[thigmo]

With the announcement of the Olympus OM-D E-M5 II and its high res photo mode (40MP from a 16MP sensor), this is obviously possible.

The question is, can this be accomplished with the latest bodies? I have a K5 and K5ii, and would love this as a firmware option if possible. The interface currently is quite a kludge to do this for 8 shots manually. The other added benefit would be avoiding moiré and recording full colour data at each pixel point.

[ogl]

Useless mode. IMO

[thibs]

Useless comment IMO.
Geez Ogl, some might be interested. I'm but so what...

[i83N]

Why not, but no because 645z and upcoming FF
P.S. With a strech you can hope for Q system.

[ogl]

Useless comment IMO.
Geez Ogl, some might be interested. I'm but so what...

Who will make such firmware for several amateurs? Nobody.

There are software which could make the same. Who needs more real MP and real resolution for serious prints, could buy more MP.
I can tell you the big secret - ACR+Photoshop could make more resolution.

Olympus offers gimmick.

[Wild Mark]

There is a problem inherent in trying to make something from almost nothing. Increasing resolution digitally is possible, of course, but there are many tradeoffs and assumptions made. The end result is not always what reality is, and given that you are resolution (i.e. truth) then the result may not be accurate.

I would prefer the more megapixels than fancy post processing digital wizardry ....

Anyway, I am sure Pentax has no aspiration in making old discontinued bodies 'better' hence competing with new products. If anything they might make a virtual 80MP FF camera from the newly announced 36MP FF camera

[EarlVonTapia]

The Camera Store TV did an interesting comparison on this. They pitted the Olympus using High Res Mode vs the Pentax 645Z

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uQKYgQaNHQ#t=79

Call it gimmicky, but if it's added on at no cost to other features, that's better than not having the option at all.

I think it would be neat to see this on a Pentax camera.

[calsan]

Interesting - I think it totally debunks the idea that high resolution sensors can "out resolve" your (especially kit) lenses. Well, clearly you can double the XY resolution of a sensor with no ill effect.

[aglet]

The Camera Store TV did an interesting comparison on this. They pitted the Olympus using High Res Mode vs the Pentax 645Z

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uQKYgQaNHQ#t=79

Call it gimmicky, but if it's added on at no cost to other features, that's better than not having the option at all.

I think it would be neat to see this on a Pentax camera.

Looking at the results they showed, things were fairly close but the 645z still had a considerable edge.
HOWEVER - those were not optimum shooting conditions for the multishot function as that was not the most sturdy tripod, a longer shutter delay should have been used before it started to fire.
AND, the whole thing was shot from a wood structure they were standing on; that is not a solid enough platform for such high precision imaging.
Imaging-resource will have their comparison files from a proper studio condition I hope.
I just know from personal experience that even with a 10MP camera, I get floor vibration induced blurring if I'm not really careful with a tripod shot in my house. To be really free of system vibration I shoot with a massive tripod, directly on my concrete floor in the basement, and use at least 4 seconds to let the tripod shake dampen before the shutter operates.
I do not get as sharp a result shooting with short delays on the (wooden) main floor of my house. That deck they were on would be more rigid but the tripod was not and the delay was too short to be optimum.

[K David]

With the announcement of the Olympus OM-D E-M5 II and its high res photo mode (40MP from a 16MP sensor), this is obviously possible.

I'm curious enough to hypothesize how this could work on Pentax.

Okay, so Pentax bodies have sensor shake reduction. If a sensor can move each direction (up, down, left, and right) by one pixel within the span of a single exposure and take a shot at each location, it could theoretically compile them into a single image. If a sensor is, say, 10 megapixels (for easy math) but it actually take five images (four directions plus center), that would be a 50-MP image, right? The dpi size would still be 10 MP but the data volume would be 50mp.

With a Bayer array, that would mean that each pixel's space would record the color data in terms of R, G, and B. That seems like, in theory, the added detail and data would be significant.

I could see value in that. If 50MPs worth of dynamic range and color data could be smashed into a 10MP-size image, I would consider that a highly useful tool for photography. The process I'm imagining would basically mimic the manner in which a Foveon sensor works.

[Madaboutpix]

The Camera Store TV did an interesting comparison on this. They pitted the Olympus using High Res Mode vs the Pentax 645Z

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uQKYgQaNHQ#t=79

Call it gimmicky, but if it's added on at no cost to other features, that's better than not having the option at all.

I think it would be neat to see this on a Pentax camera.

Watched that video too and am intrigued by the feature. Think it's more than a mere gimmick, in particular if it can be done in RAW mode so that you can really reap the benefits.

Like it or not, features like this can be differentiators that sell cameras. Nor do I think having such a High-res Mode on sub-MF sensor cameras would seriously hurt 645Z sales. Who knows that he wants and needs a 645Z - the real thing, so to speak - will eventually get one anyway.

[BrianR]

Earlier discussions on this:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/6-pentax-dslr-discussion/285611-sensor-sh...esolution.html
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/6-pentax-dslr-discussion/281225-olympus-w...-captures.html

I think it's pretty much a given we won't see a firmware update on old bodies. I'd at least love the option to do a user-programmable 'bracketing' that walks the sensor shift around, even if the output is just a bunch of raw files that I'd have to combine later in software. Limited application and probably of no interest to a large percent of users, but still would be a nice use of SR and a nice addition.

[Rondec]

This sort of the thing would be somewhat useful for situations where you are on a good tripod and have a pretty static scene.

Obviously all it does is bump your resolution somewhat. You could get similar benefits by shooting with a little longer focal length and combining photos in post, but depending on how automated it was, certainly it wouldn't hurt to have it.

That said, I don't exactly max out the resolution on my K3 with printing size and this won't add dynamic range of color depth, so I doubt I would use it much.

[BrianR]

Obviously all it does is bump your resolution somewhat. You could get similar benefits by shooting with a little longer focal length and combining photos in post, but depending on how automated it was, certainly it wouldn't hurt to have it..

Good point, but you could also do both for super-hyper-resolution!

Giga-pan + SR high resolution mode, add in exposure bracketing for hdr and also focus stacking and you're well on your way for the highest number of shots required to make a single image.

[Rondec]

Good point, but you could also do both for super-hyper-resolution!

Giga-pan + SR high resolution mode, add in exposure bracketing for hdr and also focus stacking and you're well on your way for the highest number of shots required to make a single image.

Does sound like a lot of work to me.

How big do you print anyway?