Digital BW, The Print

Richard Smallfield <r.smallfield@...> wrote:
>
> Websites like dpreview.com have said for years that it's 
> no longer about megapixels.
> 
> I disagree - people like me are not aiming to print 4x6" snaps,
> but more like 18x18" - so, keeping my images to between 
> 20-50mp gives me what I'd be wanting from a film camera.

The 5d2 at 21 mp is about the bottom of the range of what I can live with.  I expect to upgrade in 3 years to a 40 mp model -- hopefully with seriously more DR. 

However, I have (at least) one reservation about increasing MPs on these DSLRs -- finding optics that can do justice to the 5d2 is already a challenge.  It seems that the larger formats have advantages in capturing high amounts of information regardless of the sensor or film resolution.  Note what Leica is doing -- trashed the R and is going to a larger sensor size.  With diffraction limits, I assumed the ability to use larger apertures offset the smaller format size, but maybe not.  Maybe there are other factors.  At any rate, the bottom line is obvious from how sharp the very old, historic large format images are -- larger formats seem to be able to capture more information more easily, regardless of sensor/film resolution.
 
> ... stitching mosaics ...

I do it, but it's a pain.  

The gap I see in my current setup (that I'll temporarily plug with stitching) is that the Canon wide angles are not very inspiring.  The MTF of even the new 24 L II is not that impressive.  I waiting anxiously for the new 24 TS L II (and the lottery prize I'll need if it's really any good).  I'm actually inclined to think dedicated wide angle rangefinders might be the answer on the wide side. 

I also initially thought the Sony (Minolta) sensor-shaking image stabilization was not the way to go due to the mass of the full frame sensors.  Now I'm less certain.  I have no IS lenses now, but with the high ISO performance of these new DSLRs, it makes me wonder what an f/1.2 with a sensor-shaking IS system could do.  Canon is already shaking the sensor to get dust off, so maybe adding the sensor-based IS would not be that big of a deal (patents aside).

At any rate, while the 5d2 is certainly not the ultimate DLSR, it does appear to deliver some very nice image files for a reasonable price. 

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com