Magnetic resonance images of the head, abdomen, and pelvis of normal adult men were obtained using varying magnetic field strength, and measurements of T1 and T2 relaxations and of signal-to-noise (SN) ratios were determined. The T1 relaxation of gray matter, white matter, and muscle increases and T2 decreases with field strength, while T1 of fat remains relatively constant and T2 increases. As a consequence, for any one spin echo sequence, gray/white matter contrast decreases and muscle/fat contrast increases with field. SN levels rise rapidly up to 3.0 kgauss and then change more slowly, actually dropping for muscle. The optimum field for magnetic resonance imaging depends on tissue type, body part, and imaging sequence, so that it does not have a unique value. Magnetic resonance systems that operate in the 3.0-5.0 kgauss range achieve most or all of the gains that can be achieved by higher magnetic fields.