Cool find re: 5D resolution

Let me confess up front that there are probably those here who could've done a better job of this, but here goes...

Last night and today I was reviewing some of the shots from Garden of the Gods yesterday morning, and I was shocked by the detail I was seeing. I would not be surprised to take photos of this same view with my Canon 70-200mm lens @ 200mm in the summer and see shapes of people standing on the viewing platform by the Summit House on Pikes Peak. I would definitely distinctly see the Cog train, and will go looking with shots I will take once the train starts its runs for the year.

So it got me thinking: Could I find the A-frame shelter? (For those unfamiliar, there's an A-frame shelter right at timberline along Barr Trail that's a great way-station on climbs of Pikes Peak. Some people stop at Barr Camp for the night, I've always continued another three miles to the A-frame. Lots of history carved into its walls.) I've been there many times over the years, since my first climb of Pikes as a young teen. I knew whereabouts it should be. Sure enough, tonight I found the snow-covered roof of the thing. This representation does NOT do justice to the obviously manmade rectangular shape covered by snow that I can see on my monitor, so you'll need to take a bit of a leap of faith with me. But I can say with 99.9% certainty that the circle is surrounding a place that I've spent more than one night in. Check it out!

I forgot to mention that the crop box is actually a 2X rendition of the original size (going from a little less than half an inch to 1"), and the detail faded a bit in the translation. However, this is still easier to see than if I'd had a little box half this size. This is for show.

FWIW, here's the Summit House, 100% crop, no upsizing.

Todd,
This is very cool. You should check out my thread on super-resolution.
Paul

Great stuff - so this now begs the question: What size of print can you make with 12 mpx?

Are we talking 24X, maybe 30X???

I love math, but I'm not good enough at it to calculate that. But I have done a 20x30, which looked pretty nice. But that was also with a lens of lesser quality than the 70-200. Oh, how I dream of a new line of lenses that can match sensor resolution! Especially a wide angle zoom. Without CA.

Yep - impressive. I have the same experience with the D2X. The first few times I worked with a full-rez image, I was surprised at how much detail was captured. I typically have to clone out things I never even saw in the frame - small signs in the distance, buildings, wires...

Dave - I've printed up to 16x20 with my 6MP D70 and was happy with the results. The 12.4MP of my D2X could easily go to 24x; larger depending on the image. You really need to see some of Erik's prints - I'm amazed at how large he is printing from his 6MP Canon 350D. He has some 30x images ( for example, this one here ) that look very good. Right at the print, some softness is definitely noticeable, but step a few feet away and it looks great.

My experience with the D2X (almost the same MP as the 5D) is that, with a perfect exposure, tack-sharp focus and a good lens, you can print to ~100dpi (28x42) and still be reasonably happy with the image. Most of the time I wouldn't print above 20x or 24x, but on shots like Todd's, there's enough detail there to print large after you're done with the PS work.

A good image from my 5D will print 24x36, easily. If printing for a non-photographer, you can go bigger than that.

Rick, Erik's Canon 350D is not 6MP, it's 8MP.

8MP.... my bad...

Great detail! I wonder how much the nice crisp, cool air, with little refraction, has to do with it? Of course a good tripod, lens, and exposure, plus skill of the photographer probably helps .

Pretty cool!

Todd, cool shot and nice example of the detail. So I guess this one goes in M&N if you ever put it up on the forums.

I'm happy with 30x40cm from 350D and now D80. With D80 and new techniques I've learnt it might be possible to go beyond that but will fail to impress in comparison of say a 6x7 slide. (No. please no film/digital debate).