They also were not able to instantly view the image at the tremendous magnification that people routinely do today. Unfortunately many people do/will expect perfect sharpness when an unprocessed image is viewed at 100% on their relatively low resolution computer screens.

The monitor I am using right now displays about 100 PPI so if I were to view a D800 image at 100% it would be the equivalent of viewing a 73.6 inch wide image (At less than half normal print resolution) with about an 18 inch viewing distance. I would not expect to see tack sharp details at such a large size at such a low resolution.

We will see many posts stating that the D800 is soft or that it has some sort of focus problem based on the unrealistic expectations of people pixel peeping such large files.

Once the image is processed, printed and viewed at a normal (normal = a distance that the entire is visible all at once) viewing distance most of these perceived issues will disappear. Remember if you output at 300 PPI to print a D800 image at full resolution the image will only be 24 inches wide compared to viewing at 100% when the image is about 73 inches wide.

So for all practical purposes I agree.... "Much ado about nothing..."

Dave
Quad Cities, USA
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