normal and fine wha'ts the difference?

[Maarten]

Small question:

In my coolpix 4300 i can choose for either normal or fine in the image quality menu. Since I have no experience in printing does it really make a difference? I hope someone can help me, thanks in advance.

[ratcheer]

I guess the correct answer is, if it doesn't make any difference to you, then it doesn't make any difference.

I always shoot in Fine and, with my 4 megapixel camera, I can get about 150 shots on a 256 mb card. That is plenty for me.

But, if you have smaller cards, or you want to get more shots per card, then by all means shoot in Normal.

It is just a two-way trade-off. Normal gives more shots with less memory use, but the quality is not as high. Fine gives fewer shots with more memory use, but the quality is higher. I don't know what else can be said.

Tim

[Maarten]

Thank you for your answer.
What i meant was: when you take/send your photo's to get them printed, do you see any difference in quality after printing? By that I mean can u see a significant difference between the prints made in normal or fine mode?

[ratcheer]

Oh, okay. Then, the only answer I can give is, "I don't know.", because I have always shot in Fine mode.

Sorry,
Tim

[saramos]

The biggest difference will be in the size of the print you want. The fine gives you a higher resolution and thus larger prints will look better. If you don't want anything larger than a 4x6 print then normal would be fine. If you want a 8x10 then you want to shoot in the highest resolution possible.

[nytaxguy]

I'm new to all of this and have a similar concern. We'll be on a one-month holiday and would prefer not to bring a laptop (or buy more memory cards). I anticipate taking up to 1000 pictures and have a choice of reducing the compression factor or the size of the picture (it's a 7MP Canon SD500). I'm looking for the best quality shots with my current sd cards and am trying to figure out if I'm better to sacrafice size for the superfine mode or reduce to the "fine" setting and take larger pictures.

I hope this makes sense. Any thoughts?

[bernabeu]

purchase additional memory cards !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ALWAYS SHOOT AT MAXIMUM QUALITY

when you get the 'shot of a lifetime' you want the maximum file size

you are going on an expensive vacation and can't afford more 'film' ?

[ratcheer]

I agree with John. Go to Sam's Club or Costco, where you can find extra memory cards very cheap.

Tim

[jerrymeola]

always shoot at the highest quality possible. It will always be the execptional shot that was ruined by lower quality.

5-10 years ago you would have been shooting film at a cost of over a $1 for a 4x6 print including film and processing and that included all the bad ones.

You probably would not have shot more than 100 pictures. Buy the extra memory cards they are really cheap.

My last big film photo shoot was a 1989 safari where I shot about 300 photos at a cost of about $1000. With the cost of digital, quality is not where you want to be taking shortcuts.