I'm gonna settle this this shit once and for all. Film's IQ is worse than digital, period. First, let's talk resolution. Film doesn't have MP, it has enlargement factor. Generally, 6-10x enlargement is about all you get, depending on stock. Notice this is independent of format. Keep in mind, at 10x enlargement, doesn't look super great, the grain is visible, and fine details are soft.
For digital printing, 300ppi is considered high IQ, with 240ppi being acceptable, and anything lower starting to look pixelated. While different, the IQ between a 240ppi digital inkjet print and 10x enlargement on silver gelatin paper are roughly the same. How many MP do you need to match various film formats?
>35mm
(14.1*240)*(9.44*240) = 7.66 MP
>6x9
(23.62*240)*(35.4*240) = 48.2MP
>4x5
(40*240)*(50*240) = 115.2MP
>8x10
(80*240)*(100*240) = 460.8MP
While the LF do put up impressive numbers, They are matched by many FF and digital MF pixel shift cameras. Even 6x9 struggles to keep up with modern high res FF.
part 1/?