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D700 Question Photo Size

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hipmom

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I usually shoot on jpeg-fine on my d700...my files come out to be around 4-5mb after they are processed in lightroom.

I am a photojournalist, so I rarely have a need to have huge poster size prints. I came across a couple who bought a photo from the paper and wanted something like an 18 x 24. When they went to print, they were told it was not a big enough file.

I am not in the print business, so I am trying to figure out why my d700 has tons of MP's but I only come up with 5mb size files. Honestly, I had never thought about it before, because 5mb with 300 dpi is sufficient for what I am doing.

Even when I shoot in raw (and I rarely do that) I am around 7mb....Is there a setting I am missing, or just a piece of info that I don't get?

I would like to blow up some of my travel prints but now I worry that they too will have the same issue of too small of a file.

Posted 2 years ago #
kishore

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the raw file should be around 12mb, you might be missing something here.

also there could have been an issue with the processing in lightroom i.e. the export settings, since I am sure I have printed bigger posters with my d90 ( 12mp )

Posted 2 years ago #
edsel

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hipmom said:
I usually shoot on jpeg-fine on my d700...my files come out to be around 4-5mb after they are processed in lightroom.

I am a photojournalist, so I rarely have a need to have huge poster size prints. I came across a couple who bought a photo from the paper and wanted something like an 18 x 24. When they went to print, they were told it was not a big enough file.

I am not in the print business, so I am trying to figure out why my d700 has tons of MP's but I only come up with 5mb size files. Honestly, I had never thought about it before, because 5mb with 300 dpi is sufficient for what I am doing.

Even when I shoot in raw (and I rarely do that) I am around 7mb....Is there a setting I am missing, or just a piece of info that I don't get?

I would like to blow up some of my travel prints but now I worry that they too will have the same issue of too small of a file.

Try exporting it as an uncompressed TIFF file.

Posted 2 years ago #
Segura

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Read the manual brother . . .

For starters JPG has two settings related to compression . . . size priority and optimal quality. Choose optimal. Size is there to save space.
Next make sure you are using Fine, which is the full 12MP.
Third, stop shooting JPG and shoot RAW!

Now RAW you have 12bit or 14bit.
Once you pick your bit, you have compressed, lossless compressed, and uncompressed.

All of this is in your manual . . . take the time to give it a read.

Posted 2 years ago #
Segura

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Sorry, hipmom, I should have said "Read the manual sista . . ."

Posted 2 years ago #
zoomnclick

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I've printed bigger sizes from 8 mega pixel jpeg files. I would suggest you take a look at the Lightroom export properties again.

Posted 2 years ago #
Carrera_C

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Segura's points cover it pretty well. Although your photo may be 'big' enough for that size of print in terms of megapixels, it may not have been high enough quality in terms of uncompressed image size which is what a lot of printers will gauge a files quality on.

This may have happened because you've taken a jpg (possibly on a lower quality/size setting) on the camera, edited it on the PC and exported it again as a jpg (which can cause further loss in quality). If you shoot RAW and then edit on the PC you should be able to keep a larger uncompressed file size and keep the quality.

Posted 2 years ago #
Pierre

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And make sure you are shooting in FX 36 X 24 mode and not in DX 24 X 16 mode, go to the "shooting menu/image area".

When I shoot in fine jepg, I get files anywhere between 3.4 to 10.5 meg, depending on the subject.

A large patch of night black sky can be compressed down to almost nothing without any loss. On the other hand, shooting grass will require a lot of space to preserve the details. In photoshop, files get even bigger after sharpening an image or doing some HDR manipulation.

Posted 2 years ago #
LessThanThreeLeo

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Also remember that shooting at higher ISO make the files bigger.

Posted 2 years ago #
hipmom

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Thanks Guys- You solved my problem- Camera set on default mode on many settings, So i just switched to FX, raw and am reading up on the compression.

Posted 2 years ago #
monty11

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File sizes depend very heavily on the subject matter that has been photographed. I just checked my 10mp D40x NEf files and they range from 5 to 11mb. Basically, the higher the number of differently coloured adjacent pixels (higher ISO picrueres take more space due to noise) the bigger the files.

Of course there are other factors but those have been mentioned here and they affect all the shots.

Posted 2 years ago #
DaveyJ

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Good post by Monty11 here. I have seen huge D700 prints (as big as a tall building). They were from a distance very sharp and beat the film camera used in comparison. When played on 55" LED HDTV I think the digital D700 beat my F5 with 100 ISO film. Scanning is obviously required to make that comparison and I have a high end scanner but there are always scanning artifacts that reduce the value of film now to me. One of the comparisons I have seen fairly often is RAW versus JPEG fine large and I do NOT think you want to hear my conclusion there as it greatly reduced my use of raw when the results began to weigh in and make the larger file sizes look suspicious. YET when it comes to saving JPEG better be converted to TIFF or be keep in files without subsequent saving. Also JPEG require you to be far closer to optimum exposure. I have a system of checking exposures that has saved me from problems but RAW certainly has it's advantages. ALL said......bigger file size can mean more clutter. I make very extensive use of external hard drives as it is.

Posted 2 years ago #
TaoTeJared

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Everyone is missing a major component of file size that Pierre touched on - it depends on the subject ie. contrast, colors, vibrancy, dynamic range, along with the settings of the files.

You can look this site up for the Raw vs. Jpeg debate (please don't make this thread about that:) but unless you are making these prints regularity, Jpeg for news print is just fine. I convert to Tiff for Jpegs I really want to keep though. I do burn "Keep" jpegs to DVDs so not to degrade them. Just note that RAW creates huge files which you will need allot more storage or spend more time going through and deleting unwanted files and adds more time to edit them.

For settings - From my D300 I typically use jpeg, Image quality -fine, Image size - large, Jpeg compression - optimal quality. As long as the ISO is 700 and under I can easily print 11x14. Typical size runs from 2.5 - 7.5 with most around 4-5mb.

For printing I have used this chart: all at 80 - 150 dpi

Size Pixels
w12 x 18 768x1152
12 x 20 1024x1280
12 x 24 1024x1536
12 x 30 1024x1920
14 x 22 1024x1400
16 x 16 1152x1152
16 x 20 1024x1280
16 x 24 1024x1536
18 x 24 1100x1536
20 x 20 1280x1280
SmugMug actually has some great info on their site about printing. http://www.smugmug.com/help/print-quality

Posted 2 years ago #
adamz

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I would concentrate more on the software aspect. For most cases it's not a problem to scale up the image 200% to get good results. So if You have a picture that was 4mb and someone saying You that it's not enough, just play with it in PS or LR or Aperture or any other software/plugin (i.e.Sharpener Pro) and enlarge it. Current algorithms are good enough to get decent results from small files. Just remember, when You resize do it gradually - by 5-10% at a time, as this gonna give You better result. I've seen A2 prints made from 5mpx cameras that were stunning in terms of details and clarity.

Posted 2 years ago #
kanuck

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Yes the RAW files should be close to 12mp. Anything posted on the internet should be 640 DPI, and I find 640 to be good for printing even especially after photoshop and noise ninja. I run an image in RAW through lightroom, then CS4 and finally noise ninja and get sizes of about 8.5 to 14.5 mp typically. As you probably know, adjusting the dpi makes a huge difference in file size right away out of Lightroom.

Adamz is right you can get amazing shots with just 5mp cameras. The D40 still yields breathtaking results. If your post processing skills are good enough I really believe you can produce medium format quality images with a cheap low mp camera as long as the size of the finished print is reasonable say a max of about 11x14. Keep in mind 11x14 is quite for most jobs! :)

Posted 2 years ago #
Paperman

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kanuck said:
.... Anything posted on the internet should be 640 DPI, and I find 640 to be good for printing even especially after photoshop and noise ninja. ....

Some confusion here with dpi & pixels I guess ... You probably mean 640 pixel "size" is fine for internet ( and not 640 dpi ) as almost all PC screens are 72 dpi .

250-300 dpi would result in high quality prints upto maybe 16 or 18 " ( x 12 ) from a 4200 x 2800 pixel image . Taking 640 dpi as ideal print quality would have meant hardly a 7 x 5 " is possible from a D700/D300 ...

Posted 2 years ago #
kanuck

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Yes thanks Paperman that was a typo I meant resolution pixels per square inch being 640 :)

Posted 2 years ago #