Megapixels equivalent of film question: Is it possible to get an approximation in Megapixels of a frame of 35mm film ( 36mm x 24mm ), 100 asa and 50 asa. I do not know if more info is...

35B Loc: Australia

Is it possible to get an approximation in Megapixels of a frame of 35mm film ( 36mm x 24mm ), 100 asa and 50 asa. I do not know if more info is req'd and would it matter if it was B & w or colour.

Thanks in advance for your help

Darkroom317 Loc: Mishawaka, IN

35B wrote:

Is it possible to get an approximation in Megapixels of a frame of 35mm film ( 36mm x 24mm ), 100 asa and 50 asa. I do not know if more info is req'd and would it matter if it was B & w or colour.

Thanks in advance for your help

Depends on the film, developer, scanner and lens

Anywhere from 6-24

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

Could you give us a bit more information as to why (the context) you are asking?

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

Darkroom317 wrote:

Depends on the film, developer, scanner and lens

Anywhere from 6-24

All I know is, I can not get equal resolution to 35mm film from my Canon 5D M III (it's getting close, but not equal in many ways)!

John_F Loc: Minneapolis, MN

speters wrote:

All I know is, I can not get equal resolution to 35mm film from my Canon 5D M III (it's getting close, but not equal in many ways)!

How do you measure resolution?

Darkroom317 Loc: Mishawaka, IN

John_F wrote:

How do you measure resolution?

Traditionally: Lines per mm (lp/mm)

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

John_F wrote:

How do you measure resolution?

That would be the right way to do it, but I personally just go by comparison of images side by side of at least 100% crop!
Also looking at prints gives you a good comparison!

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

Darkroom317 wrote:

Traditionally: Lines per mm (lp/mm)

You're right, and that measurement itself is still at issue. There is an old debate about whether resolution is measured a lines per millimeter (lpm) or line pairs per millimeter (lp/mm, lppm). Indeed there is an argument that says that, if you count the distinguishable lines in film, you must count the space between them (black lines and white lines), and that, in doing so, the results are identical. Everything I've read tries to blur the distinction between the definitions, making it a semantic issue.

The best slide films measured about 150 (lpm or lppm), making them about 19+ megapixels.

Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

35B wrote:

Is it possible to get an approximation in Megapixels of a frame of 35mm film ( 36mm x 24mm ), 100 asa and 50 asa. I do not know if more info is req'd and would it matter if it was B & w or colour.

Thanks in advance for your help

You must be bored.

35B Loc: Australia

I was wondering if the 24 Mp sensor in a digital full frame camera ,say D610, exceeded that of 100 asa film.
Say FP4 with normal development.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

35B wrote:

Is it possible to get an approximation in Megapixels of a frame of 35mm film ( 36mm x 24mm ), 100 asa and 50 asa. I do not know if more info is req'd and would it matter if it was B & w or colour.

Thanks in advance for your help

I posed this question to the folks at Harman. Specifically addressing Ilford FP4+. The reply was there isn't really a direct correlation. However, they ventured a guess that 35mm FP4+ was probably around 80-100 mp equivalent.
--Bob

Retina Loc: Near Charleston,SC

Darkroom317 wrote:

Depends on the film, developer, scanner and lens

Anywhere from 6-24

all that and more, as other (mostly older) film shooters know. Odd question and rather academic. Even the same film and developer can vary greatly in results depending on combination of exposure and development time and temperatures, as well as temperature for the fixes, stop, rinse. Even Kodak Tri-X at ASA 50 was less grainy than Plus-X processed at ASA 400, that is any film can be pushed or pulled in order to optimize grain, speed, etc. The published speed is just a recommendation, or compromise, speaking of black and white. Not unlike how megapixel count is only one of several factors. What the camera's computers do with the data on top of how the exposure is made matter in addition to simple megapixel count. I hope that helps show that even within the realm of digital or film, MP and ASA are only a part of the picture. 6-24 says it better, though I would say 2-24.

Retina Loc: Near Charleston,SC

It would be nice to have the original question put in other words to get more context.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

35B wrote:

Is it possible to get an approximation in Megapixels of a frame of 35mm film ( 36mm x 24mm ), 100 asa and 50 asa. I do not know if more info is req'd and would it matter if it was B & w or colour.

Thanks in advance for your help

If your talking noise it is a interesting question. With today's post processing sharpening it can greatly extend the effective ASA, or ISO.

zigipha Loc: north nj

I think the ~20 MP cameras are comparable to typically used film wrt resolution (lpm); ken Rockwell makes a very simple argument why 89MP is equivalent to the best film. If if you start pixel peeping you may see the impact of other artifacts (digital vs film)