PHRubin wrote:
NO! By enlarging you are cropping. By cropping you are throwing away pixels. The result of a 35 to 55 crop leaves only 40.5% of the pixels. (35/55 in both height and width).
We throw away pixels every time we print or use a monitor, unless you are trying to print 32" X 40" and view it from close enough to make your eyes cross.
The key question is, "For what display medium is the shot intended?".
Unless you are going to print HUGE prints viewed from close distances, how many pixels you throw away is moot.
If all you are going to do is view them with a computer or something even smaller, cropping a 35mm focal length to 50, 85, 100 or even 200 is not going to result in any discernable difference IN THE FINAL VIEWING FORMAT.
With any camera over 10 megapixels, there is NO degradation under most viewing conditions.
Best computer viewer in the world - MAYBE 5 megapixels.
MOST computer viewers - 2 megapixels.
If you are extremely particular about your final results on a computer monitor, the formula is simple:
C/V=R
C = Camera resolution
V = Viewing resolution
R = Maximum zoom Ratio by cropping.
So with today's 2 megapixel computer monitors and a 35mm lens on a 24 MP camera, 24/2=12, so 35X12 is 420.
IF you get the cropping EXACTLY right, you could crop to a 420mm equivalent.
Keep it under that for more wiggle room.
Cropping 35mm to 200mm is not going to show any difference under most viewing conditions.
On extremely large prints, you are not going to see a difference unless you are too close to see the entire print.
If you want the ULTIMATE in resolution UNDER LABORATORY CONDITIONS, shoot RAW, never crop your photos and ALWAYS use a camera with more than 50 megapixels in its sensor.
Bottom line: Today's cameras are so good, worrying about throwing away pixels is a waste of time.
They expose more pixels than you can use, anyway.
Take the camera out, make the shot, crop-zoom all you want and see if you like the results.
As much as musicians and photographers try to quantify what they are doing in the false hope of finding a formula that will result in perfection, every time, both activities are ART and follow no hard, fast rules.
Some of my best solos and best photographs break all the "rules", but result in something different that my audience likes.
As I tell my students over and over, again, YOUR opinion is irrelevant.
The only opinion that counts is that of your audience.
If you are your audience, fine - make yourself happy.
Remember, it is your audience who determines whether or not you are producing art or garbage - not you.
Pixel, schmixel.
Do THEY like it, or not?
If they like it, will they pay you to do it, again?
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