Reducing megapixels from camera oem to reasonable for old folks......

[redgtxdi]

OK, so bought the old man the Samsung WB150F. It's a decent camera but most importantly has Wifi. I wanted him to be able to e-mail from the camera whatever he wants so long as he can get on a wifi network. Camera makes it easy. He doesn't even need to setup a "from" field. He can just go to Wifi mode, select network, e-mail address and it sends.

That said........it's a 14MP camera. HUGE for him. I'd like to drop it down but want to select a decent range. Not even so much as just saying, "Oh 5mp" but maybe an ideal drop based on pixels for the sensor in this camera that makes sense??

That make sense??

(Choices I'd consider are 14mp, 12mp, 10mp, another 10mp for HDTV, 8mp, 5mp)

 

[blastingcap]

If it's just for webviewing or smaller prints (up to say 5x7" or maybe even 8x10" at base ISO), 5 MP is plenty. The camera probably has a setting to select size, so it should be easy. http://bythom.com/printsizes.htm

 

[redgtxdi]

Ya, I figured as much. Having come from the canon a10 up to a20 then a40 then a80 and my tried & true a610, I find 5mp to be MORE than enough for me for the last few years.

14mp for my old man who can't find the start button on windows is beyond overkill.

As the Samsung wb150f is a 14.2mp camera with a 1/2.3" sensor, I didn't know if there was a "sweet spot" for reduction from the original 14.2 or if it doesn't matter at all.

(shrug)

 

[SecurityTheatre]

A screen of full HD video is 2 megapixel. (1920x1080 pixels)

You seldom need more than that if you're just emailing family photos around...

In fact, if you are just emailing photos around, that's the largest you want unless you are going to be printing them later. Just something to keep in mind.

It is probably a good idea for *perfect* quality to scale by squares (half, quarter), but once you get much past half size, it practically doesn't matter. If you're going from 14MP to 5MP or 2MP, it just doesn't make any difference.

 

[corkyg]

Being a somewhat literate old fart, I use pretty much a standard 800x600 pixels for email. Printing pics is not part of my life.

 

[guachi]

You can choose 5MP right from the camera menu. So that's cool.

 

[FeuerFrei]

I've kind of wondered this myself, is there some ideal reduction factor(s) for smooth scaling?

Instinct tells me 1/2 is good, so I set my Samsung TL500 to shoot 5 MP photos, though its sensor supports 10 MP. I will say I'm much more satisfied with detail now. I get more definition and less blotchiness when I view at 100% crop. :awe::thumbsup:

 

[shortylickens]

Does the wifi automatically upload to a service? can you pick your service? Like Picasa or whatever?

 

[shortylickens]

Being a somewhat literate old fart, I use pretty much a standard 800x600 pixels for email. Printing pics is not part of my life.

These days I just host the photos and send people a link. It uses less bandwidth. Or at least, less of MY bandwidth.

 

[serpretetsky]

I've kind of wondered this myself, is there some ideal reduction factor(s) for smooth scaling?

Instinct tells me 1/2 is good, so I set my Samsung TL500 to shoot 5 MP photos, though its sensor supports 10 MP. I will say I'm much more satisfied with detail now. I get more definition and less blotchiness when I view at 100% crop. :awe::thumbsup:

And then makes you wonder if it should be by the scale of each axis:

For example: 1/2 scaling from 10MP
1/2 x-axis*1/2 y-axis = 1/4 area scale

therefore 1/2 scaling from 10MP is 1/4*10MP = 2.5MP.

Probably doesn't matter, but interesting to think about.

 

[JimKiler]

I would do 8MP that way if something needs to be cropped you can and not lose too much data. Also i like 8MP because it is one more level than you need 5MP.

 

[FeuerFrei]

And then makes you wonder if it should be by the scale of each axis:

For example: 1/2 scaling from 10MP
1/2 x-axis*1/2 y-axis = 1/4 area scale

therefore 1/2 scaling from 10MP is 1/4*10MP = 2.5MP.

Probably doesn't matter, but interesting to think about.

Good idea! The world wonders ... :hmm:

 

[SecurityTheatre]

I've kind of wondered this myself, is there some ideal reduction factor(s) for smooth scaling?

Instinct tells me 1/2 is good, so I set my Samsung TL500 to shoot 5 MP photos, though its sensor supports 10 MP. I will say I'm much more satisfied with detail now. I get more definition and less blotchiness when I view at 100% crop. :awe::thumbsup:

It might be worth pointing out that most desktop software (Photoshop, Lightroom, etc) will use a more complex and generally better technique for photo scaling, doing bicubic interpolation, etc.

So if your concern is, indeed only image quality, then it might be best to shoot at full size and then resample in software. On the other hand, if you value the simplicity of not needing to resize things, by all means, continue.

 

[kbp]

+ ^
If you do want to resize PS or Lightroom is a better choice. Run a batch file and do them all at once.

 

[shortylickens]

+ ^
If you do want to resize PS or Lightroom is a better choice. Run a batch file and do them all at once.

ACDSee does excellent batch work and with fully customized settings.

 

[ElFenix]

And then makes you wonder if it should be by the scale of each axis:

For example: 1/2 scaling from 10MP
1/2 x-axis*1/2 y-axis = 1/4 area scale

therefore 1/2 scaling from 10MP is 1/4*10MP = 2.5MP.

Probably doesn't matter, but interesting to think about.

most cameras use a bayer sensor so the camera os interpreting the colors for every single pixel by mixing it with its neighbors. so there's probably an algorithm that can use the raw data to to make resolutions with minimal loss of quality for resolutions other than 100% and 1/4