The weakest link in the system is what truly limits the photograph.... usually it is not the sensor nor the lens, but the loose nut behind the viewfinder.....privatebydesign said:We have to get over the "out resolve" lens argument, it is specious.
System resolution can be broadly shorthanded down to this equation, it isn't perfect because it doesn't account for atmospheric issues and other factors, so the numbers will never be as good as even this simplified form.
tsr = 1/sqrt((1/lsr) ² + (1/ssr) ² )
Where tsr is total spatial resolution, lsr is lens spatial resolution, and ssr is sensor spatial resolution.
If, for example, we have a sensor that can resolve 100 lppmm, and a lens that can resolve 100 lppmm we get this
1/sqrt((1/100) ² + (1/100) ² ) = tsr of 71 lppmm
Leave the same lens on, good or bad, and double the sensor resolution to 200 lppmm
1/sqrt((1/100) ² + (1/200) ² ) = tsr of 89 lppmm
You will notice that the system resolution, even in this simplified form, can never resolve 100% of the lowest performing portion of that system, so if a 24MP sensor is returning 80% of the potential of a lens then a 50MP sensor might return 90%, how useful that is in real life is a moot point, but it does illustrate that even the most modest lens will show increased resolution when put in front of a higher resolving sensor.
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