BTS: Too many pixels?
Medium format cameras were first popular in high end photography. Fashion, Architecture, Advertisement; All fields where quality and resolution are important.
A single photo from the Fujifilm GFX100 II counts 100 Megapixels. Are all those pixels only useful for photography or can we use them in video too?
To answer that question we can compare the megapixel counts of video frames. Video resolution is measured not by counting all pixels, but by giving the horizontal and vertical pixel count. Often the aspect ratio of 16:9 is assumed and only the horizontal pixel count is given.
EXAMPLES
“2k”/Full HD: 1920 x 1080 Pixels —–> (roughly) 2 Megapixels
4K Video: 3840 x 2160 Pixels = —–> (roughly) 8 Megapixels
8k Video: 7680 x 4320 Pixels =—–> (roughly) 33 Megapixels
100 Megapixels —> 13K Video (roughly 13’000 x 7500 Pixels)
Clearly 13K Video is way overkill. Most displays are 4k by now, with a rare few going up to 8K. Depending on the viewing distance there are also diminishing returns to increased resolution.
Not worth it then? – Not quite!
4K is currently the maximum sensible resolution for the final product, the video that I send out to clients. During production it can make sense tho to capture footage beyond 4K.
When I record time lapse video, each frame is an individual photo in the full 100 Megapixel resolution and process them into a 13K Video. When my delivery format is 4K, it allows me to use a 3x virtual zoom, adding exciting creative possibilities for shots.
