A digital camera is able to process a certain amount of information through its lens and record it onto a removable media card. The information stored to this media card is made up of digital pixels. A 2 Megapixel (MP) camera can process and record images that consist of 2 million pixels apiece. Similarly, a 5 Megapixel (MP) camera can process and record images that consist of 5 million pixels apiece. Why is this important?

(Click on any image below for an enlarged view.)

Simply put, the more pixels that can be recorded by a camera, the greater the image resolution. And the greater the image resolution, the better the image quality.

The image above compares an apple that was photographed by two different digital cameras, 5 MP and 2 MP, which is currently the top and bottom of the Olympus camera product range. Here, we've magnified a section of each result for comparative purposes. As you can see, the difference in detail is very obvious.

(Note: if you have a 3 or 4 MP camera, your resolution capabilities will fall somewhere in between these examples.)

In addition to the differences between cameras, there are also settings you can make within each camera to render its optimal resolution (image size and quality).

The first part of this lesson focuses on the difference of resolution between a 5 MP and a 2 MP camera, and walks through the process of taking an outdoor portrait. The second part focuses on downloading images to your computer, and preparing it for the highest quality print resolution possible.

Basically, there are 2 variables that determine the resolution of an image: Camera Megapixel Size (2MP, 3MP, 4MP, 5MP, etc.) and Image Quality Setting (pixel dimensions/compression level).

Megapixel Size and Resolution Settings for the C-5050 Zoom (5MP)
As was described above, Megapixel size plays an important role in determining the size and quality of an image. The C-5050 Zoom is a 5 MP camera capable of creating 5 million pixel images, but it also has internal settings that can be modified to achieve different results. The Record mode setting (also known as the Resolution setting) allows you to configure both Image Size (pixel dimensions) and Image Quality. The C-5050 Zoom offers 4 different Image Quality options that can be modified by adjusting its various Image Size settings:

1. SQ (Standard Quality, JPEG)
2. SHQ (Super High Quality, JPEG)
3. TIFF (Tagged Image File Format)
4. RAW (uncompressed, software specific)

Megapixel Size and Resolution Settings for the D-520 Zoom (2MP)
The D-520 Zoom is a 2 MP camera capable of creating 2 million pixel images, but it also has internal settings that can be modified to achieve different results. It offers 3 different Image Quality options that have been preset to various levels of Image Size and Image Quality:

1. SQ (Standard Quality, JPEG)
2. HQ (High Quality, JPEG)
3. SHQ (Super High Quality, JPEG)

Image Size/Quality Settings
Choosing a low Image Quality setting, such as SQ, will give you many images per card, but they will be smaller in size and the image quality may not be as good as it would be at a higher setting. For the largest size and highest quality image possible, choose the highest quality setting on your camera.

There are two variables that determine how many images you can record onto the included 32MB xD-Picture card with your C-5050 Zoom: the Image Quality settings and the Image Size settings. The chart below shows you how many images you can expect to capture with different combinations of these two variables.

Since shooting in TIFF mode at the maximum size will only allow you 2 images on an empty 32MB card with a C-5050 Zoom, one alternative is to shoot in the SHQ mode. This allows 8 frames per 32MB card and the image quality is almost as good as with the TIFF format. It is also noticeably faster to shoot in SHQ mode, as it takes a few moments for the camera to store images to the card in both TIFF and RAW modes. If you do shoot in TIFF/RAW mode, we recommend you purchase larger Media cards.

To give you an idea of the size differences between Resolution settings in a D-520 Zoom (2 MP) camera, we photographed an apple at SQ, HQ and SHQ and placed the results next to each other. Then we did the same series with the C-5050Z and placed the results next to each other.

As you can see, with the D-520 Zoom result, the SHQ version is roughly 3 times the size of the HQ version and 9 times the size of the SQ result. With the C-5050 Zoom, however, the SHQ result is roughly four times the size of the HQ result and 16 times the size of the SQ result (figures 1 & 2).

Notice how the C-5050 Zoom SHQ result of the apple is almost 4 times larger than that of the D-520 Zoom SHQ result? This illustrates the basic difference between a 2 MP image and a 5 MP image.

Shooting For High Quality Prints
This section of the lesson demonstrates how to adjust the resolution in your C-5050 Zoom to get the highest quality prints possible. However, in this instance we draw upon an outdoor portrait session that was shot with an Olympus E-20N, also 5 MP. Since the E-20N and the C-5050 Zoom are both 5 MP cameras, the examples of size and quality from the E-20N results are indicative of what you can expect to achieve with the C-5050 Zoom.

If you want to be able to make high quality prints from the pictures you take, it's best to set your camera to one of the higher resolutions. If you are shooting a portrait that you will later make prints from, we recommend you set the Image Quality to SHQ, since it enables a fast capture rate while maintaining a high quality level.

To choose this setting, activate the Main menu and press the Left arrow button to enter the Resolution menu. This will bring you to a menu where you can select the Image Quality. Choose SHQ and scroll right to enter the Image Size menu. Here you can select between different pixel dimensions. Choose 2560x1920 and press the OK/Menu button three times to exit the menu (figures 3-6).

(Note: with the C-5050 Zoom, it is also possible to set the Image Size to ENLARGE [3200x2400 pixels]. Through a very clean interpolation process, this setting can render images you would expect to capture on an 8 MP camera!)

To demonstrate size differences, we first set the resolution to its lowest resolution (SQ) and adjusted the White Balance for daylight (for an in-depth look at this process, check out the two lessons on this site entitled, “Using Digital White Balance Indoors” and “Using Digital White Balance Outside”). We then set the Mode dial to Manual, set the aperture to f/2.4 so that we would have a small depth of field and the background would be somewhat out of focus. We focused on the models face, and took a shot (figures 8 & 9).

Our initial result is quite good. The light on our model's face gradually transitions from light to dark to create a natural sense of depth and the background is nicely out of focus due to our aperture setting of f/2.4. (For a more detailed on how and why to set your aperture and shutter speed manually, check out the lessons on this site entitled, “Controlling Depth Of Field In Outside Portraits” and “Controlling Depth Of Field In Product Photography”.)

In order to reduce the contrast in a portrait setup, it is common to use a reflector to fill in the shadow areas of the face. To demonstrate this effect, we set up a Photoflex 22" Soft Gold/White LiteDisc on a LiteDisc Holder and Litestand and positioned it to the right side of our model's face to serve as a “warm fill” light. We increased the Resolution setting to HQ and took another shot (figures 10 & 11).

The result shows that the shadow side has lightened considerably, and yet there is still a sense of dimension to the face. This classic “main and fill” lighting setup is used often, as it is very flattering to many people's faces.

But, remember that when it comes to lighting portraits, there is no “right” way and that it is always good to experiment with different setups. For some people, increasing the contrast may make it more flattering. This is particularly true for men. To illustrate, we simply replaced the Soft Gold LiteDisc with a 22" Black LiteDisc to create a “negative” fill. Lastly, we set the Resolution SHQ and took another shot (figures 12 & 13).

Notice the difference the Black LiteDisc made. The shadow side is much darker now and the angled features of our model are much more pronounced.

Keep in mind, however, that how you choose to light someone is a matter of personal preference. Having a few different LiteDiscs at your disposal allows you to come up with the look you're after.

Downloading
After the shoot, we downloaded the images to our computer so that we could make prints from our Olympus Dye-Sub printer. Unless you already use a photo-editing application to prepare your images for print, email, etc., you will need to install the Camedia software that came with your Olympus camera. After you've successfully installed this software onto your computer, you will be able follow the next sequences.

After a few moments, a card icon will appear on your desktop (for Macs) or as an external drive (for PC) allowing you save the images onto your computer (figures 16 & 17).

(IMPORTANT NOTE: Keep in mind that if you want to delete any images from the camera's card, it is best to do it while the card is in the camera and not in the Reader. Otherwise the card can become damaged.)

Using the Camedia software, you can do many things with your images, including: preparing them email and the web, making calendars, postcards, photo albums, and basic printing. Here, we'll run through the basic steps of printing an image onto high quality photo paper.

After we copied the images to our hard drive, we loaded our Olympus Dye-Sublimation printer tray with Pictorico Glossy Photo Paper and placed it in the printer (figures 18-21).

You can now browse your computer to upload photos from your Camedia Reader, your camera, or your hard drive (Figures 23 & 24).

Your photos should be visible now on the left side of the screen. Click on the photo you want to print and drag it into the main window (Figures 25 & 26).

Remember, if you don't have E-20N, the same size ratio will apply to your Olympus camera. And you will get a higher quality 8x10" print from the SHQ setting than from the SQ or HQ settings. So before you shoot photos for email, web sites, or prints, remember to set your resolution accordingly.

For tips on how to prepare your images for email using Camedia software, be sure to check out the lesson entitled, “Basic Startup With An Olympus C-750 Zoom Digital Camera” on this site.