Hello to all. I know that compression affects the number of pictures i can get on my card. I have 1 Gb CF card on a 8 MP camera and on RAW i can get 50 pics vs about 2900 on the smallest compression / quality. Now here is my question, how much does the compresion of the file will affect the print if let's say i want to make an 8x10 print for example.
Thank you
The easiest way for you to tell would be for you to process a RAW shot to the 8 x 10 in the conversion process then scale a compressed JPEG of the same shot up and compare on screen. Printing on photo paper, especially pearl or lustred paper, helps cover a multitude of sins so if there are only minor differences you would get away with it. It would I imagine, have to be a good quality JPEG compression to work effectively.
If you are only interested in the print quality then I would just print out the same photograph which you've captured in RAW and a range of compression levels. Pick the most compressed one that you have trouble telling is different from RAW.
the biggest thing i would consider is how hard it is to take 2900 shots in one day. be realistic that even in a full day of shooting you will prob only take a couple hundred and if you are taking more you might want to plan your shots out a bit more carefully so you arnt so trigger happy. Then look at how long your batteries will last. only time i could see it being a problem is if you are going on vacation for a week and if that is the case then pick up a 20gig ipod and hook that up to your camera. because i am assuming you can prob take around 200 on the best jpg quality
Thank you