Z7's Resolution vs. Compression - Which is better?

[makoto honda]

I just wondered if any test was done to see which yields a better result (more sharpness of the picture, roughly speaking) between "JPEG image resolution" setting AND "JPEG compression" setting. That is, is it better to use higher resolution (say, LARGE) and more compression (say, BASIC) OR lower resolution and less compression? I guess we have to do a complete test of what combination is similar to what in terms of the final file size .... Nikon should provide this result...

 

[MMRadman]

It all depends what you aim to achieve, quality or small file size.

Best quality is achieved by shooting in RAW, lossless compressed file is as good as uncompressed one. Tom Hogan advises, from memory, that shooting above ISO 400 12bit is adequate, otherwise 14bit is my default at any ISO.

In terms of JPG as you go down the scale of size and compression (fine, normal and basic) you discard data. File size gets smaller but than what is the point of having the camera with top class sensor if you are going to shoot in small size basic jpg.

If you look at camera manual it explains all of the above, it is your choice how you wish to use the camera. I doubt anyone made such comparison for some time now as answer is pretty obvious.

 

[makoto honda]

In JPEG, say, I know that LARGE (highest resolution) and Fine* (least compression) will produce the best result. My curiosity here is that if I want to reduce the file size by changing just one of the two, is it better to reduce the resolution to, say MEDIUM, or increase the compression to, say, Normal?

 

[F15Todd]

Not a test I have ever done or seen that I can recall. Sounds like you need to set up a tripod and run a test. There are six different JPEG Image Quality settings (Fine*, Fine, Normal*, Normal, Basic*, Basic) and then you have three JPEG Image Sizes you can select (Large, Medium, Small).

18 shots and you can see what quality and size combo will work for you needs.

 

[makoto honda]

Yep, you need a good tripod to do this test. You can even extend this test to RAW and TIFF, if you do not have anything better to do. That's why I suggested Nikon should do the test and show us the result!