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Small file size on pictures from EOS R6 Mark II

cjsull
Apprentice

Hello, I have a new Canon that I'm trying to figure out after using a Nikon D3400 for years.  When I compare the pictures I took with the Nikon, they are migh MB.  I had the Canon set on the lighest JPG setting, and the pictures were coming out with only a third of the MBs.  Yes, the color is nice, but it's hard to print larger pictures.  This is driving me crazy, since I saved up for a year to buy this thing.  I have changed it to Raw, but not sure if I still have to go through a stupid third party to convert them to use.  I should add that I now have Lightroom, so maybe it's just something that hasn't been explained to me yet.  I would really appreciate any insight you can give me!!  I had my old camera figured out so well, and this one is starting to get very frustrating.  
Thanks!!

16 REPLIES 16

Right with you there Bill! 😀


cheers, TREVOR

The mark of good photographer is less what they hold in their hand, it's more what they hold in their head;
"All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow", Leo Tolstoy;
"Skill in photography is acquired by practice and not by purchase" Percy W. Harris

Yes, I did.  Also at youtube videos and searching here.  Then I realized I was missing something.

I appreciate the help, and I think they are correct in not only using raw, but also learning more about how this type of camera works.  

You might want to check out a  You Tube video by Michael the Maven at this link:


cheers, TREVOR

The mark of good photographer is less what they hold in their hand, it's more what they hold in their head;
"All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow", Leo Tolstoy;
"Skill in photography is acquired by practice and not by purchase" Percy W. Harris

AtticusLake
Mentor
Mentor

You haven't mentioned what lens you're using, which can make a difference.  If you're using an EF or RF lens, then your camera should be delivering full resolution -- your pictures should be 6000 x 4000 pixels, and printing should not be an issue.

But if your lens is EF-S or RF-S, then the camera will go into crop mode (it has to, because those lenses only cover a smaller part of your sensor), and your images will be more like 3744 x 2496 pixels.  This would obviously make the files smaller.  You should still be able to get decent prints, but not as good.

Other than that, as others have pointed out, the file size in MB is not critical; and if you're concerned about getting the best quality, shoot in RAW.   RAW gives you more bits per pixel, which can matter more than the number of pixels.

BTW when you say "I wanted to print up one of the pictures in a bigger size, but there wasn’t enough MBs to allow it" -- it does sound like you're confusing MB, megabytes, or file size -- with pixels.  Those are different, though not completely unrelated, things.

If you want to know more about lens compatibility, I wrote an article about it: https://moonblink.info/MudLake/gear/lenses

 

Thanks for they link Atticus, your article looks very comprehensive!


cheers, TREVOR

The mark of good photographer is less what they hold in their hand, it's more what they hold in their head;
"All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow", Leo Tolstoy;
"Skill in photography is acquired by practice and not by purchase" Percy W. Harris

THANK YOU! I just got my R6m2 in June.  I immediately ordered the adapter for it so I could use all my other Canon lenses.  I had the EFS 18-135 lens on my camera and had been shooting pictures with it all this time!  There was not a problem until tonight when I was wanting to print some photos out for a scrapbook I am working on.  That's when I noticed the pictures had a size of 3744 x 2496!  I can print 4 x 6's, but 8 x 10's are not good! I have taken the EFS lens off the camera and put the 24-105 lens, that came with the camera, on.  I just took a picture and the picture size is 6000 x 4000!

Tronhard
VIP
VIP

Given your experience, I recommend you read the following document and learn.
Equivalence: considering the impact of sensor size 

You have moved from an APS-C camera to a full-frame camera and that means that any lenses (EF-S) that you attach to your camera will not project an image onto the full area of the sensor.  This has a significant impact on the MP captured: because the crop factor is 1.6, and because we are talking area, that reduction is the square of the crop factor: reducing the MP potential from  24MP to just under 9.3MP.  The camera senses that an APS-C lens is being used and reduces the recorded area automatically to prevent a large vignette.  It is clearly stated as such in the Advanced User Guide on P1051- which is your best friend: PLEASE USE IT!

Tronhard_0-1729613287699.png

 

The whole point of JPG is to take the large RAW image that the camera actually records at the sensor and processes it in camera to apply some image adjustments before saving it, but that process throws away a significant proportion of the image size to produce a smaller image.  That might be acceptable under some circumstances, but if you need to process your images out of camera to make large, high-quality prints, then you really want that RAW file format and your PP software will have much, much more to play with.

RAW images are meant to be processed: and the result of that could be a very large file in the form of a TIFF or PNG file that can be used for printing.   The quality of the resultant image will depend at least as much on the lenses you use - certainly, they are the longer-term investment.

Given you say you create large prints: what size prints were you considering creating and for what purpose - for competition, to mount at home, or for sale??? 

I recognize that you are frustrated, but there are two sets of things you need to master:
1. The principles of photography - how light is metered and how to create well-exposed images using the 'holy trinity' of controls: ISO, shutter and aperture.  While many combinations of these will produce a correctly exposed image, each will produce different artistic and compositional results.  Those truths are universal to photography.
2. You need to spend the time to get to know the controls of your camera.  Modern MILCs these days have those three controls buried in a host of other, high-end features, such as different focusing modes, tracking, exposure configurations etc.  In starting out, go back to basics and spend time with your manual - yes, the manual is there for a purpose, and watch videos like the one I offered you before.
Don't spend your time, money and patience printing until you know you are getting the results digitally that you want, and then try a few tests.  You have changed brands and also camera types and that is a learning curve you can't short circuit.   You need to have patience, but it will be richly rewarded as you learn more about photography and also your camera.


cheers, TREVOR

The mark of good photographer is less what they hold in their hand, it's more what they hold in their head;
"All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow", Leo Tolstoy;
"Skill in photography is acquired by practice and not by purchase" Percy W. Harris
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