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Camera question


BamaRider

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Not sure if this post goes here, or other topics, but I have a camera question.

 

I recently upgraded to a Sony Cybershot 8.2 pixel camera. I'm learning the camera and have this question from the camera's set up menu.

 

I know different size settings allow me to pack more photos on my memory stick. The lesser quality, the more space correct? But I'm cofused. If I set the camera to take higher resolute pics, and reduce my space from 200+ pics on a stick to 90, come home, get on the PC and photo edit pics so they dl quickly on my web site, have I done anything but reduce the number of pics I can take? Or will the picture oringinally captured at high end always be better then the one on the low end, no matter what I do in the phote editor?

 

Sorry if this sounds confusing.

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Figure your ultimate use when selecting quality. If I know it's for something to post, I shoot in lower quality as you're going to compress it for the net anyways. If your intent is printing photos, higher res = less grain on the print as you enlarge the final print size. HTH

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If you are reducing the size of the image to upload by cropping out the area of interest then you have improved the quality by taking the picture at a higher resolution. If you are sizing the entire image to be smaller/load faster and you aren't planning to use the image for anything other than the web, then you could accomplish the same thing and fit more on the card by shooting at a lower resolution.

 

That being said storage is so cheap these days, I'd keep shooting at the highest res and buy another card if necessary. You never know when you'll get THAT picture and want the resolution when you go to print it.

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Aluminum_Butt

The real answer to this is going to come from trying it out and seeing if you're happy with the results. The simple, theoretical answer is that quality would suffer if you were trying to make really large prints (over 8x10), or if you wanted to crop out a small section of a photo (e.g. long distance shot of a small object).

 

But, your camera will do a lot of work in getting the image from the sensor to the memory stick. How it does some of that work - especially the interpolation to reduce the image size and the final compression - will really determine how things look.

 

IMHO...invest in a 2GB card and stop worrying about it.

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I always use maximum resolution...you never know when you may take "that perfect picture", so why gamble. As noted, shrinking for upload or email is easily acomplished and I think you'll find that starting with a higer res picture results in a better compressed picture. As noted, storage is cheap so I always keep the original.

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I always use maximum resolution...you never know when you may take "that perfect picture", so why gamble. As noted, shrinking for upload or email is easily acomplished and I think you'll find that starting with a higer res picture results in a better compressed picture. As noted, storage is cheap so I always keep the original.

 

If I were to use maximum resolution on my Olympus EV300 I would be using 36MB a shot! eek.gif

 

RAW is fine for large format printing, but not necessary for posting. Besides, it eats up space on my hard drives where I have thousands and thousands of pictures.

 

Plus, it takes more time and resources to format it down to a manageable 100K or less for posting online.

 

I usually set mine at HQ and get 3MB a picture or so, and work down from there.

 

If I find I might want to print one, I change the setting temporarily.

 

Jim cool.gif

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Aluminum_Butt
If I were to use maximum resolution on my Olympus EV300 I would be using 36MB a shot!

 

RAW is fine for large format printing, but not necessary for posting. Besides, it eats up space on my hard drives where I have thousands and thousands of pictures.

 

 

He's using a Powershot, not a dSLR. I'm guessing that RAW is not even an option. Based on his stated options of 90 pictures at "high-res" or 200 at "lower-res", it sounds like the best JPEG size is what he's after.

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One thing you want to be aware of, if you are using photoshop or other quality photo edit software is the ability to manipulate the photo and end up with a really quality photo from an otherwise inferior one.

I shoot hi res underwater and event though the photo out of the can is kind of crappy all the info is there so I can manipulate that info and end up with really great photos.

The same with terrestrial shots.

I'd get more memory and shoot high, its too late if you shoot low.

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If I were to use maximum resolution on my Olympus EV300 I would be using 36MB a shot!

 

RAW is fine for large format printing, but not necessary for posting. Besides, it eats up space on my hard drives where I have thousands and thousands of pictures.

 

 

He's using a Powershot, not a dSLR. I'm guessing that RAW is not even an option. Based on his stated options of 90 pictures at "high-res" or 200 at "lower-res", it sounds like the best JPEG size is what he's after.

 

This is true, I was making a comment about the always use the highest quality premise. These days there are a lot of 8-10 MP point and shoots that can suck memory down in a hurry shooting the highest quality.

 

Jim cool.gif

 

PS Yes, for important shots, the highest quality is always best.

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I'm far from a camera expert, but as a rank amateur I always shoot at the highest resolution. That said, I have "only" a 3 megapixel camera (seemed like a lot at the time). I went out and got a 1GB card a year ago (boy, have the prices for CF cards ever dropped since I got the camera). It can hold about 700 hi-res pics, more than enough for a long ride.

 

I guess with a Sony you have to get a proprietary Sony memory stick, and not something like Compact Flash cards.

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If you are reducing the size of the image to upload by cropping out the area of interest then you have improved the quality by taking the picture at a higher resolution. If you are sizing the entire image to be smaller/load faster and you aren't planning to use the image for anything other than the web, then you could accomplish the same thing and fit more on the card by shooting at a lower resolution.

 

That being said storage is so cheap these days, I'd keep shooting at the highest res and buy another card if necessary. You never know when you'll get THAT picture and want the resolution when you go to print it.

This is a great explanation, and even better advice! Grab a few storage cards. Use something like Smug Mug to store your photos (they'll keep the original size for you and automatically scale them for posting). You really do NEVER know when that "one" photo will be the one worthy of greatness. You can always throw "information/resolution" away, but you can't "create" it if it isn't there.
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Aluminum_Butt

Use something like Smug Mug to store your photos (they'll keep the original size for you and automatically scale them for posting).

 

[/Hijack]

 

Is this true? I've been looking for a good way to guarantee backup of photos. The wife uses Shutterfly, which is a cool service in many ways, but I'm pretty sure they don't store the whole thing - at least not in a way that I can get it back electronically.

 

[End Hijack]

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