He's a digital noob and fretting over having only an 8MP camera. Thinks he should wait for a 40D or whatever.

Surely the 30D's 3502 x 2336 shots at 300 dpi are OK for a magazine full-page. I tend to think that there's some leeway in these print production numbers. I've even heard that they can take a 200 dpi image and 150 line screen and print it just fine.

I know nothing of magazine work, but 8 MP should be enough for most anything. People get so hung up on megapixels, they forget there are other important parts of a camera - pixel SIZE for starters.

so he's got plenty to worry about if it really matters to him

It's a crock of poo. It's all about quality. Matters not one iota what camera or how many pixels it's got.

<a href="http://www.arizonahighways.com/page.cfm?name=Photo_Talk803">here</a>

I daresay a 5D image would meet his "muster" nowadays.

I think this guy would agree.....

<a href="http://www.europeancarweb.com/features/0609_ec_digital_camera_buyers_guide/photo_01.html"><img src="http://images.europeancarweb.com/features/0609_EPCP_01Z+camera_roundup+les_bidrawn_with_cano n_10d.jpg"></a>

It strikes me as stupid because the stock agencies will accept 35mm film. A 6MP or 8MP DSLR beats a 35mm film camera.

They want a 12 X 18 inch print at 300 dpi. That's 19.4 Mpixels.

Here's a table:

in x in Mpixels
2 X 3 0.5
3 X 5 1.4
4 X 6 2.2
5 X 7 3.2
8 X 10 7.2
9 X 12 9.7
11 X 14 13.9
12 X 18 19.4
16 X 24 34.6
20 X 30 54.0
30 X 40 108.0
36 X 48 155.5
48 X 60 259.2

However, with film the grain starts to get intrusive, especially at higher ISO's. If you're talking really slow film (Kodachrome 25, Velvia) the film will hold an advantage.

Drum scan a 35mm Velvia slide and compared to a shot from a 1D II and get back to me.

Medium format or larger is a different story.

<i>One last thought on the film vs. digital debate: If you're planning to switch to a digital camera soon, don't give up on film just yet. Remember always to back up your digital photographs on film. Even if you have already made the move to digital, consider that today's best cameras record digital files at a little more than 11 megapixels. But what if, in the near future, the standard moves up to 20 megapixels or higher? If you have backup on film, you can scan your images at a higher resolution. But will your old 11-megapixel files be convertible? We don't know for sure.</i>

HUH? Backup digital files to film? Rescan for higher MP? HUH? That's shear idiocy.

Also, I'll admit that I don't know much about converting to CMYK for magazine printing but I know you don't lose pixels in the process. I also know that a 11MP file from a good DSLR can easily be upressed for a great 13x19 print. The quality will be better than from drum scanned, 35mm film.

I stopped shooting film when I discovered that my G2 made better prints than I was getting from my N70 and Gold 200 (arguably not great film, but meh. )

For clarification though, there's a few things to consider. There can be a big difference in prints from film depending on how the prints are done. Prints from a drug store are going to kind of suck. Prints made on a prolevel inkjet from a drum scan can be great but it'll cost a lot and isn't nearly as practical shooting with a DSLR. Finally, there's a difference between having resolution and having no grain.

That said, I still think a good DSLR beats 35mm film in most cases.

I still shoot film but only medium format. I haven't used my 35mm SLR's since I got a D100 a few years ago.

Also, if someone is shooting film to achieve a particular look (such as using Tri-X), I think that's great.

And, like I said, that last paragraph is really stupid.

it's not getting published

But plenty of editors do accept digital. Sports Illustrated obviously does because no sports shooters have been using film for quite awhile.

Arizona Highways obviously publishes a lot of stuff from large format and that's fine. Even a Hasselblad H3D has difficulty competing with that. But they should state that as their reasons or judge a picture on its own merits. They should also make an effort to understand what they're talking about.