I have a 2.1 Mega pixel camera. I mainly use pictures for the web but I dont know whether I should shoot 480x680 fine or shoot 1200x1600 fine or medium? I assume if Shoot at a higher resolution and the end result will be better if I retouch or resize. I would prefer to shoot 680x480 to conserve space on the memory card. I previously had a Sony MVC-FD7 350,000 pixels so if I now shoot 680x480 with a 2.1 mega pixel camera will the quality be better than the Sony? Sometimes however I need to do basic magazine adds for which I assume I would need to be shot in the highest resolution?

-- David McCleave (dave@onvision.co.uk), December 02, 1999

Answers

Exactly my question too! Or, more specifically, if I'm going to scan an image, edit it, then save it as something smaller, would I be better off starting big as well(resolution)? Aren't I better off editing a lot of pixels, then resampling down? Wouldn't that result in smoother lines, gradients, etc.? No one yet has given me a definitive answer to this question. I do know that if your end result is to be a 640x480 image (with no resizing, resampling, editing, etc.), then you're better off starting with that size to begin with, especially if your camera is saving your images in jpeg format, because every time you resave, you're losing image quality. So... anyone out there have a good answer to my question?

-- Michael Henderson (blue_jay@bigfoot.com), December 03, 1999.

Are you shooting for the web as it is used now, or next month, or next year? If you are going to do any image processing, then (generally speaking) the more pixels you have, the better.

David: You ask if your new camera will give you better quality results than your old one? The answer is 'probably', but why don't you try a comparison for yourself?

Michael: Are you better of shooting at a low resolution, or a higher one then resampling (with conversion from and back to JPEG)? Well, it will depend on the JPEG algorithms the camera uses, etc. If you already have the camera, you should be able to try an image both ways and see which one is the best.

-- Alan Gibson (Alan.Gibson@technologist.com), December 03, 1999.

If you plan to edit your images make sure they are in a non Lossy format. Thus, make sure the pictures are not saved as jpegs. If your camera saves at its largest resolution as a jpeg file, then resave it to something like .tif, NOW, edit the file in what ever way and save it back again as a .jpg.

-- David Erskine (davide@netquest.com), December 05, 1999.