Hey everyone,

I'm going on a trip, and one of my plans is to blow up and frame some of the pictures I take. I was speaking to a person at futureshop, and they said that 6 megapixels will blow up to an 8x10 quite nicely, however I would like to make them bigger. If I want 11x14 sized pictures, would an 8 megapixel camera work? I want to put them on my wall, so they need to be big enough.

My other concern is how much memory to bring on the trip. I do not plan to take all of my pictures in that much detail, but I will take a fair amount. I'm going for 3 weeks, so I don't want to be limited in how much space I have. Would a 2GB card be enough? Also, if I get low, is it possible to get compatible cards while in Europe?

Just for reference, the camera in question is the Canon Powershot A630...

Oh, just for clarity, I have not bought the camera yet, that is just the camera I am looking at. I don't want to spend more than say $350 Canadian. (Well, much more than that)

>I don't want to spend more than say $350 Canadian.

You can buy a camera with 100 megapixel and the quality will not be too good. When you buy a camear - digital or film - what you pay for is mostly the optics. With mediocre optics, megapixels don't count. And while optical deficiencies of a camera won't register on a small, postcard-sized print - say 10x15 - if you make a poster out of your picture everything you don't want will show up.

There are photo shops all over the world that can dump your images off to a CD for you so you don't have to worry about running out of space on your card.

A 5 megapixel image can be blow up to 20x30 without actually seeing pixelization, which is the main concern with enlarging digital photos. That said, Altamiro is 100% correct that the limitations of the optics will become apparent well before the number of pixels becomes a factor when enlarged. If you are only talking about 11x14, then the Canon will probably be OK, as Canon's are generally rated as one of the better point and shoot cameras for image quality.

If you plan to go much bigger (poster size) but only plan to do so with a few pictures and want the best possible quality for the lowest cost then one solution could be to buy a regular old 35mm film SLR. You can probably get a decent new 35mm camera with a 28-105mm zoom lens for $300 - $400 new. You can probably get an excellent used camera and lens combo for the same or lower price. Use a very high quality film and the lowest ISO that the lighting will allow.

There are services that can scan and digitize the negatives for you onto a cd or dvd. This can be very expensive for a lot of pictures since the process is fairly labor intensive. I think it can cost any where from .$50 - $2 per picture, depending the level of service you choose (DPI, special processing, etc.). If you only have a roll or two of film the cost is reasonable. You will end up with digital images as good or better than that which you would get from a digital slr costing well over $1000.

>There are photo shops all over the world that can dump your images off to a CD for you so you don't have to worry about running out of space on your card.

I had bad experiences with such a service in France. They a)couldn't burn the RAW files on the CD and the few JPG's they did burn were compressed almost to death while burning.
I mean - if you take a 2 megabyte file and make a 50 kilobyte file, it will necessary show up in the picture quality.
It isn't meant as an advice not to burn off your data - just ask to make sure the shop doesn't reduce your holiday memories to data garbage.

>You can probably get a decent new 35mm camera with a 28-105mm zoom lens for $300 - $400 new. You can probably get an excellent used camera and lens combo for the same or lower price. Use a very high quality film and the lowest ISO that the lighting will allow.

Another solution is to buy an used DSLR of a previous generation. They aren't bad at all. Currently the photography shop where I often walk by offers a Pentax DS with a kit lens for 450 SFr (roughly 450 $ Can) - obviously used but in mint shape and they sell with 6 months warranty.

Memory is getting so cheap it's not a big waste of money buying multiple cards instead of risking the vagaries of burning chips to CD in a strange land.

I have a dozen or so 64mb cards that I find ideal for one day's shooting. I bought them brand new IOP on eBay for $4.

Another camera to look at is the Sony H2. It is larger than the A630 (which is an excellent camera). Like the A630, the Sony uses AA batteries. The Sony is 6mp with a 12X optical and 2X digital zoom and has image stabilization. The serious review sites e.g., image-resource.com, stevesdigicams.com, dp etc. rate it quite highly. Since the advent of the H5, the H2 is retailing for about 300 or a bit less American. Should you or anyone else want an H2, be sure to make sure it is of more recent manufacture since early versions had compatibility problems with SanDisc cards.

With a 8MP camera shot with highest quality of JPEG, you can only get about 300 of so pictures on a 1GB card.

But 4GB and 8GB SD card (which the A630 uses) are pretty cheap now. 4GB for under $40 after rebate, and 8GB around $60.

Keep in mind that CD only holds about 700MB. Single-sided DVD around 4GB. I wouldn't try look for DVD-burning photo shops on the trip.

Estimate how many pictures do you usually take a day, and buy enough flash memory with some room to spare. You won't have to worry about running out of room.

I don't think "the bigger the better" when it comes to flash memory. When one considers the downside of lost, stolen, or damaged cards, the little ones win - because there are fewer "priceless images" on them.

That's true. I am just illustrating how inexpensive SD cards are. In fact, I often see 1GB SD cards for free after rebate.

When dumping image to a CD in Rome I specifically asked if the compressed the image file down. She said no and I verified it on her computer after the files were dumped and before I deleted it from the card.

But...but...

it takes time and money to download, then you have to take care of the CD/DVD.

Given the price of memory, I don't see the point.

I have a 7.1 megapixel Canon PowerShot G6. Using the highest resolution setting, I get about 250 shots on a 1G card, not shooting raw. I recently had 12"x18" prints made with great clarity. I'm sure I could make them 16"x24" without losing much. It helps if you have a steady hand or use a tripod. I also recommend more cards with about 1G each in case of damage. That way you don't lose all your images on a bad card.

wow, a lot of good replies...

First off, I will probably buy a few small cards just to make it easier and given the cost.

As for the camera, its either that canon, or the Canon SD630, which I prefer. This camera is only 6 megapixels, but seems to be overall a better camera.

I'm glad to hear that you can blow up images without too much worry...

For all practical purpose, there's little difference between 6MP and 8MP. Get the SD630 if that's what you want. But also consider the more expensive SD700IS. That's arguably the best compact digital camera around, and has image stabilization.

As luvtotravel says...make sure your camera is set to take pics at a high resolution and a large image size.

I've blown up digital images to 16x20 with excellent results...but only because I didn't try to cram a lot of pics onto one card.

Oh no, you're right! It costs us a whole10 euro and 15 minutes of time and I had to slip it down into a pocket in my bag. It was no big deal.

First you have to <u>find</u> the place.
You may have to wait for a clerk.
The transfer may or may not take the first time.
Check the CD/DVD on your own computer.
Total time: a LOT more than 15 minutes.

The main cost is the vacation time that you paid (round numbers) $700 to get to and $150 a night to stay at. A LOT more than &euro;10.

Cling to your 20th century ways, but with memory approaching 1&cent; per megabyte ($10/gb), it ain't woith it.