[btsai]

Terry -- what specifically have you been disappointed with from the digital photos you have seen? Do you mean on-line or printed out?

If it's on-line, then the person making the post has a lot to do with the final outcome. If it was a low rez photo, a poor photo that was scanned, they tried to up-size a small, low-rez photo, etc,. then yes, it won't look great.

If you are comparing print outs, then the output size (final print size), resolution and paper make the biggest difference. If you have a 2MP picture, they say the biggest you can get a clear printout is about 4" x 6". 3 MP, 5" x 7", and 4MP 8" x 10". I have some 8" x 10" shots I took with my 4MP digital camera that 9 out of 10 people can't tell isn't a film-produced photo.

As long as you have a decent printer, by far the biggest factor is the PAPER. I can't stress this enough. When I first started messing around with this stuff a couple years ago, I went out and bought samples of several types of ink-jet photo paper. Some with better with some printers than others. (E.G. -- Epson printers are usually pretty specific about using Epson paper). The amount of glossiness and the brightness make a big difference.

Good luck!

Ben

Spend some time experimenting with camera resolutions and print outs, and I think you'll be surprised at how well things work. Matt is right