INCREASE IMAGE RESOLUTION
Let the battle between in-camera and software-based highresolution imaging commence. James Abbott investigates two approaches that promise to quadruple image resolution
The ability to capture ultra-high-resolution images for producing extra-large prints or to increase the resolution of lowerresolution cameras – those around the 20-30MP mark – is an enticing prospect for photographers. And with more and more cameras offering in-body image stabilisation (IBIS), a related feature known generally as pixel shift, where a series of images are taken in quick succession as the sensor shifts position, can be used to create ultra-highresolution raw files.
Pixel shift is a feature that camera manufacturers naturally use as a selling point and on paper, it sounds amazing. But like many multiple exposurebased techniques, it’s certainly not without its downsides: huge file sizes, the necessity to keep the camera locked solid on a heavy tripod, the need for a powerful computer, hefty storage requirements and the potential for ghosting of moving elements in a scene. But what you ultimately have to ask yourself is, are these and the many images that need to be captured worth the result in some cases?
To put this into perspective, pixel shift typically quadruples the raw file size a camera is capable of capturing. But some implementations go further – the Canon EOS R5 can even produce 400MP images. Some cameras, such as OM System/Olympus and Panasonic, create the larger raw file or JPEG incamera. But most will capture between four and 16 shots that are then merged in the relevant camera manufacturer’s software to create a new raw or JPEG file with eye-wateringly large dimensions and storage requirements.
Alternatively, Adobe Camera Raw and Lightroom offer a feature called Super Resolution which also quadruples image dimensions. This works with raw files from almost any camera, except mobile phones, and creates a new DNG file. This allows you to continue to enjoy the processing benefits of capturing raw files, albeit with a larger image file that’s interpolated purely in software, rather than by using multiple native-size raw files merged together.
Which cameras have pixel shift?
Without creating a full list of all of the cameras that offer pixel shift functionality, we’ll instead cover the camera manufacturers where some of their camera models provide this feature. The main requirement is that the camera offers IBIS, and each manufacturer has its own name for the feature. Typically, the pixel count is increased four times, which coincidentally matches the image size increase offered by Adobe’s Super resolution.
• Canon – IBIS High Resolution l
• Fujifilm – Pixel Shift Multi Shot
• Hasselblad – Multi-Shot
• System/Olympus – High Res Mode/High Res Shot
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