grams. Those Rötring technical drawing pen were always at ratios of 1.41:1 too, like f-stops. So if you used a 1.4mm pen to draw and A3 and photocopied it 71% to A4 it would look the same as if you drew it on A4 with a 1mm pen. 71% being 1/square root of 2.
Great testing! 👍 I've always advocate for this concept.
Thanks for this great comparison!
A1 is the international standard, but we get your meaning 😅
Thanks for this video, was very helpful 🙏
Can you print A3 with a 12Mp MFT sensor camera i.e the Lumix LX100 ?
Yes, absolutely.
I didn't see it mentioned; which printer? How a printer/software interpolates pixels is a factor.
Sure, this was an Epson P800
When you send files to the printer what format do you use? Last year I did a test, using RAW images I'd shot with a Nikon D7100. I converted the images to .jpg and .tiff formats. This was the first time I had converted RAW images to .tiff, and I was surprised at how big the files were. I had all the files printed at my local Costco photo center on 11" x 14" (roughly A3) glossy paper. I could not tell any difference between the .jpg and .tiff prints. I'd appreciate knowing what file format you use for printing.
11 inches printing 300ppi means 3300 pixels for the shorter edge and 4200 for the longer both served by ths E-M10! Tiff files are useful for two reasons:
1) if no raw image is preserved tiff offers a loss-free storage format
2) if the printer offers enough resolution and color and the print size is enormous
@@WMedl Thank you!
I remember going a while back to a Martin Parr's exhibition. There was a lot of prints, some very old from a b&w 35 mm camera taken in his youth, some rather recent from at least a medium format if not a land camera. Well, of course, the IQ had increased. But what made him famous was style, not IQ, and his youth work was already every bit as Martin Parr-esque as the recent stuff.
I have never made a print larger than 11x14 on my Olympus and that was with the original 16megapixels EM5. My EM1.2 clearly has better IQ and so I am expecting even better prints but I just got it and haven’t made a print yet.
The old 4/3 and m4/3 sensors have an optical density of 315 dpi. The newer 350 dpi while the Canon 5D only 72 dpi (Apple Mac 1984 standard 🤣 ).
In practice, if you do not make large prints, it makes no sense to take pictures more than 5mpx because it is enough even for a 4K screen.
It's always amusing to see camera manufacturers engage in megapixel wars...as if more makes a better camera (regardless of lens used!) and therefore a better photographer. Unless one is going to make a print the size of a billboard, it's best to keep you money instead of upgrading to the latest and greatest. i.e gear envy. The 16 megapixel em2 takes great images. I"ll keep using it for now and stay out the the hype.
Some photographers are also to blame for the megapixel wars because they harp about how much megapixels camera A has over camera B. Manufacturers know this and pile on the pixels knowing that photographers will buy their latest cameras.
Great video, love your work! Confused by what you mean you resed up. What is that process
My bad, ressed up is the process of telling photoshop to make the image bigger by interpolation. It’s never as good as having that size/resolution natively but it allows us to give the printer more data for a really big print.
Great video, thanks for the hard work. What do you think about using a MFT camera like the GH4 for print media (magazine)? I got a possible job for that coming up but I don't know if my camera has enough pixel density for product photos in print media. I mostly use it for video...
Joseph, well said ....
I have no comments .
However the 20Mp will hunt OLUMPUS for long time and marketing-wise it is a big handicap. People just want to see more MPx, just because everyone else does it.
I just bought an Olympus Evolt E 500 MFT with 8, yes 8 mp, I think it will be more than enough, I seldomly, if never, print.
I have the same camera man, I want to start having prints. If you have printed some images. Can you please tell me how far/big can I print. Thanks
The old 4/3 and m4/3 sensors have an optical density of 315 dpi. The newer 350 dpi while the Canon 5D only 72 dpi (Apple Mac 1984 standard 🤣 ).
In practice, if you do not make large prints, it makes no sense to take pictures more than 5mpx because it is enough even for a 4K screen.
Resolutions of the order of 8-20mpx are needed only for large photos and posters.
Good. But what about the OM-D EM10 Mark 3 with its weak 16 megapixel chip?
Jarle Abelhaug Eek Actually if you visit the Dropbox link in the description there is an EM10.3 for comparison. Honestly it’s right in the mix, it is possible to see differences but only in certain use cases.
Joe mentions uprezzing. I did not catch how he did this. Software, stiching? If it is software then maybe he is judging how well the software is working at uprezzing. Also, if it is stiching then maybe he is evaluating how well the stiching looks. Can someone inform me what he is doing?
So true...love your phrases by the way: where your rubber hits the road; blows your hair back! 😂
Hello,
One photographer claims he printed a 48 foot x 14 food bilboard from an Olympus M43 camera... your thoughts?
Well billboards don’t require much resolution which is why iPhones at 12MP are used for Apple billboard ads - the reason being that viewing distance is critical and we never get close enough to a billboard to really examine the details.
Now a fine art print is another matter because many people love to examine them closely in a gallery or home and that is where (for some) resolution is an advantage. For me, a m43 image at 20MP does really well for 99% of my jobs even at wall print sizes and I can always stitch, use High res mode or otherwise plan if I know I’m going (for example) above 6ft/2m across. And if the assignment is best solved with another camera, then I’ll do that as needed.
I printed 50x70cm with an E-1 file not too long ago. Resolution has exceeded the needs of actual photographers long ago. Not to talk about online presentation - even 2mpx is enough for Instagram
I have a friend who only shoots with a Sony 7RII (now 7RIII) with its 42 MP sensor, because he likes to go lightweight and most of the time only has his 35 mm Loxia with him - and the rest he does by cropping, and there 42 MP gives him lots of room for doing so. Personally, I prefer the smaller files (and have some small lenses with me that suit my needs) of a 20 or 24 MP sensor, and I'm completely happy with the results, but some like high resolutions … :-)
You know, when I worked at Sears Portraits during college, our standard studio cameras were Olympus E1's. I also liked that we had a little more freedom to change settings, where at Picture People and Lifetouch they actually gave us cameras with aperture rings on the lenses, glued in place at F/8.
How about EM5ii 16MP?
I'm completely happy with the 20 MP files I get out of my Olympus Pen F, and the hi-res shots I did (80 MP, realistically around 60 MP "real" resolution) to date were never used. The 24 MP that come out of my Sony A7 are only slightly better (it is the highlight retention that makes all the difference, not resolution). That said, 24 MP is the sweet spot of resolution for me, and yes, stitching can do the job in many situations (even large group shots if done fast enough; the hand-held hires mode of the E-M1X might also work in this situation if the shutter speed can be high enough).
The old 4/3 and m4/3 sensors have an optical density of 315 dpi. The newer 350 dpi while the Canon 5D only 72 dpi.
In practice, if you do not make large prints, it makes no sense to take pictures more than 5mpx because it is enough even for a 4K screen.
Resolutions of the order of 8-20mpx are needed only for large photos and posters.
I know the size of A1 so thank you for that. But when using imperial units, please include some metric units as well. You have an international audience and you americans are the only country left who still live in the dark ages of measurements. Its such a hassle pausing the video and doing the conversions. Just a tip.
Dark ages or not I don't care but for sure quick metric data would be very useful. Thanks
One inch = 2.5 centimeters
Just do the math.
One upon a time, the Canon 5D Classic was considered one of the best cameras in the world by pros. Its images have appeared in countless millions of papers, magazine, editorials, blogs, and bill boards, every where in the world. it has 12 mega pixels. I rest my case.
The old 4/3 and m4/3 sensors have an optical density of 315 dpi. The newer 350 dpi while the Canon 5D only 72 dpi.
In practice, if you do not make large prints, it makes no sense to take pictures more than 5mpx because it is enough even for a 4K screen.
Resolutions of the order of 8-20mpx are needed only for large photos and posters.
Recently discovered your You Tube channel and been enjoying your posts. Great subjects and content.
Thank you. I have been trying to find info on in camera photo stacking for the Olympus e-m10III camera.
My Lumix g85 can do in camera photo stacking but can not find a mention in the Olympus menu. Do you have any info on this subject?
As far as I know, the OMD EM10 MKIII has focus bracketing but not focus stacking. You can access focus bracketing from the AP menu, it's a bit hidden because you must scroll all the way to the right to find it. Maybe it'll come as a firmware update in the future but until then I the stack will require a computer for processing.
I don't have M4/3 neither medium format, but still watching
vary good. thk you...
Thanks for the great info. Mark
Over my bed I have a 90cm wide picture, taken with the E-M5 and the 45mm/1.8 lens (16 mp), hand-held. It is very nice and nobody will complain about it's resolution. But it is viewed from 2m distance. On another wall, where we have to pass very closely (don't have that much space in Europe like in Texas...) there I have a 120cm wide picture, taken with E-M1 II in tripod highres mode and the old, but very sharp 50mm/2 lens. You can put your nose directly on it and examine the smallest details, if you like. But that is only for my own personal pleasure…
JOE, Thank you for the awesome info. Great videos. What software do you use to "Res-up"?
I keep it simple for almost everything, I just use Photoshop - Image Resize - and turn on Preserve Details 2.0. The only time I might not do this is when I'm working with a lab on a very large print and they prefer to do the resizing themselves.
@@JosephEllisPhotographer Thank you. You're awesome and not caught up in all the hype. I hope Olympus taps into your skills.
Great video, how did you upsample the image? There are many ways.....
Photoshop with Preserve Details 2.0, just the built in stuff. Nothing too fancy so there may be even better results possible.
Nice test. What about at higher ISO like 1600 or 3200? How big could you print then before seeing noticeable differences? I’m interested to see how the noise would compare.
Great info. Thanks!
Another great video, Joe. One question, though. What is your method for doing the upres? Do you do it directly in Photoshop or an equivalent, or using outboard software like Qimage?
It’s a myth that Max print size is dependent on sensor size.
Great video 👌. Very interesting. I've got a Lumix GX80/85 that's got 16 mega pixels, I'm not sure if I could to A1?
Can't see why not! Give it a go. As meantioned in the video, keep in mind the viewing distance. A1 you would view quite a distance away. I highly doubt you would notice any meaningful degradation! If you are really concerned, just print it onto canvas :) hides it all
In a future video I’d like to see you address the high res mode. Frankly my attempts with the E-M1 II hardly justify carrying the tripod. The results are so slightly better that I’m disappointed. Maybe I’m missing a step somewhere. The other thing is the high res mode gets greyed out occasionally and is not available. Any insights would be appreciated. Thanks
Also, I found in my short test that the ISO may matter. I could see differences between normal and high res at ISO 200 and 1600 but of course the images at 200 were better in all modes. 25Mp high res was marginally better than LSF 20Mp even though the file takes up less data and 50 Mp high res was a lot better to my eyes. ua-cam.com/video/sNLykjmzDIk/v-deo.html
Lens quality and optimal aperture choice will also be factor but you might have covered all those already of course! I shot with the 17mm f/1.8 at f/5.
Does high res get greyed out if you already selected an aperture above f/8?
Also I think a good tripod and non windy day are also essential. By good tripod, a short tripod on a large piece of rock or a wall would probably be at least as good. Plus using the delay feature. I would suggest 4 seconds. I did my comparison using self-timer or delay of 4s for all images and silent shutter mode on all images.
ua-cam.com/video/sNLykjmzDIk/v-deo.html
To compare closely, I didnt print but just transferred the jpegs directly to my phone and maced out the magnification. I shot RAW + jpeg LSF 20Mp and high res in RAW + jpeg 50 Mp F and 25 MP F with the EM1 Mark iii.
My second attempt at high res mode. Significant / large improvement seen. EM5 Mk iii, so will be virtually same as your EM1 Mk ii.
ua-cam.com/video/sNLykjmzDIk/v-deo.html
My first try at high res. Underwhelmed.
ua-cam.com/video/lAoU5ORZwy0/v-deo.html
Bad subject and I didnt look that closely at the fine details. Later, I realised the roof and chimney were considerably improved. Bad video too but I posted it to compare with the next one.
Thanks so much, this was great! :)
Three points.
One is that you had to res up the Olympus pictures.
Two is, assuming you just print say, 13 X 19 or 30 X 26 and no res up with the Olympus, how would they do?
And three is as you said, cropping, I have to crop most of the time and could be as much as 50% to 67% cropped with wildlife and birds. How would the Olympus's stand up to that. I would be cropping to get the subject larger in the frame to begin with.
How about getting a proper lens?
Michael Miller how about learning about composition?
Thanks for a great video. Were you shooting JPEG or RAW and is there a difference in picture resolution?
I shoot everything in raw but there is no difference in resolution. Now the EM1x, EM1 MKII and PenF allow for high-resolution shooting which takes a series of shots and creates either a jpg or raw file which is higher resolution than the standard 20MP.
@@JosephEllisPhotographer Thanks. I always shoot jpeg for convenience and smaller files. Good to know I'm not losing resolution. I have an OM-D (16 MP) and an old Pen EPL1 (only 12 MP) but plenty for vacation pictures.I have found that lens sharpness and camera (noise) makes more of a difference than number of MP when prints are enlarged. That is why I like to shoot with primary lenses where possible.
Great content! By the way, I am just wondering, are you allowed to say a different brand name other than Olympus? Thanks.
Well in this video I also mentioned Phase One and Adobe Photoshop... or do you mean other m4/3 brands?
@@JosephEllisPhotographer I think he meant Pepsi. ;))
@@JosephEllisPhotographer ....and excellent video btw. Thank you.
That pepsi can
is it weird i started wanting one? hahahaha.
@@MrZombs123 I am just curious what is the purpose being there haha. Not exactly what we should be focused on anyway 😂
Probably paid for product placement, ha ha.
@@MrZombs123 That's effective advertising.
I got a 40" 4k screen and my 24mp pictures are flawless in full screen mode and if the picture is good they are flawless in pixel pip mode too. 40"... I can't even think how big a 100mp picutre can be printed on.
4k is 8.5 megapixel...so
The Nikon D2X and D3 own 12 MP, the D4 16 MP and had been used by famous pbotographers for famous images assepted by notorious pixel peepers as National Geographic!
Yes and remember - it is the decisive moment that counts as Henrie Cartier-Bresson stated ...
Great video. I love the monochrome look of your office (i kind of copied it in mine humble little space).
The soda can is very distracting. As a photographer you know how an unnecessary object can take a lot away from a brilliant photo.
Even if you are going for sponsorship, pop it out at the beginning, set it off frame and then bring it back for a satisfying drink at the end.
Then it will not keep drawing the eye from where it needs to be. Your doing great, please keep it up.
I kept expecting a "this video was sponsored by" section but it never happened, sticks out like a sore thumb. Great video otherwise
Micro Four Thirds "M4/3" gets a really bad rap, so does cropped sensors of 1.5 or 1.6 Sad but true!
You need full-frame cameras to be a professional photographer! This is false!
I'm so glad you did this video and bring some Truth and knowledge to the "sheep" of photographers.
If you watch @Joe Edelman He had an image printed much bigger for Olympus.
Also, @Mark Wallace many years ago did a video about how big can you print based on viewing distances.
Thanks
The old 4/3 and m4/3 sensors have an optical density of 315 dpi. The newer 350 dpi while the Canon 5D only 72 dpi (Apple Mac 1984 standard 🤣 ).
In practice, if you do not make large prints, it makes no sense to take pictures more than 5mpx because it is enough even for a 4K screen.
Resolutions of the order of 8-20mpx are needed only for large photos and posters.
Great, lot of truth here. I take lots of professional photographs with Olympus Micro Four Thirds with no problems at all. How much did Pepsi pay you for the product placement Joseph?
You can do just about anything with a micro 4/3 if you put a big enough lens on it!
Great video. One thing I’d add is that the PRINTER also enters into the equation. Each printer has it’s own resolution, it’s own software and it’s own “look”, even though we don’t want to talk about that. The camera may be wonderful (any brand) but the printer has the final touch to the printed image.
Sony used to have a printing service called Image Station. I ordered some FANTASTIC 20"x30" prints from that service from 8mp files, I mounted them as part of my senior art exhibit and still have them today, framed. I just sent them the JPEGs (they were good files, but I didn't have RAW editing software besides the included camera software and iPhoto), wish I knew what they did with them to make the final prints.
It would be more important Not to res up the Olympus files but still crop them.
lol @ "if you're someone that wants to sniff their prints"
👍
Of course if you want that killer wildlife pic you can actually afford the long Olympus lenses and be able to carry them up the Amazon
7:51 don't sound good....
And then you have Joe Edelman making a 48feet print. All depends on the use.
sell copies of the prints so people can compare them themselves - like an 8x10 section
I own a recent model FF camera and a recent model m4/3 camera. The IQ is visibly better on the bigger one. I keep both, because the m4/3 has it's advantages, namely being small and easier to carry around. But in terms of IQ and which print is looking better - you lost me, man. I see the files, I see the prints, the difference is there.
Momchil Minkov what are the megapixels of the cameras?
@@sexysilversurfer the big one is 24 MP and the small one 16
He never said there was no difference though.
The old 4/3 and m4/3 sensors have an optical density of 315 dpi. The newer 350 dpi while the Canon 5D only 72 dpi (Apple Mac 1984 standard 🤣 ).
In practice, if you do not make large prints, it makes no sense to take pictures more than 5mpx because it is enough even for a 4K screen.
Resolutions of the order of 8-20mpx are needed only for large photos and posters.
I think I'll go sip my diet coke
Hehe... This video is sponsored by Diet Pepsi lol
"I res'd up the Olympus files..." That's the problem. Printing from native resolution is best without having to manipulate the files by "adding" resolution by interpolation? Thank you, no.
Product placement ,Joseph?...lol