When 150 megapixels isn’t enough
When discussing high end digital capture, the question often arises, WHO NEEDS 150 megapixels?!? Well, sometimes 150 isn’t enough, as the project I photographed last week illustrates. The call came in because the client had a need that only the best equipment with the highest quality output could provide.
HiViz LED Lighting out of Hendersonville, NC needed to produce a floor to ceiling, 224″ long mural showcasing their FireTech line of LED fixtures on the lobby wall of their new headquarters. Far more demanding in resolution than a billboard, the viewable distance of this massive installation will be measured in inches, not yards.
In this case, the solution was the IQ4-150 digital back, coupled with the ALPA 12 XY with it’s massive shift movements and paired with a 50mm Rodenstock HR lens. (A big thank you to our friend David Naughton for the special camera loan, I wish ALPA still produced this camera new!)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.captureintegration.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/xy-movementz_650.gif?resize=375%2C650)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.captureintegration.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/bradonlocation_iq4-150-350x263.jpg?resize=350%2C263)
I chose the XY because I could shift to the limits of the 50HR with 25mm of shift each way on the horizontal axis.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.captureintegration.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/hi-viz_captureone12.jpg?resize=1140%2C713)
Using the electronic shutter on the IQ4, three vertical primary images were captured and stitched together to provide a massive 322 megapixel image so that even printed at 224″, >100dpi native resolution was maintained. (exposure pushed ~2 stops in Capture One as the original muted presentation was scrapped for more color saturation and vibrancy in the amazing sunset)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.captureintegration.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/screen-shot-hi-viz-imagesize.jpg?resize=1140%2C713)
The resulting detail is phenomenal.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.captureintegration.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/iq4-150_alpa-rodenstock-50hr_1598-100-crop_01a.jpg?resize=1140%2C761)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.captureintegration.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/iq4-150_alpa-rodenstock-50hr_1598-100-crop_02a.jpg?resize=1140%2C761)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.captureintegration.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/iq4-150_alpa-rodenstock-50hr_1598-100-crop_04a.jpg?resize=1140%2C761)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.captureintegration.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/iq4-150_alpa-rodenstock-50hr_1598-100-crop_03a.jpg?resize=1140%2C760)
While the base 14,204 x 10,652 resolution of the IQ4-150 is fantastic, it would have only yielded 63 dpi in this application. Sometimes 150 megapixels just isn’t enough.
(Edit 04/14/21: I’ve recently completed another mural format project that hit 8’x22′ at 122ppi – 32,448 x 11,726 shot on the ALPA Pano)