61 Megapixels - A Help or a Hindrance? 

Really fascinating to follow your journey into the Sony system. I did the same journey from m4/3 about two years ago. Mostly I've been happy with it, but I still sometimes shoot at around 1/30 shutterspeed and am let down because the images are blurry. M4/3 IS is so far ahead of Sony's that it still amazes me. But other than that I'm pretty happy with it. Although I feel that the images from my old Olympus camera had a bit more punch or soul - or whatever you want to call it. The images from my Sony camera tend to be a bit more sterile - if that makes any sense.

I have just pre-ordered your book, it can join the first two on your collection on my shelves. Thank you for producing them.

I’ve upgraded to A7RIV from an old Canon 500D and I couldn’t be more happy about how liberating the cropping power is. I’m a casual shooter, so most of my images are gonna be looked at on phone screens, and I can crop like crazy, getting a decent digital zoom range while rocking fast primes!

Just pre-ordered the new book and bought the Vol 1 to complete my set because I missed it before. Thanks for making it available, my fav photographer, and thanks for being awesome!

I use an a7riv as my primary and a7iii as a backup. I usually mostly shoot concert photography and challenging lighting conditions. I still chose the a7riv everytime. It’s just a killer camera and no one will change my mind.

Thanks for watching everyone! New book lives here if you're interested: www.jamespopsys.com/store?category=Books

I’ve missed a year of you-wait wuuuuut? A baby? A huuuge congrats to your family - you look much more gathered than I ever could - I still love your opinions, your humility and your humour! Keep it up, always a fan!

FANTASTIC video James! One of the best comparisons I've seen.

Great video James. Some really interesting and valid points raised in this video. I love the point you made about viewing an image so your eyes aren't wondering around. When explaining composition to people I think its so important to have a strong focal point or subject that draws the viewers eyes into the image rather than something distracting. I try and keep my large prints around A2 as any bigger then I feel the image begins to look a bit distorted even at 30MP.

Just ordered your new book, great inspiration as always!! Can't wait to see what size volume 10 will be, must be over A1!!! 61 MP is indeed great for cropping and you don't need a 400mm lens, I'm more then happy with my 30MP APS-C camera.

11:14 "I can just use a tripod"... WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH JAMES YOU MONSTER!?!?!? lol

Great comparison video James! One of the things I noticed, having gone from the R to R5, is the better noise control at higher iso. I think the gap has lessened between lower and higher MP cameras in that regard. When I was shopping and comparing the R5 and R6 it was suggested it was about a 1/3 of a stop difference with the advantage going to the R6, and that's comparing a 45 MP to a 20 MP from the same manufacturer introduced at the same time. These cameras just keep getting better. Looking forward to seeing what the Nikon Z9 brings to the party! Cheers!

With my medium format Fuji, my Lightroom really struggles and does a frequent 'not responding' thing. It's something I didn't think about at the time, but it's always worth seeing if your computer can cope with big files.

If my memory serves me right, over 9 years ago when the Nikon D800 was introduced, every one went mad over its sensor of 36.3 mp. Even today that is not something to be taken lightly. No sooner than the usual army of the ' latest is the greatest ' purchased the camera and starting to, as Ansel Adams once put it, poking it into everyone's face, rumors started circulating that the camera was not producing sharp enough photographs. It took a while before it was discovered that one could not really handhold a 36 mp camera and shoot it street style and expect to see what the camera was capable of. Lenses were blamed, it wasn't the lens as my old Nikon AIS manual lenses were performing admirably on that camera, it was the photographers technique. At that resolution the slightest movement in the camera during the exposure, would produce an unsharp image, as on the other hand , with a 12 or even a 20 mp camera the chances of camera shake showing was much less than with a D800. That was an abject lesson for all in how not to handle a D800. Personally I am still wondering what I exactly expect from a D800 and all that resolution? Planted solidly on a hefty tripod ( not necessarily a CF one ), and using prime lenses, it can match the resolution of my 4X5 cameras. God knows what people want to do with a 60 mp sensor camera? Of all my digital cameras, Nikon, Canon and Olympus, it is the little EM5 MKii that gets used more than all the others put together. I don't feel that I am missing anything with the 16 mp MFT sensor. The IBIS is extraordinary in low light allowing exposures of 1" or longer even with the equivalent of a 300mm lens . You see there is more to a digital camera than just super mega pixel count and 2000 focus points or nasal hair or armpit focus modes. Hope you are happy with your choice.

Looking forward to all 3 books. Hope to see some of my favorites in there 😊

Honestly I watch a few photographers but you keep dragging me back you are so interesting to watch and I learn from every video so I guess thank you 😊

Great video, I did find during testing on my older Sony A7RII that crop mode images are better quality than cropping in light room to the same size, which was quite a surprise. I done this quite a few times to double check too.

Matches my own more “scientific” (I would call it “engineering”) approach in comparing a G9 and Canon R5. The G9 isn’t being retired anytime soon because its image stabilization tops just about everything, whereas the R5 is so heavy that I’m forced to use a tripod for anything other than the brightest shots … IF that sharpness is my end goal. My G9 wins for portability and usability. The R5 wins for ultimate image quality and dynamic range, but it is definitely a luxury item for me.

That was very interesting James. I’m on a 16MP LUMIX G80 so I definitely don’t need to worry about any drawbacks of high resolution 😅 but I do love it. I pre-ordered your book yesterday and I can’t wait for it to arrive. If it’s anything like the first two then it will be well worth the money.

Based on the many, many conversations in my Canon 90D fb group, more pixels can be seriously affected by old glass. A lot of older lenses show their lack of resolution power when used on a high pixel camera. Personally, I love my 90D and my ability to crop in close when I want to. As to noise, there is always Topaz DeNoise to clear that right up. -Elaine

I completely agree, especially about the value of the cropping capacity of the a7riv. I love the ability it gives me to find compositions within compositions, including compositions I did not see at the time of shooting.

This video just reminded me how we can get way too wrapped up in the technical. 🙄 A great image is unlikely to be even better because I can stare at details even closer...& I won't get any extra enjoyment when capturing it either. I look forward to seeing you out photographing again soon.

Can't wait to receive my The Book Vol. 3 soon! I use a7RIII and just loving the extra reach I get out of my lenses by being able to crop. It's saves money I can spend on your books! ♥️

The dynamic range on sony's newer sensors is just insane. It's not a system for me personally, but I was blown away after taking a few shots with a friend's A1

Every time a “new and better” product is launched, I lust for it. But then I realize that the product I have already, doesn’t actually get worse, it is just as good as it used to be. The pictures from your old camera will still be the same, and for a pro like James, this means his old pictures will still be great!

Good luck on your book!!

I had similar findings between my Canon R5 (45 MP), R6 (24 MP), and 5D Mark IV (32 MP, since sold). I can get good quality prints from any of them up to A3+ (the biggest my printer can do) but there's definitely more detail in the R5 files. As a sometime bird and macro shooter, the greater ability to crop R5 files is a huge advantage. Also, the R5 and R6 are both much better in low light and shadow detail recovery than the 5D4.

Paused the video at 0:40 because I didn't realize you had books available. Went to the link and ordered all 3 volumes. Cannot wait to receive them! Now to continue the video...

Excellent assessment James.

I understand the conundrum you face being a content creator on RU-vid. The public perception is that unless you have the most expensive, highest megapixel setup, you are really not worth purchasing from. Wedding Photographers are in the same bind. But let me tell you a true life story of such a instance. A friend of mine had a Lumix G9 and switched to a Sony setup similart to yours. Well over $10,000. Then he had a lab print out the same image from each camera at 16x20. He had me over and showed me on his monitor each image blown up xxx% and showed me the difference, just a little. Then he showed me the images he had printed at the lab. At first we were about 3 feet away and neither of us were positive which was which. So the he brought the iimages up close and we looked again. Really could not tell. So, finally, he looked on the back of the image where he had written the camera name and said, "I thought it was that one". But it is about perception. Not image perception, but viewer perception of what gear was used.

Very excited for Vol. 3, already pre-ordered!

I usually don't print much larger the A3, so my 20MP is good enough for me. Only the cropping possibilty would help. So something around 35mp would be the sweetspot for me to do a bit of cropping.

Thanks for this. I have an A7iii and looking at getting an A7R4 too. Interested to hear how the Lightroom super resolution A7iii version looked compared to the A7R4 shot?

Great photography review.

I am delighted that the 3rd book will be a different size yet again :)

ITU-CCIR subjective viewing tests for TV pictures are done at a distance three times the picture height. I've not worked out how that relates to photographs but it will give you a good place to start. Book pre-ordered.

It will be fun to follow you for the next few months after you used the new camera and see if your opinion will change either direction and what you then see as positive and negative with you new gear. The biggest drawback for me personally is the use of tripod more then file size since I can't carry stuff on my back/shoulders.

Thank you. The most coherent explanation I've seen!

Hi James can yo make a folluw up Video and compare print from A7RIV with A7III and A7III processed with lightroom super Resolution Feature to 96 Megapixel and compare them as well for details/sharpness and High ISO noise.

I would be really curious of what a comparison would be between the Sony 61MP and something like the Olympus Hand Held High Resolution 50MP using the m4/3 sensor printed large like that. I have an Olympus EM-1 and a few Pro Lenses and I'm looking into maybe getting a printer. I can't justify getting a new camera and lenses just yet but we will see what happens.

Just bought the book.Thanks James.👍🏻👍🏻

Oooh new book! Ordered 👍🏻

Great video James! There is one comment I would add, the generalization you mention about lower MP sensors having less noise than higher MP sensors is more accurate when both sensors are made from the same process, lithography etc. Many new 60MP+ sensors have far better low light performance than older 20MP sensors. My A7IV has the same dynamic range as my A1, two very different sensors. At the end of the day, they both deliver great images if I am using my head when setting up the shots, no comment on that. Like yourself, I've just started using Sony after a 10 years, the new bodies and lenses are stunning. I seldom us my GFX100 system and planning on selling it.

Very timely for me, I've just upgraded from a 22 to 30 megapixels cant imagine a 61. I'm blown away with just that. Photographed a music event on the weekend so impressed with the camera and its older tech too. I'm easily pleased. So far my old laptop is coping but they are only hi res jpeg for this job. So this video was very interesting for me. I'm glad you aren't scientific, I just get lost in that.

Nice vid! Got the A7RIII myself, and absolutely love it. A nice compromise between the A7III and the A7RIV I think.

Thanks for sharing your opinion James!

Re: RIV file size - I have found unless you are constantly pushing your highlights and shadows, like, two stops or more in post shooting compressed raw still results in excellent IQ at half the file size.

Moved from a Sony A7r 4 this year to a Nikon z6ii , first Nikon camera and Iam more than happy with it menus are so much easier to use and to much trouble getting sharp pictures with the Sony

4:18 - 4:20 - damn, that's a hot eye roll action

Very timely video James as I’m weighing up getting A7IV or the A7RIV to replace my A7III. I agree that the APSC crop of very useful and would be the overriding reason why I would chose the A7RIV but I don’t print that often nor that big, so I’m leaning towards the A7IV. I’ve loved the A7III and can’t wait to see what Sony brings to the table….hopefully this week.

Greetings from Thailand. Nice to see you’re enjoying the Sony line. I shoot wildlife and embrace the cropping capability. Too funny, I also had to get in the habit of deleting photos and not keeping duplicates/everything on account of the file size. I enjoy your videos - take care.

Still shooting D7200. I do sports, events, etc. and it does all I need. I've sold 36x24 framed prints even from 1.3 in camera crops. Had to edit for sure but I enjoy that. Now with LR's Enhance, there is no need for more mp, since the 1% of photos I'd need that resolution for can now get it easily in post without the need to import thousands of images that take 2 or 3 times the storage space and similar time penalties in processing. Try saving a 15 layer PDS file that starts at 60mp! I'm good with what I have.

Very interesting! This is good stuff to keep in mind when potentially switching cameras, so thanks for the info. Btw, what printer are you using? Part of me wants a good printer, but I'm afraid that the ink is going to be too expensive and that it will dry up and be wasted when I inevitably take long breaks from printing. Would love to know more about it.

Very helpful!

A great help because I have been looking at the canon 5DSr which is 50.5 mega pixels. Ive been waffeling about it and this helped me decide. Great information!!

Agreed on the file size. I mean I'm no big shooter and I use a really old pc with windows 7. Ever since I started using a D500 and RAW from it, the system is a lot slower to do certain things. It takes much longer to use for example Topaz Denoise. So I can imagine trying a 61MP file and taking hrs to just work on one file with older systems. Side note: I was wondering about those print media as you posted that size for your comparisons: What are good media for people to use to print photos that will last and not fade? Or even what would be resistant to tearing over time etc? Perhaps something for another video you can do. Anyway, Cheers from Tobago.

Would be good to compare compressed images and uncompressed ones given the diffence in file size on the A7R4

The appeal of huge MP has bypassed me entirely, I have recently (ish) spent a LOT of money to upgrade my camera from 30mp to 24mp .. Very happy with the change, much more capable camera in every real world situation

Many of my bird photos thru the 300mm need the jubejubes cropped out of them to get anything decent, so more pixels is better for me. Enjoy all your videos James. 🤩

I love those 61 MP. They have been a large help to me.

I’m with you on selecting images on import. Additionally the preview import box window for LR for me doesn’t allow double checking detail

Book ordered 😊

Great video. I'm thinking to get Sony a7r III and this video was very helpful. Resolution does matter :)

Nice comparison, thanks. I still take most my photos at my camera's lowest resolution, unless I see something special and not just capturing a sequence to tell a story. I still need to program one of my hot buttons to do the switch.

I have owned both A7RIII and A7RIV and as long as it doesn't hurt the pocket and WANT to upgrade, its worth it. Otherwise, money invested in quality glass is better spent. Great review as always JAmes!

I would like your thoughts on aspect ratio , too. Do you stick with 3.2 or crop? And, do you enjoy the camera? 🤙 piece.

🔴Man I liked it more when you spoke and were with Panasonic. Sony is great, I get that too I was A7C & will get the A1 unless the GH6 hits it out of the park.

Like you James I have a Sony A7riv and A7iii. Find both cameras great, although the handling of the A7riv and the viewfinder are much better than the A7iii. I don't print my images, but find the A7riv best advantage is cropping too. Regarding raw file sizes yes, at around 120mb per image it's a disk muncher, but just convert them to dng on import in LR, reduced to around 60mb there is no difference in quality. BTW - Book looks very nice, just pre-ordered 🙂

If i am not mistaken, the a73 has a low pass filter so the different is magnified vs e.g. a s5. Myself i just bought the a7r3a, very discounted, and it resolves so much than my g9... but it is much worse in video and general handling... i had to by a bracket just to hold it! very happy with the detail, less with colours.

What about the weight and dimensions of the lenses, though? And perhaps being forced to carry an additional tripod? Thx for the video. 👍

Nice video! I shoot weddings on an Riv. Shooting in compressed RAW, no noticeable difference in the edit, half the file size. Just buy more hard drives, they're cheap enough now 🤷‍♂️ I'm often pushing ISO as far as 16000 - looks naff when you're zooming in on a 4K monitor, but exporting and viewing on a phone or web gallery they're perfectly fine.

How are you finding the 20 1.8 James as that's a lens I've been toying with buying. Good luck with the file culling regime, days when it's too wet and windy to do anything (and we have plenty of those in N Wales) tend to be when I do that and archive stuff.

Would you still recommend the Lumix S5? I'm looking to pick one up as my new camera. Very keen to hear your opinion!

@4:12 haha! for someone with Retinitis Pigmentosa this is hard to pin down lol They say the optimal viewing distance is = 1.5 X Diagonal (the mathematics here is long and based on the eye biology etc). There is also some other considerations or calculations for the needed printing resolution based on that viewing distance. I remember there were some classical rules for shooting handheld (something like the reciprocal of the focal length I guess) but prolly all that is based on 35mm film or full-frame, so I'm not sure how to convert that for a cropped sensor. But anyway maybe things could be started from there (e.g. if the rule is for a sunny day but shooting in a cloudy day we stretch that by 1 or 2 stops maybe to estimate the handheld shutter speed?)

Doesnt preview rendering in LR take much longer now that the RAWs or much bigger?

How does the G9's 80 megapixel high res mode compare?

There's a similar thing to be said of 4K and higher res TVs. It's when you get closer that you really notice the difference, and you probably wouldn't watch a 60 inch TV from 3 feet away or less for more than a minute. I remember when I bought a 5DS R some years back, I was blown away by what was possible at base ISO. There was a brilliant difference in what it could do in certain situations. But it was a bit of a disaster past ISO 400 and it revealed severe resolution issues in what I had previously thought were solid lenses. The sensor tech has come light years forward since 2015, and modern high MP cameras are far more usable than in years past.

Love your channel! Can you provide a link to your 2nd favorite paper? I would love to give it a shot!

Book pre-ordered! Looking forward to it being yet another different size to the other two on my shelf 😬 at this stage I don’t ever want them to be uniform 🤣

With all the incredible improvement in the denoising, sharpening, enhancing, upsizing AI-based software in the year since you did this video, time to revisit this topic. Meanwhile, I'll happily use my OM-Systems OM-1 with its lowly ~20MP images and my existing computer setup.

I agree completely with appropriate viewing distance, but even when people view the image (or paintings) at appropriate viewing distances, they often inspect specific items of the image which is where detail is required. Otherwise, a good video and nice to see you enjoying full frame :)

Your wisdom in the past helped me switch from a 5DSR to the 20mp R6. Quality of life is better :)

Does the thing about pixel density apply with vids as well in terms of noise reduction etc?

James - hope you are well. Glad you are enjoying the A7R4. Give the Voigtlander 65mm a test. Best resolving lens on the system that I've tried.

What be interesting to know if the quality of the Lens (glass) has influence on the results. Is it not that how much better the rendition capability of the glass in front of your camera how much better the resolution of the sensor can be used. Would be glad to hear from you.

What Mac will you be upgrading to? I'm currently using a 13" Macbook Pro which I find is not up to processing even 29 Mb files. Actions are delayed significantly so when I'm making fine adjustments I don't see the results for a few seconds.

I like how you start with 100% comparisons and then start talking about massive cropping ability ;-)

Do you have a favorite/recommended printer for your large works, A1/A2?

And what was you conclusion about the 24mp files enhanced with the new tool in Photoshop?

On a side note, in 2006 the photography magazines were speculating that sensors had topped out at 12 megapixels. That's as high as technology would allow. As far as handholding high res images I never have trouble if VR is on and I use a sufficient shutter speed.

What about using Topaz Gigapixel for the smaller framed cameras for cropping?

Having an A7RIV has forced me to get better about changing my workflow as well. Before it I tended to just stockpile tens of thousands of photos, but deleting files has become standard practice since getting it. And like you said I should have started sooner. I just got a new SSD and transferred files over to it. 23,000 photos…. If those were from the RIV instead of my APS-C that’d be around 2.3 terabytes of data. On the other hand, the cropping power is incredible. Interestingly my wilderness photography lens setup is almost identical to yours. 16-35f/2.8, 20mm f/1.8, and at the telephoto end I splurged on the 200-600. I will likely eventually get either a Tamron 70-180 or Sony 70-200 f/4 to be more practical. But at the moment if I *need* a telephoto and can’t be bothered to carry that 200-600mm I’ve been having good results with my APS-C 70-350. It’s proven to be a total workhorse since it’s actually a touch smaller than my 16-35 f/2.8 but still gives an equivalent of 525mm field of view at 26mp. Handy to have on hand as a “just in case” lens.

Wow, thank you for a review, if you compare it with A4/A3 prints and your old Panasonic, do you perceive a huge difference? I bet these new Sonys are amazing cameras, but their cost, glass size is not for me, therefore I'm more into the APS-C or M43 sensors. Are your older books done with your Panasonic, please? thanks

Do you think that it's then true to say that there's no point buying anything less than the best lenses for the 61 mpix body?

Just confirmed my check out! 📤

Interesting assessment of the new camera. Really helps with my wondering if the Nikon Z7ii is worth it over the Z6ii and I believe the answer is no. At least for what I am photographing. Thanks!

I'm one of those ones that likes looking at prints up close, same as I like looking at photos 1:1 on whatever screen I'm showing someone else a photo on. And that's mostly because I like showing little details in things, and you need to look closely for that sort of thing. Being able to physically pick something up and hold it as close as someone's eye can focus is a bigger deal to me than I thought it would be, and 1:1 viewing even on a phone is more useful than I thought it would be too. That said, I don't print any bigger than 8x12 because I don't physically have the room for a bunch of bigger prints, so my a7III is plenty good enough. Wouldn't complain about having some more resolution for cropping reasons, but I _really_ don't need 61MP or even 42.

Also, order placed. Looking forward to a good read

Great take, looks like we'll see more tripod usage from you, never thought I'd see the day. Deleting photos is my weakness, been working on a time lapse project recently and even then 24mp is a hindrance. Looking forward to the book!!

Was debating between the Canon R5 vs R6 as a massive upgrade from a 7D Mk I and this really sold me on the 20-ish MP of the R6. Now I can get another lens with the extra money saved. 😎