Mega Pixels vs Sensor size?

psreilly · Jan 9, 2014

Just curious to know what you folks feel about the relationship between the two? I just purchased a Phase One Lightphase aka H5 for my Mamiya. Now it's only 6MP, but i'm on the side of believing it's the sensor that will be getting me the results i'll be looking for. I've always tended to be on the side of sensor size being far more important. What are your opinions on the sensor size vs mega pixels relation?

Derrel · Jan 9, 2014

Manual for it is here. Medium format camera systems - Raw converter | Phase One

It's from 2002, and it's a 6 MP back...which was at the time far better than the 6MP consumer d-slrs of that era. But I'm not really sure that it'll measure up to say, a 36 MP D800e. I dunno...if it's decent and you can shoot the Mamiya well, it ought to be able to make some nice images for you.

psreilly · Jan 9, 2014

Yeah I know it's definitely outdated. Just didn't wanna let go of my Mamiya for some Canon or Nikon like everyone else. Film was just becoming too much money. Definitely plan to upgrade in a year or two. The MP do worry me a little though

Derrel · Jan 9, 2014

Well, it is a lot cheaper than film and processing, plus then there's time scanning and cleaning up the scans, so yeah, sure, the back will be a money-saver and a time saver too. I remember some very impressive image made from early digital backs. At low ISO value it ought to still be decent. Film has gotten expensive over the years, plus as you point out, this back keeps the Mamiya in action, where it belongs!

KmH · Jan 9, 2014

+1. Keep the Mamiya in action, and ignore anyone that says any camera not released in the last 6 months is old or obsolete.

Since there are fewer pixels, they can be made much larger. Larger pixels gather more light than smaller pixels can.

Gavjenks · Jan 10, 2014

I routinely down-rez my images I take with my 20ish MP camera by a factor of about 10, when uploading to the internet (which is how I share most though not all photos).

Which means that as long as I composed perfectly and didn't do any cropping, I could get equally sharp photos, theoretically, with a 2MP camera. 6MP is totally usable.

robbins.photo · Jan 10, 2014

psreilly said:
Yeah I know it's definitely outdated. Just didn't wanna let go of my Mamiya for some Canon or Nikon like everyone else. Film was just becoming too much money. Definitely plan to upgrade in a year or two. The MP do worry me a little though

Higher megapixels can be nice to have when you need to crop more or do large prints - but if you don't really need to do either then really 6 mp is more than enough to produce some really great images. I guess my thought process is if your an amateur shutterbug like me, and not a professional photographer then what is the point if you don't enjoy using your camera? So if you like shooting the Mamiya then personally I think you've made a wonderful investment in getting the digital back.

Judobreaker · Jan 10, 2014

Kind of depends a bit. Usually a higher amount of MP means slightly less quality on these pixels (which mainly results in higher noise).
However, the time in which the camera was made should definitely be taken into account. They constantly try to improve their electronics which means that, even though the pixel density on a newer sensor may be higher, it could very well be that the pixel quality is higher than on an old sensor.

Still... The main reason for a higher MP count for me seems just the ability to print larger. If that isn't a problem then I doubt a few MP less will matter.

jaomul · Jan 10, 2014

Some recent portraits I took of my son that are among my favourites were taken with my 10d, a 6mp dslr. I have them printed at 12x8, slightly less than the recommended 300ppi but the resolution to me looks great. Good buy. Enjoy

gsgary · Jan 10, 2014

6mp is fine, just remember you can shoot digital and film D800 your stuck with digital, give me film any day of the week

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KmH · Jan 10, 2014

I have a used 6.1 MP Nikon D50 on the way.
Eventually I'll be posting photos here in the forums I make with it.

psreilly · Jan 10, 2014

Yeah I don't do too much printing so i'm not worried when it comes to that. Too bad it's tethered, but the closest Phase One back in my price range outside the Lightphase was I think a p20 or p25 that was around 3,500 (which actually isn't bad at all). Look forward to getting some good shots with it. Thanks for the reply everyone

JerryVenz · Jan 10, 2014

As a full time professional portrait photographer having been digital for 15 years--I can tell you ANY 6 MP camera would be useless in the business of producing WALL PORTRAITS. We were forced to abandon our PRO-12MP cameras 5-years ago when even with the best state-of-the-art "Res-up" software we could not produce the quality 30inch or 40inch wall prints we had been producing with our 6x7 centimeter NEGS. our Mamiya RB-67 could produce.

The issue many photographers don't realize in the great MP debate is, when it comes to portraits of groups of people where you want to produce large wall portraits, it's not the number of overall pixels that you have to consider IT'S THE PIXELS PER FACE THAT MATTER WHEN PRODUCING WALL PORTRAITS OF 30, 40, OR 50 INCHES OF GROUPS OF PEOPLE.

With our PRO-12MP cameras, our large prints looked good all around our group of people--that is the grass, trees, rocks, all looked fine--until you looked at the people's EYES AND TEETH. Their lids had jagged arcs and their teeth always looked like decayed chiclets!!

Anyway, problem solved when we UPGRADED TO 20MP, FULL FRAME, DSLRS. HUGE IMPROVEMENT!! Our wall portraits immediately looked again like they used to look back when we used the old RB-67 Pro-S with that nice big Neg.. Still kind-a miss using that beast!!