Olympus is still doing it for me - big prints

[Robert Watcher]

Just got my 30"x40" (bum shot) canvas wall portrait that one of my clients ordered recently. Again, I am pleased and impressed with how well the image taken with my Olympus E-3 holds under such extreme enlargement. Before I send it out, I wanted to take a shot of it and so hung the print unframed on my wall for that purpose:




The thing that is equally amazing, is that I am able to get these large prints even though I shoot my images generally at the lesser Jpeg Large Fine - - - and I quite often crop my images severely, sometimes to the point where I am only using a small portion of the frame. I thought that I would include the original full frame uncropped out of camera image as well - where it is easy to see that my 30"x40" print has been created from a section of not much more than 1/2 of the E-3 digital file.\

Before sending the file to the lab to have printed, I enlarged the file in Photoshop - to the final 30"x40" size at 360 dpi using Bicubic Sharper as the interpolation algorithm:

[Mr. Pickles]

Interesting crop choice on the final version.....

[dannn]

Originally Posted by Robert Watcher

Just got my 30"x40" (bum shot) canvas wall portrait that one of my clients ordered recently. Again, I am pleased and impressed with how well the image taken with my Olympus E-3 holds under such extreme enlargement. Before I send it out, I wanted to take a shot of it and so hung the print unframed on my wall for that purpose:




The thing that is equally amazing, is that I am able to get these large prints even though I shoot my images generally at the lesser Jpeg Large Fine - - - and I quite often crop my images severely, sometimes to the point where I am only using a small portion of the frame. I thought that I would include the original full frame uncropped out of camera image as well - where it is easy to see that my 30"x40" print has been created from a section of not much more than 1/2 of the E-3 digital file.\

Before sending the file to the lab to have printed, I enlarged the file in Photoshop - to the final 30"x40" size at 360 dpi using Bicubic Sharper as the interpolation algorithm:

Hi, Just curious... What film speed did you shoot at? Flash?

[jforkner]

If the print was supposed to look like the original image you posted (save for the crop), I think I'd find another lab.


Jack

[camrajoky]

Originally Posted by jforkner

If the print was supposed to look like the original image you posted (save for the crop), I think I'd find another lab.


Jack

Making the judgement from a photo of a photo is not a good way to judge. The fact that you can do 30 x 40 from a 10.1 mp camera.....and have it hold together....just shows that if you know what you are doing....you can get great results.

[Raist3d]

I agree these cameras can hold more than one may think for many uses. Likewise I will say having seen a real medium format film shot and printed my own 12 megapixel shots at 13'' by 19'' with my e-420, the medium format will definitively show its detail (yes, I am talking about medium format film) for landscapes... but the kind of subject you are showing is the kind of subject that lacking "uber detail" and having reasonable detail is fine.

I will say I am using a lot a Sigma DP2 lately and it can hold quite well upsizing... but that's partially due to the kind of technology the sensor is even if it's "only 4.69 megapixels."

[Robert Watcher]

Originally Posted by jforkner

If the print was supposed to look like the original image you posted (save for the crop), I think I'd find another lab.

Jack

What makes you presume that? I had/have no intention of my final images looking like the original (save for the crop). I included the original for comparison of the crop area, not as a comparison to the final image. This is an artistic piece that my client purchased - - - and the lab did a nice job reproducing the canvas print exactly as I wanted.

With small sensor digital capture, what I am amazed with - is that there is even a usable image from these small sensor cameras, at such high magnifications. I am one of those old timers who had to have control over the complete photographic process, including do all of my own darkroom work (color and black and white film and prints) in my studio up until I moved to digital.

I was able to easily print 30x40's and 40x60's from my RZ67 using even 400ISO film (and 800ISO depending on content). However being primarily a 35mm shooter for my people photography, it was always a struggle producing even moderately large prints. For the most part 16x20 and 20x24 were about the max with large areas filled with face etc. Beyond that the image would just just fall apart. The odd time that I shot an environmental style family group on 400ISO 35mm film though, if people were smaller in the frame their faces would be obstructed by film grain and 11"x14" prints were sometimes barely acceptable to the client. I was able to push the boundaries of print size under my enlarger with some content and had many 20x24 artistic prints hanging on my studio walls that were shot with 1600 ISO and even a couple prints of 3200 ISO Konica images - but they were all comprised of artistic and moody content.

With my digital imaging, I am able to easily go to print sizes not possible with 35mm in my wet darkroom. When I take formal family groups - even large families - with my DSLR, small faces are not obscured by grain and noise and there is not problem producing superior 11x14 and 16x20 prints. While few people want a 24x36 or 30x40 print of such a formal setting, my less formal and more artistic family images hold up to those sizes plenty good enough and are on the walls of satisfied clients. And to be able to pull off a 30x40 inch print from about a half of a 4/3 frame, is something that I couldn't expect from 35mm film.

[Robert Watcher]

Hi, Just curious... What film speed did you shoot at? Flash?

camera was E-3 - lens was 50-200 SWD @ 169mm - f4@1/800'th - 400 ISO film speed - no flash.