Do you pixel peep?

[Lightsped]

Do you pixel peep? If so, why or why not?

I have a habit (not sure if good or bad) of zooming waaaaay in on my photos and checking for sharpness. Seems like I come away moderately disappointed most of the time. I am using a pro body and pro 2.8 or faster lenses (if that matters).

 

[sashbar]

I never pixel peep, because I do not want to come away disappointed. My photography often borders on acceptable sharpness.

 

[snerd]

Of course. It's what I do. I can't help but at least just a quick look. Not overly hung up on it, though.

 

[407370]

no never.

If I edit a pic and I am happy with it why would I zoom in to see the flaws at a pixel level. A picture is more than a collection of pixels.

 

[Braineack]

always.

 

[The_Traveler]

I zoom in when sharpening so I can see what is going on.

 

[480sparky]

I do a lot of peeping when I test out a new glass acquisition. After that, I do when I'm applying sharpness in post.

 

[Gary A.]

Yep. And 99 times out of 100 is it isn't sharp at 100% ... I dump the image.

 

[Ilovemycam]

Do you pixel peep? If so, why or why not?

I have a habit (not sure if good or bad) of zooming waaaaay in on my photos and checking for sharpness. Seems like I come away moderately disappointed most of the time. I am using a pro body and pro 2.8 or faster lenses (if that matters).

Yes and no.

I test out cams when I adopt them to see the limits.

Camera Comparisons

But after I know the limits I shoot and don't peep. Camera fondlers do a lot of peeping. They put their pride in the pixels and not in great pix.

 

[D-B-J]

Quite often. Nothing wrong with checking sharpness and focus at 100%

 

[MSnowy]

I've been known to peep. Sucks when you get caught though.

 

[Forkie]

I do with my portraits. If the eyes are not pinpoint sharp, it's off to the bin. I can't abide a portrait with anything less than razor sharp eyes, sometimes to the disappointment of a client!

For anything else like landscapes or product photography, I'm much more forgiving.

 

[pgriz]

Depends. At the camera, if sharpness at a specific point is the key to the image, then probably yes. Otherwise, no.
During post-processing, mainly to see the amount of noise and haloing (if sharpening).

 

[jsecordphoto]

Always, delete em if I'm not happy. With landscapes they're usually pretty good but I check to make sure, I'm always using a tripod/cable release so my keeper rate as far as sharpness is high. What may look fine on the web will look soft printed big so I always check. With wildlife my keeper rate is lower but I blame that on technique because I'm still learning with that stuff

 

[limr]

Just how much zooming in does pixel peeping involve? Some of you said you'd check the sharpness at 100%, but it sounds like some of you are zooming closer.

If checking at 100% is peeping, then I guess I do that sometimes, depending on the picture and what I intend to do with that picture. If it means zooming in super close, then no, never. Only if I'm cloning a particularly tricky dust spot off my scan.