Do you need 50 megapixels to make large prints? Discussing sensor size, megapixels and print size

 

 

Nothing beats seeing your photography come to life in the form of a large print. For photographers such as Nigel Danson, it is an important part of the photographic process; it's the tangible result of a lot of hard work.

When discussing megapixels of cameras, the topic of print size often comes up. "How big can you print from camera X?" In his own version of this test, Danson headed out into the field to capture some morning landscape images with a Fujifilm X-T3, Nikon Z7 and Fujifilm GFX 50R. The X-T3 is an APS-C camera with a 26-megapixel sensor. The Z7 is a full-frame camera delivering a 45.7-megapixel image. Finally, the GFX 50R is Fujifilm's newest medium-format camera and it has a 51.4-megapixel image sensor.

Let's get something out of the way, the GFX 50R does produce sharper and more detailed images than the Z7 and the X-T3. However, what's perhaps more important is how much different are the image files and how large must you print to see a noticeable difference between the three cameras? Further, is this difference visible at typical viewing distances? After all, you don't view a large print with your face against the paper. To see Danson's results, watch his full video below.

As Danson mentions in the video above, there are a lot of other factors to consider beyond print quality. You have to live with a camera system, its strengths and weaknesses become exaggerated with extended use. Further, the quality of available lenses is also a huge part of the type of image quality you can expect from a certain camera.

Earlier this month, photographer Ming Cai also produced a video about megapixels and print size. In the video below, Cai printed a 30 x 40 inch image from a Fujifilm X-T2 and viewed them at different distances. Watch the video below to find out his thoughts on how many megapixels you need to make a good large print.

(Via Nigel Danson and Ming Cai)