Billboard Myths

[blockend]

Interesting debunking of a regular photographic claim. The experiment is on digital but the stats hold up for film.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Yes, but we knew about that on APUG years ago ... and I will still shoot only film.

 

[blockend]

Yes, but we knew about that on APUG years ago ... and I will still shoot only film.

Is that the royal we?

 

[Sirius Glass]

Is that the royal we?

Yes, and kneel in my presence.

 

[jim10219]

If you think about it, a billboard viewed at the average distance takes up about the same visual space as a business card or post on Instagram. That’s why they always have a very limited amount of text.

I once was in a band and we made flyers and posted them all over town. From about 15 feet or less, it just looked like text on colored blocks. But from about 30 feet back or more, it looked like a naked lady. Needless to say they created a lot of interest, but people kept taking them down either because they thought they were cool, or found them obscene. So they didn’t do a good job of advertising our show, because they didn’t last long.

 

[blockend]

Another interesting link with digital and film resolution comparisons Go to 8:00 minutes for the good stuff. What it clearly shows is how low resolution can be, so long as the eye has something like noise or grain to focus on. Basically, you can have a blurry smudge and if the texture is large enough to see, the eye will read it as sharp. This won't be news to the grey beards, but may prove of interest to newcomers. It goes some way to illustrate why a street photograph (for example), shot on 400 ASA film and pushed to 1600 ASA, through a modest lens, can look sharper than one shot on low ASA film. Other factors come into play, like lighting, but for perceived sharpness you don't need megapixels or fine grain or state of the art lenses.

 

[removed account4]

im trying to figure something out ...
do people actually think their image,
whether it is a 110 film 2x3 image casio digital camera from 1998
high end digital or high end ulf contact print goes up on a billboard ??
it gets duplicated and manipulated by the billboard company. it doesn't matter
what the original art was ... the idea that any of it matters is the real myth.
and the fact that people believe any of it matters and there are
videos exploding myths &c is kind of funny. no one puts their nose to the glass
and inspects grain or pixels except for photographers.
its too bad people have to constantly make it seem that any of it matters, or there is an incessant upgrade cycle
or to be "really good" you need "high end gear" its all a load of sheepshank propogated by image makers ( as in ad agencies )
people who are qwesting for magic bullets.
and people on websites exploding myths

 

[wyofilm]

im trying to figure something out ...
do people actually think their image,
whether it is a 110 film 2x3 image casio digital camera from 1998
high end digital or high end ulf contact print goes up on a billboard ??
it gets duplicated and manipulated by the billboard company. it doesn't matter
what the original art was ... the idea that any of it matters is the real myth.
and the fact that people believe any of it matters and there are
videos exploding myths &c is kind of funny. no one puts their nose to the glass
and inspects grain or pixels except for photographers.
its too bad people have to constantly make it seem that any of it matters, or there is an incessant upgrade cycle
or to be "really good" you need "high end gear" its all a load of sheepshank propogated by image makers ( as in ad agencies )
and people who are qwesting for magic bullets.

Great John! So, I can put you down for a $30,000 100 MP, wizbang special? It will make you a photographer with gravitas and more popular with your friends. Guaranteed*



*Some restrictions applied.

 

[removed account4]

Great John! So, I can put you down for a $30,000 100 MP, wizbang special? It will make you a photographer with gravitas and more popular with your friends. Guaranteed*



*Some restrictions applied.

im up for that
as long as the restrictiions don't suggest
that i have to go to a seminar class in a hotel banquet room, and buy a time share
i need an edge, maybe this will help..

 

[wyofilm]

im up for that
as long as the restrictiions don't suggest
that i have to go to a seminar class in a hotel banquet room, and buy a time share

Gezz! Some people just don't care about art!

Maybe I should go back to selling encyclopedias door-to-door ...

 

[removed account4]

Gezz! Some people just don't care about art!

Maybe I should go back to selling encyclopedias door-to-door ...

id buy an encyclopedia before i buy a fancy camera
my computer isn't big enough to store more than 2 images on a 100MP camera
im on a tandy trs-80 and i use a nokia candy bar phone i used to have an old encyclopedia though
it was from the 30s maybe small concise and beautiful .. nothing like the 73 worldbook i read cover to cover...
gotta feed the hamsters on the treadmill, they are powering the whole operation ..

 

[MartinCrabtree]

What's it matter? If you want the 20 gigapixel device buy it. If a Brownie works for you buy it. The key is where is it 6 months from now. Are you using it? Then it is the camera for you.

BTW when I shoot digital it is often my D90. A veritable dinosaur.

 

[Chan Tran]

So how many MP the best of those electronic billboards have?

 

[Sirius Glass]

Brushed by in all of those urls is the point that one needs more resolution if one wants to crop the negative or image. But pixels gives bragging rights, the importance of which cannot be underestimated.

 

[Cholentpot]

Arg!

The mega pickles are for - deep breath - CROPPPPPIIIINNNNNNGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!

The biggest switch over from 35mm film to digital for me is the ability to crop without losing loads of quality. If I shoot on a 35mp sensor I can crop all day long without a loss of IQ. When I shoot 35mm I darn tootin' get the framing right because there's not that much I can do in post.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

This 2MP billboard looks awesome on 640x480 video on my 17-inches ten+ years old monitor driven by crappy video on-board card. This is what billboards are great for and for viewing at great distance.
But, then you will print 2MP image on 8x10 and get it close, this is where crap shows up.
Or if you enlarge on relatively large paper size.
This is where difference between Yashica Mat 124G Yashinon lens on 6x6 is clearly visible from Industar-10 on 135 film.

Common, it is not APUG anymore, but do the need to re-invent the wheel here...

 

[wiltw]

Arg!

The mega pickles are for - deep breath - CROPPPPPIIIINNNNNNGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!

The biggest switch over from 35mm film to digital for me is the ability to crop without losing loads of quality. If I shoot on a 35mp sensor I can crop all day long without a loss of IQ. When I shoot 35mm I darn tootin' get the framing right because there's not that much I can do in post.

The lens only delivers so much resolution...assuming a spectacular lens of 120 line-pairs per millimeter, if you blow that up 40x, that leaves only 3 line-pairs per millimeter on print. It takes 5 line-pairs per millimeter on print for the eye and brain to perceived the image as 'sharp'. If you back up to 40X your usual viewing distance, your eye and brain will once again be fooled into perceiving the image as sharp.

 

[Eric Rose]

Photographers should spend 10x more time and energy on learning how to compose and print a stunning photograph than wasting their time on gear talk. Goes for digi or film.

A stunning photograph transcends lpm, mega pixels, grain and all the other crap techno posers obsess over.

Just say'in. Rant over

 

[Cholentpot]

Photographers should spend 10x more time and energy on learning how to compose and print a stunning photograph than wasting their time on gear talk. Goes for digi or film.

A stunning photograph transcends lpm, mega pixels, grain and all the other crap techno posers obsess over.

Just say'in. Rant over

I mean the goodies help, and it can be fun. But yeah, some of my bestist photos were taken on a C3 with questionable film.

 

[Nige]

im on a tandy trs-80

OT alert...

Model 1 or fancy Model 3? Audio cassette or 5 1/4 floppy... or maybe one of those fancy 5MB hard disks!

 

[removed account4]

its the first one, sometimes it smokes when i get online
gotta give the hamsters a cool drink of water ... <gggg>

 

[Chan Tran]

id buy an encyclopedia before i buy a fancy camera
my computer isn't big enough to store more than 2 images on a 100MP camera
im on a tandy trs-80 and i use a nokia candy bar phone i used to have an old encyclopedia though
it was from the 30s maybe small concise and beautiful .. nothing like the 73 worldbook i read cover to cover...
gotta feed the hamsters on the treadmill, they are powering the whole operation ..

I am not sure your computer is big enough for 1 image from a 2MP camera.

 

[nmp]

im trying to figure something out ...
do people actually think their image,
whether it is a 110 film 2x3 image casio digital camera from 1998
high end digital or high end ulf contact print goes up on a billboard ??
it gets duplicated and manipulated by the billboard company. it doesn't matter
what the original art was ... the idea that any of it matters is the real myth.
and the fact that people believe any of it matters and there are
videos exploding myths &c is kind of funny. no one puts their nose to the glass
and inspects grain or pixels except for photographers.
its too bad people have to constantly make it seem that any of it matters, or there is an incessant upgrade cycle
or to be "really good" you need "high end gear" its all a load of sheepshank propogated by image makers ( as in ad agencies )
people who are qwesting for magic bullets.
and people on websites exploding myths

Myth-busting is a great business. It fills pages of blogs. Every once in a while I get sucked in and click - only to find the "myth" was no myth at all. Or it was for someone who tends to assume too many things or misunderstands the concept in the first place.

 

[removed account4]

I am not sure your computer is big enough for 1 image from a 2MP camera.

hehe
i have a bellows i run with a singer 66 sewing machine treadle to keep things from over heating
the hampster love it..

Myth-busting is a great business. It fills pages of blogs. Every once in a while I get sucked in and click - only to find the "myth" was no myth at all. Or it was for someone who tends to assume too many things or misunderstands the concept in the first place.

yup :...

 

[Wallendo]

Back in the days of 35mm film in theatres, we were watching what was essentially half-frame 35mm blown up to 50-100 feet. And at least a second generation copy.
Until quite recently, most digital projection was 2K (about 2 megapixels blown up to the same size). Star Wars I (the first prequel) and Lord of the Rings : The Fellowship of the Ring were both finished at less than 2 megapixels and did well in theatres. Today videophiles watching these movies sitting very close to their plasma screens complain about the poor quality, but they both looked fine on the big screen.
Even now, the finest digital theatres project in 4K (8 megapixels).


On a lighter note, I can picture a few APUGgers trying to figure out a way to use a billboard-sized negative to contact print a billboard using alternative technics.