Darron Birgenheier
Resolution test on Canon PowerShot A1200 point & shoot with USAF-1951 test target
This is a simple resolution test I performed on my refurbished Canon PowerShot A1200 point & shoot digital camera. I used the good old USAF-1951 test target as my subject. This target was printed at high res. on a modern laser printer.
As you can see above, I made four images with the camera, at the full resolution of 12 megapixels, and at the next lower in-camera resolution (6 megapixels). I tested at both the widest and tightest lens focal lengths.
I shot four times at each setting, letting the camera autofocus before each shot, and had the camera on a tripod, using self-timer for maximum sharpness. ISO was set to base (80). Maximum JPG quality, fixed white balance. Exposure is auto-only on this camera, and did vary somewhat between shots at times. I carefully compared the images in each set, and kept only the best.
The first image is a 100% (1:1) crop of the center of the test target, at 20mm focal length, at 12MP.
The second is at 6MP, with the lower resolution down-sampled in-camera. As you'll see, very little detail is lost at 6MP. The 6MP image was resampled (using Sinc) 142% in the PC to allow same-size comparison on screen
The last two images were made in the same way as the first. The only difference is that they were taken at 5mm, the lens's widest (shortest) focal length. The target was shot from the same distance as the 20mm shots, but the test target easily accomodates this, with its several scales. Once again, the loss of detail at 6MP is insignificant (to me).
This is the third similar P&S cam I've tested, and they've all had about the same result, with the other two showing no effective difference at their lower res., because their next step down from full res. was more like 8 or 9MP, down from 12 or 14MP.
What to take away from this? Very few inexpensive zoom P&S cameras will have lenses good enough to resolve the full res. of the crazy-high megapixel count sensors of recent years. It would have been better if the manufacturers has designed around perhaps 6MP sensors with less noise, for best photos. But of course, big numbers sell, so this is where we're stuck...
So, set those cameras to lower res., and get many more photos before the card is full, and as-shot photos will take less time to upload to your computer and/or online. And less storage space will be needed, whether on the PC or in the cloud.
Happy snapping!
Resolution test on Canon PowerShot A1200 point & shoot with USAF-1951 test target
This is a simple resolution test I performed on my refurbished Canon PowerShot A1200 point & shoot digital camera. I used the good old USAF-1951 test target as my subject. This target was printed at high res. on a modern laser printer.
As you can see above, I made four images with the camera, at the full resolution of 12 megapixels, and at the next lower in-camera resolution (6 megapixels). I tested at both the widest and tightest lens focal lengths.
I shot four times at each setting, letting the camera autofocus before each shot, and had the camera on a tripod, using self-timer for maximum sharpness. ISO was set to base (80). Maximum JPG quality, fixed white balance. Exposure is auto-only on this camera, and did vary somewhat between shots at times. I carefully compared the images in each set, and kept only the best.
The first image is a 100% (1:1) crop of the center of the test target, at 20mm focal length, at 12MP.
The second is at 6MP, with the lower resolution down-sampled in-camera. As you'll see, very little detail is lost at 6MP. The 6MP image was resampled (using Sinc) 142% in the PC to allow same-size comparison on screen
The last two images were made in the same way as the first. The only difference is that they were taken at 5mm, the lens's widest (shortest) focal length. The target was shot from the same distance as the 20mm shots, but the test target easily accomodates this, with its several scales. Once again, the loss of detail at 6MP is insignificant (to me).
This is the third similar P&S cam I've tested, and they've all had about the same result, with the other two showing no effective difference at their lower res., because their next step down from full res. was more like 8 or 9MP, down from 12 or 14MP.
What to take away from this? Very few inexpensive zoom P&S cameras will have lenses good enough to resolve the full res. of the crazy-high megapixel count sensors of recent years. It would have been better if the manufacturers has designed around perhaps 6MP sensors with less noise, for best photos. But of course, big numbers sell, so this is where we're stuck...
So, set those cameras to lower res., and get many more photos before the card is full, and as-shot photos will take less time to upload to your computer and/or online. And less storage space will be needed, whether on the PC or in the cloud.
Happy snapping!