Telephoto vs post processing enlargement

[mz2890]

Which method is better with respect to overall image resolution?

If I know I'm going to crop and enlarge a picture, should I use the maximum optical zoom the camera will provide or would I get a better image with less optical zoom and rely on post processing enlargement and enhancement. Ive been taking pictures at hockey games with a panasonic FZ-20 at various ISO's at 1/250 / 2.8 (sports mode) utilizing the maximum optical zoom of 12X. My pictures are loaded with grain and when I enlarge and crop the images are worse. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[John_Reed]

Which method is better with respect to overall image resolution?

If I know I'm going to crop and enlarge a picture, should I use the maximum optical zoom the camera will provide or would I get a better image with less optical zoom and rely on post processing enlargement and enhancement. Ive been taking pictures at hockey games with a panasonic FZ-20 at various ISO's at 1/250 / 2.8 (sports mode) utilizing the maximum optical zoom of 12X. My pictures are loaded with grain and when I enlarge and crop the images are worse. Any suggestions would be appreciated.I'd bet that your photos are on the "under-exposed" side too, right? So they're full of noise-spattered shadows, all shot at maximum ISO. With its constant f2.8 aperture, I'm afraid you won't get any better exposure at lower telephoto, and because of your cropping to get the same end result, you'll have less overall resolution. In my opinion, you're shooting action photos at or beyond the limit of the fixed-lens digital camera. (I think the FZ20's limits are as good as you can do, but maybe not good enough here.) To truly make an improvement in your picture quality, you'd need to step up to a dSLR capable of much faster exposure at higher ISOs, along with inherently lower noise levels.
You could try shooting at slower shutter speeds, lower ISOs with your FZ20, and to freeze your subjects, try panning on the moving skaters. Sometimes motion blur can create some great photo effects. Also, are you using Noise Ninja or other noise-removal software to filter out noise? These are some things you might try before totally giving up on the genre! :o

[Dave Dilks]

Sports mode is designed for outdoor pictures where you have sufficient light to support a 1/250 shutter speed; there is rarely enough light at a hockey rink to support it. Switch over to Manual mode (it's not that hard), and start with ISO 100, f2.8, and 1/125. If the resulting pictures look too dark, try a slower shutter speed of 1/100 or 1/80. You may get the occasional motion blur at that speed, but sometimes that adds to the effect (e.g. sharp torso, blurred stick in mid-shot). If that's still too dark, bump the ISO up to 200, but be prepared to deal with some grain.

Regarding zoom, my philosophy is to use the maximum zoom that still allows me to capture the relevant action while providing a little buffer to account for moving the camera to follow the action. Most pictures end up getting cropped a little, but not much.

As an aside, if you keep this up, you'll find that you rate hockey rinks by the quality of their lighting. I love going to ones that allow me to shoot ISO 100, 1/125 - but dread the ones that require ISO 200, 1/80 or worse. ;)

[mz2890]

Thanks John. You've described my images quite accuratley.

[mz2890]

Thanks Dave! I'll try some shots in manual. The facilities are all OHL arenas so the lighting is excellent by arena standards.