I'm going to preface this blog with this: The Super Resolution feature in Adobe Camera Raw and Lightroom to me, is a game changer. 

For me, it's a game changer for one simple reason. Offering larger print sizes from photos shot on a APS-C (or even micro four thirds) size sensor camera(s).

Think about it. You have an APS-C sized 16MP sensor on your camera and yeah, it shoots pretty high resolution RAW images, like say 4928 x 3264 at 300ppi, which is high enough resolution to print at 24inch x 36inch without any issues, but now, with the Super Resolution and Enhance feature in Adobe Camera Raw and Lightroom, you can bump up that up to 9856 x 6528, essentially doubling the size with no loss of quality and turning that image into a 64MP file. Amazing. Now if you wanted, you could print 4ft x 6ft prints no problem. That's huge. All from your APS-C sensor camera. Which, to me, begs the obvious question, at least obvious for me, since I'm in the new camera market and have had my eye on the new Pentax K-3 MK3 since it was finally made available in March of this year. I've been struggling with whether I need to fork out the extra dough to get a full frame camera since I'm selling more prints these days, and since I also shoot video, I need something besides my GoPro and iPhone that shoots 4K. I was waiting to see if Pentax was going to be updating the K-1 to add a 4K video feature to it, but alas, no. The new K-3 MK3 does shoot 4k and has a bump up in the sensor quality, so it's the most obvious choice. The only thing that was holding back my decision was the APS-C sized sensor and now that Adobe has this new Enhance and Super Resolution feature, I think my decision is made. I mean geez, i can increase the size and resolution of photos I shot YEARS ago, AND, I can increase the size and resolution of photos I am going to take with the new camera if need be. Game changer and winner all around. 

Check out these examples to see what I'm talking about:

This first screencap shows a RAW file with a little editing done to it in it's native size and resolution: 4928 x 3264 at 300ppi.

And here it is at 100% magnification:

Here's the same RAW file after Enhancing it and applying the Super Resolution treatment to it, ending up with a 9856 x 6528 at 300ppi image:

And here is the Enhanced RAW file at 100% magnification.

Here is a Side by Side comparison of the 2 images, cropped in on a particular section at 100% so you can see the difference. Here's the Non Enhanced one:

And here's the Enhanced one. You can clearly see the difference, especially when you look at the Vans logo on the back of the heel of the shoe. 

So as you can see, this new feature in Adobe Camera Raw and Lightroom is super awesome and I know I'm going to take advantage of it every opportunity I can. I mean geez, I could make 8K timelapse videos using this feature. Crazy! 

Anyway, I'm off to do some shooting, so take this info, run with it, enhance your photos and have a great day! 

Pentax K-3 MK3

Be sure to check out my YouTube channel for more awesome stuff!