buying a new camera

[tonyma]

Hello all,

I am wanting to purchase a camera which will produce 300dpi quality images in sizes up to around 30". Im not really sure however hat specs to look for in a camera to produce this..

I will also downscale some of the images to a more standard size such as 10-12" and wondering as of the best method to do this with large images wthout loosing he quality or detail.. I was thinking fireworks would be appopriate but any guidance would be appreciated....

Thanks

 

[Mike_E]

Pummmp, shshshshshshshshshshshsh pop, bang. Or some other reasonable facsimile.

Any 10 or higher mega pixel camera will do with proper technique and a good lens- maybe a tripod at around 30 inches. I'm partial to Nikons. Look up a D90, D300s or a D700.

 

[tonyma]

Thanks for your reply.

I read somewhere that in order to get images of such good quality and such size I would need a 52MP camera at least. Never even seem one this spec lol. Is there any truth in this?

I once had a 12MP camera which I purchased of eBay but the quality/detail of images it produced were shockingly bad! What may have gone wrong here?!

 

[keith foster]

Assuming you know the basics of lighting and such, you probably shot in jpeg mode, low quality so you could get more pics on a memory card.
If you want 30" finished pics I believe you need will to shoot in RAW.

 

[gsgary]

Thanks for your reply.

I read somewhere that in order to get images of such good quality and such size I would need a 52MP camera at least. Never even seem one this spec lol. Is there any truth in this?

I once had a 12MP camera which I purchased of eBay but the quality/detail of images it produced were shockingly bad! What may have gone wrong here?!

This is what you need then, only a bit more than a point and shoot
H3DII-50

 

[KmH]

......I once had a 12MP camera which I purchased of eBay but the quality/detail of images it produced were shockingly bad! What may have gone wrong here?!

Sounds more like the photographer didn't know how to use the equipment to it's advantage.

The photographer is the most important part of making an image. If the photographer doesn't understand the exposure triad and compositional rules even the $35,000.00 USD H3DII-50 will deliver "shockingly bad!" images.

Oh, and for photographic images it's PPI not DPI.

It sounds like you don't quite understand now to accomplish what you want, but that you have at least done some research, however incomplete your research is at this point.

 

[tonyma]

Great replies people, it was indeed the (so called) photographer and maybe not the camera as was pointed out .

I will use your advice on RAW files and such to do some more research. Will also so some research on lighting ect as my knowledge of photography is very limited

 

[tonyma]

Just doing some research (and WIKI'ing) of raw data files, formats, and data bits and just wondering (with there being many) if there is typically an industry preferred piece of software?

 

[mbkPhotography]

^^
Adobe Photoshop with Adobe Camera Raw or Adobe Lightroom are great applications to pp raw file formats. I personally use Lightroom and love it.

 

[Plato]

Thanks for your reply.

I read somewhere that in order to get images of such good quality and such size I would need a 52MP camera at least. Never even seem one this spec lol. Is there any truth in this?

I once had a 12MP camera which I purchased of eBay but the quality/detail of images it produced were shockingly bad! What may have gone wrong here?!

Pixel count is not the only factor. In fact, a high pixel count can work against you if the sensor is small (as in P&S cameras) because that results in small pixels.

 

[djacobox372]

Megapixels are a myth and a sales gimick. Resolution (resolving power) is what matters, and you can pack 12mp on a tiny sensor, but it will still be outresovled by a 6mp camera with a much larger sensor.

To resolve 300dpi at 30"x24" you'd need a 64 megapixel camera with absolute perfect pixel definition. Of course that would be overkill, unless you're using a magnifying glass to view the image.