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I am looking for raw images or websites that I can compare my D750 .NEF files to regarding sharpness. I don't have any problems with the camera-lens combos, all fine tuned with Lens Align several times. I get consistent values for each lens. I love the D750, but I believe that the 24MP format (even the D780), lacks the impact of the 45MP from the D850. When you compare images at 100% (45MP and 24MP) the 45MP just looks a lot sharper all else being equal. But as both images are at 100% shouldn't the pixels render at the same size on the monitor, the 45MP is just larger overall? Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

SteveK1603
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  • It would be nice if your question was more specific or maybe divided into two parts. – Euri Pinhollow Aug 01 '23 at 20:21
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    I don't really understand. If you take 2 photos of, let's say, a watering can - one with a 24MP sensor and one with a 45MP sensor - and the watering can fills the frame left to right, and you zoom in to 100% (where 1 pixel in the digital photo is represented by 1 pixel on your monitor), then of course your monitor will be filled by a smaller portion of the watering can when viewing the 45MP image - it has many, many more pixels stretching across the watering can. Does it make sense? – osullic Aug 01 '23 at 20:54
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    "all else being equal", **cough**. The 45MP sensor requires a lens with better resolution... – xenoid Aug 01 '23 at 21:32
  • Hi, welcome to Photo-SE. What is the question you're asking? Are you asking where to find sample raw images from higher-resolution Nikon cameras so you can compare them with yours? Or is your main question the last question, "But as both images are at 100% shouldn't the pixels render at the same size on the monitor, the 45MP is just larger overall?" – scottbb Aug 01 '23 at 22:02
  • @xenoid and the gang thanks for taking the time to reply. What steps would you take to determine your lens-camera are producing technically perfectly sharp images. Xenoid you mentioned resolution, I'm using an AF-S 70-200G ED II on my D750. DXOMARK.com says it is a pretty sharp lens. I shot a brick wall from 6' away on a tripod. Lens align fine tune value for my rig was 0. I took 40 shots 10 shots each at the following fine tune adjustments -4, -1, 0, +1, and honestly at any zoom % there's just a hint of difference between -4 and +1. 0 is the best but it's not tack sharp – SteveK1603 Aug 01 '23 at 22:15
  • @scottbb hello to you sir. Can a photographer get tack sharp NEF files with no post processing out of his rig? As a teenager I used to shoot sports for my town's newspaper. Developed and printed myself, no big deal at all, but I printed a few Tack Sharp pics. I'm just curious that's all. What are your thoughts on this? – SteveK1603 Aug 01 '23 at 22:22
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    I'm trying to help you condense your question into something that can be answered in the Stack Exchange Q&A format. Right now, it sounds like you don't have a clear question in mind. As such, we're having a hard time figuring out how to "answer" a nebulous question. I understand you might have several questions about your camera & lenses. But Photo-SE works by focusing on single, focused questions, where answers (sometimes several of them) directly answer the question (as much as possible) – scottbb Aug 01 '23 at 23:37
  • If you can make your question clear and focused, please edit your question with the clarification. BTW, it's completely fine to ask multiple independent questions here, at all! – scottbb Aug 01 '23 at 23:38
  • "What steps would you take to determine your lens-camera are producing technically perfectly sharp images." There's no such thing when using lenses with real thickness. Only theoretical zero thickness lenses can even theoretically produce technically perfect reproduction. Any refractive element with actual thickness bends different wavelengths of light at slightly different angles. – Michael C Aug 02 '23 at 18:40
  • @MichaelC you make a great point. You all make good points. A question to you all, take your sharpest image you have taken and zoom in 100%, is it in your opinion tack sharp? Is the image a 24 or 45 MP image? I'm not talking about the whole image but is there an area you find tack sharp. "Tack Sharp" is your own definition which as serious photographers I most definitely respect. – SteveK1603 Aug 03 '23 at 13:10
  • @SteveK1603 Who cares if one small section of an image is "tack sharp" when pixel peeped? Only those who are obsessed with being able to brag that they have the "best" lens for reproducing flat test charts from relatively short distances. The real photographers are more interested in how the full image looks to a viewer and the emotional and/or intellectual impact the image invokes in the viewer. In short, there's more to a great photo than how sharp it is at the microscopic level. – Michael C Aug 04 '23 at 07:08
  • @MichaelC I agree with you completely. My Lens Align software(and me) returned values that were slightly off making my images slightly soft. I fine tuned my lenses this afternoon with much better results, now the images are sharp. To your point, photographers see the world differently than most people, in that we are compelled to document it. We are challenged to evoke within our observer what we experienced. To truly "Capture the Moment" through photography is so emotionally gratifying, in that it doesn't happen all that often. – SteveK1603 Aug 08 '23 at 00:51

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Disclaimer 1: I am not a professional photographer in case that's important to you.

Disclaimer 2: I don't really know what qualifies a photo as "tack sharp" or not. This seems very vaguely defined to me.

I know you've come here with some relatively specific questions, so I will probably disappoint you with my answer. One of the things that I hate about this site is that it seems to attract people who are fixated on what I would consider the minutiae of photo "execution". Yes, exposure is important. Yes, achieving focus is important. Pixel-peeping images at 100%? Why on earth does anyone do this? It's just a side-effect of digital photography – people do it just because they can. We all sometimes need to take a step back (literally and figuratively) and remember what photography is really about. That's also subjective from person to person, but for me, the essence of photography is about telling stories. We've all heard the expression "a picture paints a thousand words".

Every year, the "World Press Photo" jury in the Netherlands selects what they deem to be the best photojournalism from the previous year. There are categories including sports and nature, as well as general news. Some selections are individual photos, some are photo-sets. There's usually a touring exhibition, and it's invariably superb in my opinion. I highly recommend it to anyone, if you can get to one of the venues.

Now I know we are not all taking photos in such hurried/hazardous conditions, but I'd still like to use this as an example. Take a look at the overall winning photo from 2016, by Warren Richardson, titled "Hope for a New Life":
https://www.worldpressphoto.org/collection/photo-contest/2016/warren-richardson/1

A baby is handed through a hole in a razor wire barrier, to a Syrian refugee who has already managed to cross the border from Serbia into Hungary, near Röszke.

Is this photo sharp? Of course not. Does it work well, to communicate something to the viewer? Absolutely.

Take a look at more of the photos from the World Press Photo archive, and notice how many are just not sharp. (Viewer discretion advised – some of these photos depict some pretty dreadful situations.)

Now I'm not saying that we shouldn't take any care about our gear or our technique. All I'm saying is not to get absolutely fixated on it. Remember the reason you are taking photos.

Many years ago I took a trip to south-east Asia. I had a relatively cheapo lens mounted on a very-budget-SLR. But some of the photos I took there are some of my best, some of the photos I'm happiest with. Do I ever look at them and wish they were sharper? Not really. Of course I took plenty that didn't turn out as well as I hoped, but it wasn't the case that simply a "sharper" lens or higher resolution sensor would have fixed everything.

Family on moped driving along a street in Ho Chi Minh City

There's an apocryphal quote attributed to Henri Cartier-Bresson, that "sharpness is a bourgeois concept." I don't know if he really said exactly that, and I don't really think it even makes sense! But I think one thing is for sure – we need to focus on the images, not the pixels.

osullic
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  • Thank you for sharing your thoughts and "Hope for a New Life". I very much admire your posted photo (looks like Vietnam) as it captures the moment. You have documented the frenetic tempo of the traffic and the people. The lack of safety within the scene (no helmets, 4 people on one bike) speaks volumes about their lives and culture. You capture the viewer, we wonder about the family, we wonder about man. We wonder how their lives are now. You captured the human condition. Cheers – SteveK1603 Aug 08 '23 at 01:12