Have you ever wondered why the D200 sensor is 10.2mp?
Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 10:17 pmNo, I don't suppose you have. Neither did I until recently. Whilst waiting,waiting and still waiting for Nikwell TM 
to actually supply my D200, I've been toying with the idea of buying a Medium Format camera so I could take some "enlargable" pictures.
I'd looked at the various options and settled on the 645 format (roughly the same percentage dimensions of common paper, A4,A3,A3+, etc). A used MF camera and film scanner from ebay was going to set me back a minimum of $1000. I also worked out that it is unlikely I'd ever print larger than A3+ which is 13'' x 19" as that is as large as my epson printer will go.
After a lot of trolling through the internet I realised that although film can be scanned to a Gazillion DPI if you have enough money, a consumer scanner like the Epson 4990 (fine tool that it is) even at maximum resolution doesn't really do a better job than a 10-12 mp DSLR even with 120 (medium format) film. I also realised that at A3+, 200dpi final resolution is perfectly acceptable for framing and hanging.
To those that have read this far, hang in there, I'm coming to the point.
As I don't yet own one of these mythical D200s, I downloaded a sample NEF of the internet, opened it in Photoshop and cropped it to 13" x 19" dimensions. Guess what. That comes out at exactly 199.368 pixels per inch! Coincedence? I think not! Turns out that Nikon knows their target market pretty well...
Ramble over.
to actually supply my D200, I've been toying with the idea of buying a Medium Format camera so I could take some "enlargable" pictures.
I'd looked at the various options and settled on the 645 format (roughly the same percentage dimensions of common paper, A4,A3,A3+, etc). A used MF camera and film scanner from ebay was going to set me back a minimum of $1000. I also worked out that it is unlikely I'd ever print larger than A3+ which is 13'' x 19" as that is as large as my epson printer will go.
After a lot of trolling through the internet I realised that although film can be scanned to a Gazillion DPI if you have enough money, a consumer scanner like the Epson 4990 (fine tool that it is) even at maximum resolution doesn't really do a better job than a 10-12 mp DSLR even with 120 (medium format) film. I also realised that at A3+, 200dpi final resolution is perfectly acceptable for framing and hanging.
To those that have read this far, hang in there, I'm coming to the point.
As I don't yet own one of these mythical D200s, I downloaded a sample NEF of the internet, opened it in Photoshop and cropped it to 13" x 19" dimensions. Guess what. That comes out at exactly 199.368 pixels per inch! Coincedence? I think not! Turns out that Nikon knows their target market pretty well...
Ramble over.
