Tag Archives: micro

Olympus E-M5 II High-Res 64MP Shot Mode

Olympus just announced the E-M5 Mark II, an updated version of its popular micro Four Thirds E-M5 model, with an interesting new feature: its 16MegaPixel sensor, presumably similar to the one in other E-Mx bodies, has a high resolution mode where it gets shifted around by the image stabilization servos during exposure to capture, as they say in their press release

‘resolution that goes beyond full-frame DSLR cameras.  8 images are captured with 16-megapixel image information while moving the sensor by 0.5 pixel steps between each shot. The data from the 8 shots are then combined to produce a single, super-high resolution image, equivalent to the one captured with a 40-megapixel image sensor.’

A great idea that could give a welcome boost to the ‘sharpness’ of this handy system.  Preliminary tests show that the E-M5 mk II 64MP High-Res mode gives some advantage in MTF50 linear spatial resolution compared to the Standard Shot 16MP mode with the captures in this post.  Plus it apparently virtually eliminates the possibility of  aliasing and moiré.  Great stuff, Olympus.

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Equivalence in Pictures: Sharpness/Spatial Resolution

So, is it true that a Four Thirds lens needs to be about twice as ‘sharp’ as its Full Frame counterpart in order to be able to display an image of spatial resolution equivalent to the larger format’s?

It is, because of the simple geometry I will describe in this article.  In fact with a few provisos one can generalize and say that lenses from any smaller format need to be ‘sharper’ by the ratio of their sensor diagonals in order to produce the same linear resolution on same-sized final images.

This is one of the reasons why Ansel Adams shot 4×5 and 8×10 – and I would too, were it not for logistical and pecuniary concerns.

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