Lesson of the week: Don't go for beers with Alessandro, because he'll convince you that you need a bigger, better camera.
So with the number "800" running through my mind, I'm curious what you high-megapixel folks do when it comes time to deliver high-resolution files. When I had a 5D2 I shot mostly mRaw for weddings, and portrait sessions don't include the same quantity of photos as a wedding, so reasonable delivery sizes were never really an issue for me. Shooting 12 MP Nikons for the past year and a half I haven't even had to think about it.
So what would you do (or plan to do) when delivering 36 MP files? Down res to 15 or 20 MP? Just give them fatty 36 MP jpegs?
That is my dilemma. Most of my clients only need files of about 1mb in size that can be emailed to them.
Currently using a D700 and still have to bin a few pixels to get that file size.
The D800 looks great, but binning the amount of pixels to get back down to 1mb means I probably won't see any difference in the image quality - clients certainly won't!
The only reason I can see me getting a D800 is because I want one, not because I need one. I have never had a client say my image files aren't of high enough quality
A rather amusing dilemma. I see clients having real trouble with 10-15MB jpeg files. You know they are going to want to upload them somewhere and becoming terribly frustrating trying to do so.
I personally think a combination of compression and resolution reduction might be the ticket. You can get a 20MP file down to 2-3MB and still maintain very good quality.
I would change nothing that I do right now.
I would set the long side for 3000 pixels at 300 ppi.
This way you are setup perfectly to print and 8x10 (the largest I let clients print themselves).
At 75% quality in LR your files sizes should be fine no matter what size file you start with.
I'm not sure that there's a plausible reason to change the deliverables.
I deliver web-size files and print-size files. Print size are 12" on the long end at 300ppi. Web-sized are sized appropriately for Facebook.
wouldn't necessarily change anything with the D800
I don't buy the argument that if you're not delivering 36mp to the client then the camera is not worth the upgrade. If there's one thing I missed in the transitiion from my 5D2 to the D700 it was the ability to crop photos, sometime substantially so.
Aside from quite a few features that I'm positively STOKED about, there is one feature about the high res sensor that could in fact affect good sellers's bottom line in a very positive way. With the D700 if you wanted to you could reasonably create large environmental portraits with the suject or maybe two subjects small in the frame. With the D800 you can do that, plus you can actually do it for larger groups... family portraits for instance. The epic resolution COULD result in your being able to sell a substantiallly larger print ... again provided you have the requisite selling skills.
Not surprisingly, if I conclude that the D800 is good enough to be my ONLY camera (I currently have a D3S and still have my arsenal of D700) the new baby will be flanked by a D800E to truly exact EVERYTHING out of that sensor.
Frankly I'm totally shocked that our good friend Spencer Boerup with his AMAZING family portraiture in amazing scenery has not bought a D800E and a Nikkor lens or two to flank his Canon equipment.
we deliver files capable of printing 8x10's and no bigger. we tell them up front that is what the files they will receive will print, so they are ready for it. whether I am using a 6 megapixel or 36 megapixel, that is what they get.
Mark_L wrote:
As long as they fit on the disc I don't see the point in taking extra time to downsize.
36mp is going to look downright UGLY at the pixel level in a few still usable shots. The client will be doing one of two things, pixel peeping, or letting some software do a scale to fit it on the screen. Some software is really really bad at scaling.
While I would not think of downsizing a 16mp file, once you get into 36+mp range, you can do a very healthy downscale which will drastically improve the image for the client, while still being big enough for an 8x10. Seems win win to me.
lisy78 wrote:
Frankly I'm totally shocked that our good friend Spencer Boerup with his AMAZING family portraiture in amazing scenery has not bought a D800E and a Nikkor lens or two to flank his Canon equipment.
