Who doesn't shoot at maximum resolution of their camera?

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danski

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Dan
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Maybe a 'Cat amongst the pigeons' type question, but I was curious to see how many people shoot at lower than the maximum resolution of their camera?

Personally I nearly always shoot at RAW maximum size, giving me a 20-25Mb file for each photo (I have 18MP 7D and 21MP 5D MkII) to work with. But, seeing as most of my pictures either sit on my computer and are viewed occasionally on screen, shared on Facebook/Flickr/Picasa etc. at 1600 pixels long side or the few that are printed are generally printed at smaller than A4 size, with most being 6x4 (!), I can't but help think that 18 or 21MP is overkill for this and maybe a lower 5-10 MP would be sufficient.

Having said that, I do have a handful of photos that I've printed at 50" x 25" size, which definitely needed full resolution, especially as they were all cropped to a degree.

I know that memory is cheap nowadays (both memory cards and HDD's), but it's more to do with the processing power that's needed for the larger files. Also, if the default setting is at a lower resolution, there's no guarantee that I'd remember to set to full resolution for those 'special' shots, not all of which you know you're going to take before you've taken it.

So, anyone shooting in any of the lower resolutions of their cameras, or does everyone shoot at maximum, just in case you want to print that special photo as a billboard?
 
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I have on occasion set it to a lower size Dan and I am probably like yourself with regards to what I do with the pics. I did it mainly as I read that noise if any is less prominent, tbh I could not tell much difference but then again I never scrutinise my pictures under a microscope :D
 
I usually shoot raw or jpeg large- but when doing tree surveys in my day job i usually set it to jpeg small as quality and size arent particularly important and its handy to get several thousand images on one card
 
I almost always shoot full-size RAW + Large Fine jpeg. I have the jpeg because I find it convenient to preview pictures on the PC without opening a RAW converter every time; I used to select a lower sized/quality jpeg but on a few occasions I have rued the fact that the jpeg was perfectly fit for purpose without PP except for not being 'full-sized/maximum quality' - so I upped the settings.

My photos are filed in date folders with a nested folder for the RAW files. I have deleted the RAW files for some (mediocre or 'snapping') days or where I'm satisfied that I won't do any further PP in the future; some folders I have deleted the jpegs and kept the RAW to reduce the size of the archive. I'm a bit of a hoarder so keeping the jpeg only is my compromise when I don't (but probably ought to) bin most of the batch.
 
Sometimes you need to drop down the settings if you think you might want to fire off a whole lot of shots in one burst, with my d7000 if I' m writing full size jogs to one card and raw to the other card I can only get a continuous sequence of about 10 shots, if you use a lower jpg setting only you can get 100's of shots without any delays.
 
Hmm, interesting questions and answers.

I use to shoot large jpeg and keep everything. Now I shoot raw and bin about 90%.
(yep, my photography is that bad...)
 
CaptainPenguin said:
Unless you are short of card space I can never understand why anyone would not shoot at full size and full quality but no doubt there are other reasons
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To be able to write more files to the card more quickly and free up the buffer more quickly, i thought you being a sports photographer that would be important to you. :thumbs:
 
Event togs printing on site selling 9x6 prints don't need full size files. Saves time downloading from card to PC too.
 
I was reading on Ken Rockell's site something about lower resolutions pictures being sharper due to less or no Bayer Interpolation (see Image Size section here http://www.kenrockwell.com/canon/7d/users-guide).

Now, I haven't got the foggiest of what Bayer Interpolation is and have read that many people take what he writes with a pinch of salt - so not sure how much truth there is in what he says.

Any comments?
 
Event stuff we always shoot medium fine no need for bigger as above helps in transfer speeds to the pc especially as we use wireless.
 
I've only ever shot M/S RAW or JPEG when I'm running out of card space and/or I know I only need a few more shots and am too lazy to swap cards :lol:

The way I look at it, the more information I keep hold of for each image the better chance I have of being able to rescue it if I've screwed it up :lol:
 
danski said:
I was reading on Ken Rockell's site something about lower resolutions pictures being sharper due to less or no Bayer Interpolation (see Image Size section here http://www.kenrockwell.com/canon/7d/users-guide).

Now, I haven't got the foggiest of what Bayer Interpolation is and have read that many people take what he writes with a pinch of salt - so not sure how much truth there is in what he says.

Any comments?
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the bayer filter is to do with the lay out of Red Green and Blue Sensor sites on the sensor of a camera - the interpolation comes in, in the firmware using algorythims to determine what the actual colours are.

However Ken Rockwell as usual is talking out of his arse , because

a) there is the same amount of bayer interpolation per pixel in a small image as there is in a larger one, so there is no good reason why an image captured using a smaller number of pixels would be sharper (indeed I'd expect the latter as higher resolution = more info= sharper shots

b) Although bayer sensors and interpolation is pretty much standard on consumer compacts, most DSLRs use a different method

theres a good laymans terms explanation here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayer_filter
 
max size but max quality JPEG for 99% of things

RAW when required, but if I want to shoot RAW and see how a treatment works, for example monochrome, then I shoot RAW + medium Jpg or something.
sRAW is interesting for maintaining camera space but shooting in RAW but I'm not that picky and not pro so..
 
My D2x has a handy high-speed crop mode, effectively turning it into a 2x crop of about 7mp. I just find it handy when I'm shooting on a telephoto for getting extra 'reach'. I could do it in PP but it just saves a bit of time :)
 
I shoot 6mp jpegs when I'm just taking gear pics etc, anything serious it's full raw.
 
I always shoot in RAW, though lossless compressed on my Nikon. :)

I did find someone with 18mp Canon set to 4.5mp a couple of months ago. :eek: I didn't see the point of an 18mp camera if one is going to do that. :shrug:
 
probably because theres more than just MP to consider - 4.5MP is still enough for an A4 print and if he's no interest in selling work or printing up big then why not - he might still want say a 7D for the advanced focusing, fps etc but not care about the 18MP sensor
 
Almost all the time I shoot full RAW files but the X10 lets you shoot with expanded dynamic range if you shoot at a lower resolution but I don't often use that feature.
 
I shoot full size raw 99% of the time.

For nightclub stuff, I tend to use small raw as they only end up on facebook and can quickly rack up tens of thousands of images.
 
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