Re: [PRODIG] 6 mega pixels not enough?

[Bob Croxford]

Every time this subject crops up someone puts forward the idea that the 
picture library is wrong. I strongly suspect that the library involved 
is Getty Images because I have seen the same recommendations from them. 
For those that don't know Getty is the biggest stock agent worldwide 
and sells hundreds of millions of dollars worth of digital files. Some 
of the fees they achieve are well over $10,000 with one notable sale of 
$130,000. (The green field that greets PC users). These are sales to 
the best art directors in the world with big spending budgets. These 
are not sales to ten people stopped in the street.

Your idea for a test is farcical. Why scan a 35mm tranny? Why not 6x7 
or 4x5? What we are talking about is quality. Are you going to suggest 
that 35mm is no different to larger film? That will come as news to all 
those people who bought Hasselblads, Pentax 6x7s, Sinars etc...... To 
think that all this time they could have done a simple test and stopped 
10 people in the street to settle their purchasing problem for them.

I have to wonder why photographers are spending over �10,000 on digital 
backs for Hasselblads and Sinars when Shangara has a simple test which 
will prove they wasted their money.

The real test which some libraries and their technical advisers are 
doing is this. Take a 645 Velvia tranny shot with a prime lens at a 
subject full of detail using a stable tripod with mirror lock. Make a 
72mm drum scan. Now compare. It is against this yardstick that the 1ds 
is being judged.

Yours

Bob Croxford

On Wednesday, July 16, 2003, at 08:57  am, Shangara Singh wrote:

Quality required for what? Viewing in Photoshop at 1600%?....At the 
end of
the day, they can set the bar as high as they like since it is their
business. If you have a vested interest to persuade them to lower it, 
you
could try taking a test image (see the setups used by Dpreview.com) 
with a
35mm film camera and having it scanned so that it's larger than 28mb. 
Take
the same image with your D60 and have some A4 and double-page spread 
digital
proofs and Cromalins made, include 3mm bleed all around. I'm sure 
someone on
the list can probably print the proofs for a beer if you asked nicely. 
<g>

Stop 10 people in the street and ask them which proof they prefer. If 
they
all prefer the ones from the scans, then sell the D60 and buy a 1ds. 
If they
can't tell the difference, take your findings to the picture 
library...and
remember to publish them here. Also, you might like to have Boots 
produce A4
or 16x20 prints and see if anyone can spot the difference - by anyone, 
I
mean the general public.


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