A Image Size Test with the Panasonic Lumix LX100

To set the stage, the Lumix LX100 is a 12 MP camera that uses a 16MP sensor.  As the camera can be configured for 3:2, 4:3, 1:1 and 16:9 aspect ratios, Panasonic has been successful is maintaining 12MP per frame utilizing portions of the 16MP sensor to its max. The LX100 is a small fixed lens camera and you can get the specs here.Many questions have been asked about Micro For Thirds (MFT) cameras and their ability to produce images ready for large prints.  Keeping in mind that a majority of images these days are created and shown on computer screens and small portable devices.  The maximum image size for the printed page for a magazine is 8.5 by 11.0 inches and for a double page spread 17.0 by 11.0 inches with a resolution of 240 to 300 DPI.So last weekend I shot a few images with the Lumix LX100 hand-held at a casual photo shoot.  The lights were set for ISO 100 and f/8.0. Focal length 34 mm which is a 68mm equivalent.Here is one image cropped from the original size of 3456 by 4608 pixels to 2284 by 3416 (roughly 7.8MP or 2/3 the resolution of the effective sensor.Click on the image to see it full resolution.Next, I up-sized this image to 30 inches by 44 inches at 300 pixels per inch. The following image is a 5 by 7 aspect ratio crop 1165 by 1631 pixels.Feeling good, I resized the original crop to 60 inches by 90 inches at 240 pixels per inch.  The final image is a 5 by 7 aspect ratio crop of a similar section 2148 by 3007 pixels.Resizing was accomplished using OnOne's Perfect Resize. No post processing, sharpening or clarity adjustments were made to the resized images.  All OnOne defaults were left as is.  Some degradation is apparent but as a result of jpg conversion.Hope this dispels the myth that a MFT image can't be made into a large print.