Digital picture question

[Jeff396]

I have a Sony video camera capable of taking still pictures. When I do, they look great when viewed on the computers monitor. However, when I go to print them on my HP855C Deskjet they come out EXTREMELY low resolution. Should the picture coming from the computer look as good as it does on the screen? If so, where am I experiencing the drop in quality of the picture? Attached is an example of a picture taken from the camera. I will then usually download the pictures from the camers and use Picture it Express to convert them to Jpegs.

Jeff

 

[RoyJackson]

I also have a Sony digital cam (pics only, no videos)

What resolution are you using? Sony (or another source) reccomends 640x480 for posting on the Web (same as you did with the "Vette) as a balance between quality of image and minimum bandwidth usage.
However, when you print a 640x480 sized image (especially if you print 8"x10"), it looks pretty grainy.

So, take your pics at the highest resolution you can (mine does 1200x960 or thereabouts). You can always reduce the resolution using Irfanview or another image editor for posting purposes (save the reduced resolution as another filename!!! Otherwise, you overwrite your original, higher quality image.)

The other thing is the paper and printer you're using. You really need to use a quality photo paper (HP makes some nice stuff...a bit expensive...around $30 for 25 sheets). Also, your printer must be capable of printing high resolution pictures. We have an HP 952C which does a fine job (using HP glossy or matte photo paper).

Another alternative is sending the pics to an online photo printer (we've used <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.shutterfly.com/index.jsp>this one</A> with great success.

Now, you're using a video camera. I don't know if you can adjust the resolution of the stills, especially if they are "captured" from a video. As the "frames" in a video move so fast, quality of a frame (image) isn't as important. Your eyes can't "read" an image in a video, so your brain fills in the image based upon the rest of the scene. You're going to have to read your manual to determine the best "quality" for the vidcaps.

But, the quality (resolution) of the original picture file is what determines the quality of the printed picture.

 

[bmac]

Roy is exactly right. Photographs made at fairly low resolution can look great on your monitor but pretty bad on paper. My recollection is that stills from video cameras are low resolution and, as such, are not good for prints. In general, multi-function devices rarely excel in every application (a ShopSmith, while versatile, does not perform as well as a dedicated table saw, drill press, band saw, etc). For good quality prints, I think you need to have a dedicated digital camera (in addition to an appropriate printer and paper). The resolution of the camera will dictate what size prints you can generate at "photo quality". For example, a 2 megapixel camera (very affordable now) should do fine for prints up to 4"X6". For 8"X10" prints, however, you would probably want a 3 megapixel or greater camera.

 

[Jeff396]

Thanks to both of you. I was afraid that would be the answer. We aren't actually capturing an image from a video. We can use the camers to take still pictures and save them to a memory stick. Oh well, I guess a still camera is next on the list./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Jeff

 

[frank_f15]

jeff: just to reiterate. i usually shoot with my digital at high resolution, then i save them to zip disk(not to use up hard drive) then if and when i want to print, i have a high res. to start form. if i want to e mail them i resize them to lower res, cuts the file size way down and still gives agreat pic. for viewing on computer.

 

[Jeff396]

I'm gonna dig out the directions on the video camera and see if you can select the resolution you'd like. When I bought it I knew the still shot capability was a weakness but the next one up was over $500.00 more. I figured I could get a real nice still camera for that kind of money. It will work out quite nicely for documenting my vehicles when I disassemble them. I rarely have a need to print out a photo but when I did a while back I was pretty disappointed.

Jeff

 

[bmac]

As an alternative, if you have a CD burner, you can archive photos on CDs very nicely. And CDs (I believe) will have a longer life span than magnetic media (which I think zip disks are).

Depending on your hardware, you may have a hard drive big enough to store you photos on. Even if you do, I would recommend backing them up to some sort of removable media. After all, many of these photos are irreplaceable and with no negatives on which to fall back, you need a seperate copy. Ideally, the archival copies should be stored at an off site location (e.g. safe deposit box at the bank).

 

[bmac]

Jeff, if you check the documentation that came with your video camera, it should indicate the maximum resolution of the still camera function.

 

[frank_f15]

you are correct, burning to cd is the way to . my new puter will have one. but zip is a handy also

 

[BB_TX]

No one mentioned it could be the printer. I assume you are using photo paper. I use a HP 5550 and get great pictures from a Sony digital still camera. But the printer does have different settings I have to be aware of. You can choose low, medium, or high resolution printing. Also, you must choose the type paper to match what paper you are actually using. I usually print medium resolution unless I want a photo to frame. I have forgotten to choose the correct paper before and the picture did not come out as well as when I choose the correct paper. Actually the 5550 has an auto paper select, but a HP 930 I had before did not. That is where I had the problem forgetting to choose the correct paper.