Digital BW, The Print

Hello Sam,

>What I'd consider instead is 
>trying to go up to 24 x 30 on the 7600 at 240 or 180 ppi and waiting 
>for Canon to replace the 6.3 MP 10D with an 8.2 MP 10D+ or
something. 
>I.e., just ride Canon's digital-camera development wave and, while 
>waiting on their next mid-range camera, look for good chances to 
>improve the lenses and tripods and flashes and filters, etc.

I agree.  I'm currently using the Canon 8mp Pro-1 and am impressed
with the quality at large sizes.  I temporarily enlarged a portrait to
several sizes in PS and printed out a section (part of the face with
eyeglass frame and hair) just to see what the limits were.  It went
all the way up to 22.5 x 30 at 108 dpi before jaggies were visible,
and that only with a loupe.  Even at that size up close, to the eye,
it held together amazingly well.  Individual hairs still sharp and
distinct, etc (what upper limit is acceptable, of course, depends on
the person).  At smaller sizes it means there is room to crop.  

I never would have thought that a print at 108 dpi could look even
half decent, but it is possible if the image holds together.  A lot,
of course has to do with the lens, and the Pro-1 has an incredibly
sharp "L" class lens.  With no film grain to enlarge, it becomes
purely a matter of pixel management.  

Here are the dpi numbers for the different sizes.  
Image size: 3264 x 2448  
This is a .75 ratio (6x8), typical of many digicams.

Print Size     dpi
--------------------
4.5 x 6        544
6 x 8          408
7.5 x 10       327
10.5 x 14      233
15 x 20        163
18 x 24        136
22.5 x 30      108


An 8mp DSLR image will have different numbers than this because of its
35mm-like dimensions (.67 ratio), but this should give some idea of
what to expect.


Regards,
Clayton


Info on black and white digital printing at    
http://www.cjcom.net/digiprnarts.htm