Canon 7D Image Size Adjustment

[mjstrybel]

Hi. I recently purchased a Canon EOS 7D, a big upgrade from my previous Sony DSLR. I was pretty with the old model and simply can't get over the learning curve with this one. So please bear with me if this question seems amateurish.

How do I change the image size? By that, I mean the memory aloted for each photograph.

I am currently stationed overseas, in the Philippines. We do not have a local camera expert who can help me. I just took the camera with me to Thailand and tried to put the photos on a CD to have printed. I was stumped to see that each image was 7MB or larger and the system wouldn't allow me to save so many on the disk. Yes, I realize that I could use multiple disks and will have to for this job. I simply need to know how to adjust the camera settings so that each photo is takes up less memory. Since I'm not a pro and my images aren't legacy, I can afford this.

Any advice will be gratefully appreciated.

Mike

[David Metsky]

Once you've taken the pictures you'll need to run them through photo editing software to change the size. Do you have some software that you already use? It's fairly easy to do but will depend on what software you have.

If you want to change the default size of the JPG images (not something usually recommended) there are controls on the "Shooting 1" menu. The entry is called "Quality" and the size trade-offs are shown in the review HERE (http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/canon/eos_7d-review/using).

It's probably better to shoot at full JPG size so if you really like an image you can use it at full resolution later. But if this will be too much work, change the settings to the size you like and shoot at that lower resolution.

[faisal]

Go in menu and in the first option you should find Quality where it allows you to change the RAW file and JPEG size...

[mjstrybel]

Thanks guys...I have my camera in hand. When I go to Menu and then select Quality, I see an icon with quarter circle and capital L. I can change the JPEG size only. The RAW line stays the same. If I change the JPEG to M, the memory size lessens. Obviously this does something to the quality of the image, but any idea if this will hurt my shots. As stated, I's just a guy with a nice camera that is still learning. I truly appreciate the kid gloves and simple explanations!

Mike

[Elisha]

mRaw basically gives you a 10MP image instead of a 18MP image. No image degradation per pixel unless you consider lower resolution as a whole as one.

[David Metsky]

Obviously this does something to the quality of the image, but any idea if this will hurt my shots.
Yes, it will. You are throwing away data. But the question is will the resulting pictures still be of sufficient quality to meet your needs. If all you are doing is viewing them online, yes, they will probably be fine.

Experiment a bit, shoot some images in both settings and compare.

[Mark_48]

As David Metsky mentioned earlier, leave the quality/image size at the full JPG and use software to change the size.

This free software linked below is pretty easy to use once you get the hang of it, does the resizing quickly, and will batch process groups of files. Once resized you can then burn them to a CD for printing. This version is for Windows systems only.
http://www.faststone.org/FSResizerDetail.htm

[mjstrybel]

Thanks again.

I will give the software a try. So here's the next questions: How big are the photo memories of your shots? Do you use this type of software to alter them so you can email them? I just got back from a vacation and tried to email a few photos to my parents back in the States. Each photo was nearly 6MB! Needless to say, I couldn't attach more than one and the upload time was killer.

I had a Sony R1 that was a hybrid DSLR. It allowed me to change the size if the shot easily. There has to be a way to do this on the 7D.

Again, I truly appreciate the help. I posted this question on another board only to get repsonse like, "Another jerk with more money than brains. Get a Point and Shoot!" The reason I bought so much camera was my belief that I could find mentors to help and that buying the most technology one can afford is a good endeavor. I would kick myself for buying something less only to outgrow it or see something new that does a better job. Thanks again for all of the help!
Mike

[Mark_48]

Attached image shot with a 50D started out at about 6.5Mb. After processing with FastStone Image Resizer the image posted is at about 121Kb and downsized to 750 pixels on its longest side, which is suitable for email or web posting. The frame was added with the software as well. As I mentioned there may be a bit of a learning curve to get all the features figured out if you haven't used alot of editing software, but the results are worth the effort.

[David Metsky]

I had a Sony R1 that was a hybrid DSLR. It allowed me to change the size if the shot easily. There has to be a way to do this on the 7D.
It's already been mentioned here, it's the quality setting mentioned up top. If you are shooting RAW there are fewer options, since it's very rare that someone would want to shoot RAW and not use the full image size. If you are shooting JPG just select the quality level that you want, but you are losing some available quality by doing so.

To do what you want you should be shooting JPG, since there's not a lot of benefit of shooting RAW if you plan on reducing the size to the point where you can email them.

[photowerkz]

The easiest thing I can recomend is to firstly shoot JPEG, as you're not experienced enough yet to have any benefit from shooting in RAW.

To get the pictures the right size after you've downloaded them from your camera over to your pc:

Download the free image viewer IRFANVIEW (www.irfanview.com) and load your jpeg into that. Go to the IMAGE menu and select RESIZE/RESAMPLE. Now make sure the following options are clicked:

"PRESERVE ASPECT RATIO"
"APPLY SHARPEN AFTER RESAMPLE"
"SIZE METHOD: RESAMPLE (BETTER QUALITY)

Now enter the size you want in the "set new size" box. Typical e-mail picture size would be to set the WIDTH to 800 (or use whatever you like). Seeing as you've clicked "preserve aspect ratio", the program will enter the HEIGHT automatically. Now click OK.

Go to the FILE menu and select "SAVE AS", enter a name and select "JPG/JPEG FORMAT" from the pulldown menu under the filename (where it says "save as type:"). Click the "SHOW OPTIONS DIALOG" and you get a window that says "JPEG/GIF SAVE OPTIONS". Forget everything in this window, except the slider at the top that says "SAVE QUALITY". Set this to something like 85.

Now press save, and take a peek at the image you just saved. It's now saved at a reasonable resolution and quality, and image size may be something like 100-200kb, instead of 6mb.

If you got a lot of images you want converted, there's a batch option under the FILE menu that lets you select a whole folder or more if you want, to automatically adjust a batch of pictures.

It's a quick and easy program that lets you do most basic things (adjust hue, saturation, contrast, resize, etc etc). Personally I use it for all my image viewing, and especially for going through my RAW files as its very quick and does a good job even with converting them to jpeg.