Thinking of a Canon Powershot S2 IS

My rule of thumb that has worked out reasonably well is to divide the pixel dimensions of an image by 300 to get what I call a "virtual contact print" size -- in inches. (You remember contact prints made by placing the negative on the photopaper?) The Canon S2 IS produces a 2,592 pixel x 1,944 pixel image so that comes out to be a 8.6" x 6.5" print. One can easily double this and still produce and outstanding image. One can get an Epson or Canon printer that uses 13" wide paper and I think your camera's images can easily produce great prints on 13" x 17" paper.

And I think I'm a bit conservative in this. If you use a tripod and do everything possible to maximize sharpness you should be able to produce greater enlargements.
Then there's the "viewing distance" consideration. Some will analyze their prints with a magnifying glass never stopping to consider that no viewer is ever going to get that close.

Another factor is paper. I think you can go bigger with matte paper than with glossy.

I look forward to comments on this post.

bolek


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bolek

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"bolek" wrote in message
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My rule of thumb that has worked out reasonably well is to divide the
pixel dimensions of an image by 300 to get what I call a "virtual contact
print" size -- in inches. (You remember contact prints made by placing the
negative on the photopaper?) The Canon S2 IS produces a 2,592 pixel x
1,944 pixel image so that comes out to be a 8.6" x 6.5" print. One can
easily double this and still produce and outstanding image. One can get an
Epson or Canon printer that uses 13" wide paper and I think your camera's
images can easily produce great prints on 13" x 17" paper.

And I think I'm a bit conservative in this. If you use a tripod and do
everything possible to maximize sharpness you should be able to produce
greater enlargements.
Then there's the "viewing distance" consideration. Some will analyze their
prints with a magnifying glass never stopping to consider that no viewer
is ever going to get that close.

Another factor is paper. I think you can go bigger with matte paper than
with glossy.

I look forward to comments on this post.

Well I have two comments, the first is cropping changes the numbers, the
second is with that large zoom range my first comment is less relevant since
one can assume less cropping would be needed. When I got my A95, I
considered the 1s Is which was current at that time. I opted for the higher
pixel count, smaller size and optical viewfinder. Today the choice would be
harder, although I still do not like the electronic viewfinder. I'm not sure
if lens quality suffers with the wider zoom range.
Dave Cohen