Digital
camera manufacturers are fighting to have a lineup
of digital cameras with the highest number of
megapixels. Every few months a new model with more
megapixels is introduced and the manufacturers would
love you to drop your old digital camera for the
newest and greatest one. Before you do it you should
read this article.
The number of megapixels is just one parameter in
determining the quality of a digital camera. More
megapixels is not necessarily better. Before
checking out the number of megapixels or any other
digital camera feature you should take a moment to
determine the digital camera projected usage. If you
intend to print enlargements you will need more
megapixels. If you need to take high zoom photos and
crop pieces of the photo you will need more
megapixels too. If you intend to just watch your
photos on your computer screen and print some 4X6
prints than 2 mega pixels is more than enough. A
full screen photo on a computer screen with a common
resolution of 1024X768 is less than 1 megapixels. A
good 4X6 photo print should have a DPI of about 300
which translates to just about 2 megapixels.
For digital photo prints enlargements you should
calculate megapixels that would result in a print of
about 300 DPI. The following is a table for
different print sizes and the needed mega pixels for
such print quality:
page 4X6 = 2 Megapixels
page 5X7 = 3 Megapixels
page 8X10 = 7 Megapixels
page 11X14 = 14 Megapixels
page 16X20 = 28 Megapixels
page 20X30 = 54 Megapixels
Usually more megapixels digital cameras are more
expensive. Since you probably do not have an
infinite budget for your digital camera when buying
it you make a compromise between megapixels and
other features. As a result more megapixels could
mean not having some other features which might be
more important. For example is it better to spend
money on more megapixels or on better lenses? Is it
better to spend money on more megapixels or on an
external flash for low light photography? When
buying a camera try to predict what and how you will
use it. A lower megapixels digital camera with
better a lens can result in much better digital
photos. Shop around and make sure that you get the
best package in terms of both megapixels and other
features.
Light sensitivity is also influenced by the number
of megapixels. Since in most cases the sensor size
is fixed more megapixels is achieved by having
smaller pixels. Smaller pixels are less sensitive to
light. For most purposes this light sensitivity
difference is not noticeable. You should consider
the number of megapixels and light sensitivity if
you intend to take many digital photos in marginal
light conditions or want to be able to take digital
photos without flash light in darker scenes.
In conclusion do not be the victim of the number of
megapixels. Although it is a good thing to have a
high number of pixels there are other considerations
that determine the quality of the digital photos.
You should consider the complete digital camera
features: megapixels, lenses, battery life, light
sensitivity, sensor technology, external flash and
many other features. Make sure that you consider the
whole package and not use the number of mega pixels
as a "quality" indicator for your buy.
About the Author
Ziv Haparnas is a technology veteran and writes
about practical technology and science issues. You
can find more information about photo album printing
and photography in general on
http://www.printrates.com - a site dedicated to
photo printing.
Digital
camera manufacturers are fighting to have a lineup
of digital cameras with the highest number of
megapixels. Every few months a new model with more
megapixels is introduced and the manufacturers would
love you to drop your old digital camera for the
newest and greatest one. Before you do it you should
read this article.
