9 years in the megapixel race - noise or quality

Róbert Irházy (Birdie) - February 4, 2009. 14:00 (CET)

Kattintson ide a magyar változatért

Conclusion

The A3 prints have shown how the image quality has grown by the increase of the resolution. It also become obvious that the higher resolution helped to get the noise more acceptable. The tiny "particles" are much better tolerated than larger patches.

The development has not only affected the resolution, but the color management and the noise filtering were improved a lot. While the G1 had horrible colors, the G3 and G5 produced beautiful images. The noise reduction in newer models has a positive effect on the printed image, and the washed out effect we see on screen is barely visible, even on A3 sized prints.

One thing is sure: if the target is to print 10×15 cm photos, and no larger prints are made, it isn't worth to replace a G5 with a G10 (we only talk about image quality, the features of the G10 can easily outperform the G5) Those who take photography seriously, and want to make large (A4 or A3 sized) prints every once in a while can take advantage of the higher resolution and the sophisticated noise filtering of the newer cameras.

We also have to mention, that the handling of the cameras, the ergonomics and the user interfaces have improved dramatically. It was more pleasing to work with the newer cameras than with the G1 or the G2.
To me, this test has proved that developments of the last couple of years weren't just some nonsense megapixel races, but real improvements. The higher resolution, besides their disadvantages (e.g. larger file sizes, or higher noise to signal ratio) provides several advantages. At least when images are printed at larger than 10×15 cm.

We would like to thank all those G series camera owners who have helped us to make this test by lending their cameras. Great thanks goes to the DigitCam Ltd for lending us a G10 to include in this test.

  1. Intro
  2. Native resolution
  3. A3 prints (18 megapixels)
  4. 10×15 cm prints
  5. Subjective evaluation
  6. Conclusion
leggyakoribb 10 keresés

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