Using a frame of video for a still
 

Hi all, if I was to shoot lets say a snow boarder with an xl1s in frame mode or interlace mode and used a frame to print a still on my 2200 what resolution could I expect? Or what print size could I make that still looked good. Wallet.....8x10????

Using your editing suite, simply export the frame as a bmp or tif. When you open this file in your image editing software, the native frame size will be 720x480 pixels. From here use the video deinterlace filter and then make any image adjustment you might want to, levels, contrast, colour adjustment etc.

Now you are ready to print this result on your printer. 150 dots per inch is ok for a photo, 300 dpi is the pro setting. The actual printed size at 300 dpi will render a wallet satisfying size of about 2.4 inches by 1.6 inches. To fill a standard 8.5 x 11 inch paper size is really not good. The source image is just not big enough in terms of pixel count.

A high resolution still camera is quite a benefit for just such occasions and when you use the image pan option in your composiitons, you can zoom in and out of the image with the resolution staying viewable.

A still from DV prints at about 3" x 5" in optimal circumstances, at least that's been my experience.

Thank you both very much. I do currently use my Daughters Canon 10d, although I am waiting for the xl2 and just wondering what my possibilities are. Again thanks for the curtious and complete answer. TL

Even a cheap digital still camera will outperform the very best digital video camera.

Video stills certainly are no match for a digital still camera, however they can be really handy for a lot of things. If the quality is good they're certainly well suited for use on a website in sizes up to their native resolution (you will need to adjust the aspect ratio for square pixels however, 640x480 for 4:3 video or 854x480 for anamorphic 16:9.

If you really want to push the limit you might try playing with genuine fractals which can do a surprisingly good job of enlarging low res images, depending on their nature. You can download a free tial version from their website. Of course it isn't magic though, so to a certain extent garbage in = garbage out.