How much cropping ?

[MeadsMan]

Hi,I am using a canon 400D,even using a 400mm lens,I still find alot of my images would benefit from cropping.I know better in the field skills could help,but if the ultimate aim is to eventually get prints made up,how much can you crop an image before it will show noticeable loss of quality ? I normally shoot on the lowest Iso setting,and rarely go above 400,so can you safely go up to or beyond a 50 percent crop,if you aim to get a decent size print ?

[RobSutton]

I'd say it depends very much on the size of prints you want. I reckon you could go up to A4 with a 50% crop at ISO 100.

If you need to resize the image to print then experiment using Photoshop or Photoshop Elements to resample the image (using the Bicubic, Bicubic Smoother or Bicubic Sharper settings) to add pixels to get something like 300dpi before you print.

[Geoff F]

Firstly, I am assuming that you are shooting RAW; or at least large fine JPEG. In which case A4 should be OK A3 is where the problems can begin. Sometimes I leave a bit more background around the image instead of cropping too tight.

Resize using BiCubic etc as Rob advises but don't go larger than 50% in one jump.

Sometimes, when doing my own printing, depending on the type of image and paper I will lower the resolution to 200 ppi instead of increasing the image size too much. Experimentation is needed here.

After resizing use a little Unsharp Mask. Some people recommend a little sharpen before increasing size but opinions vary here.

Above all else - keep an uncropped copy of your images so you can try it again.

[dunlin]

I read somewhere on one of the threads about a free download called neat image. You can use it to reduce noise in digital images with high iso settings.
Ive tried it and it works surprisingly well.

cheers mark...

[Ollie]

I don't normally print many images myself but seeing as I'm using a 400mm lens and a 400D for most of my bird shots I thought I would give my two penneth anyway.

In my experience it depends how sharp the shot is in the first place. If you get the shot spot on and the image is tack sharp as the 400mm lens is capable of. I assume we are referring to the Canon 400mm anyway, then a 50% crop should be no problem at all for an A4 print at least. Never tried an A3 so won't comment on that one.

I must emphasise that it does depend on how sharp the shot is as to how much cropping you can get away with. I use Neat Image on many of my images, but only on the background of the image not the actual subject. I find the 400D on ISO 400 gives relatively little noise anyway and as said Neat Image is a great tool for removing it from the background, but I would never use it on the main subject as in my opinion it would take to much detail away from the subject.

I shoot jpeg large fine by the way and what few images I have printed have always been very good

Roger

[MeadsMan]

Thank you for the replies.