The Mega Pixel Debate

[skippybangkok]

Still on the D70 for many years. Have tons of lovely shots, most on my hard disk at about 3 to 5MB each.

Point is - I rarely print out pics these days, have printed them out and hung in the office ( big sizes ), and a few pic frames at home. 3 - 5 Mb seems always to meet my needs. ( at the end of the day, you look at a large picture from a distance - not with you nose on a small detail ).

So with the camera's going upwards now of 12 Mb, 16 or more............... simple question - why does one need so many MB 's ? The only use i can see is maybe if you want to crop, and maitain enough pixels in the crop to enlarge that.

I have always hated the dynamic range of digital camera's, and i would love to have a Nikon ( for which i have lenses ) with tons of DR versus more pix.

Civil discussion thx - just wanna hear different views. ( i might buy a new body, and was wondering whats the value of having so many pixs )

Post edit - Most prints are 300 -400 DPI.

Most computer screens have 75 to maybe a few hundred DPI resolution.

Edited July 14, 2009 by skippybangkok

[lordsux]

Bragging rights? Mine's bigger than yours syndrome? Print size is the obvious one. Next would be as you mention, more scope for cropping.

I think that any amount of megapixels is sufficient depending on what you are intending to do with them. I have a mere 8mb and that does me fine. In fact it's too much for me to handle. I found out yesterday that I have been shooting in 'medium' quality (3bpp instead of 5bpp) for the last 6 weeks. Stupid is what stupid does as they say Of course I blamed the wife

Gigapixel technology and cameras will gradually become available to the mainstream, and how long before frames from video cameras can be extracted that equal or exceed those from cameras as we know them today? Not long, is my guess.

[fabianfred]

There is a definate increase in image quality with full frame cameras like the canon 5d Mk11 ....but especially where the HD video is concerned....... a 20 mb jpeg slows things down a bit though...

I've been a photographer most of my life...and the desire for better quality is endless...

[schmutzie]

I always liked this guy's take on cam tech (I don't like his pics so much tho...)

The Megapixel Myth

[phetaroi]

Mexapixels are not the only measure of how good a photo will be. I can only say this, the quality of the photos I get from my Canon 50D as compared to my Canon 30D are remarkable. The old question -- is it a noticeable difference -- on my computer screen, the answer is a definite yes.

[angiud]

I just jump from a good but old 2 mpixel to a 4 mpixel and now to a new 12 mpixel. For sure you can see the difference.

But not only pixels are important. Checking my old pics, I've found the very first shots much better quality than the seconds.

The first camera was a Panasonic with a wonderful Leitz lens, the second camera was a Fuji with an average Fujinon lens.

So, for me, pixels are important, but a good lens is a must.

[The Vulcan]

12 years ago I bought my first digital camera - an Olympus C2020 with a massive 2mp sensor!

Whilst setting it up a friend called around and I accidentally fired off a shot.

Not so bad for 2 mp eh?

[astral]

The jump from the Canon 10D (6Mp) to the 40D (10Mp) was noticeable,

but I have decided not to move to the 50D (15Mp). For the moment the 10Mp is enough.

Remember newer cameras, sensors, probably give better noise performance.

Also there will be improved design and features.

The Canon 10D internal flash was cut off by a large lens, like the 17-40mm.

The later models have the flash higher up to avoid that problem.

The 40D has better focusing control and exposure, though out of the box

the exposure needed tweaking in the menu before I was satisfied.

I know these comments are Canon related, but I doubt that Nikon is much different.

[toptuan]

12 years ago I bought my first digital camera - an Olympus C2020 with a massive 2mp sensor!

Whilst setting it up a friend called around and I accidentally fired off a shot.

Not so bad for 2 mp eh?

And, is it the corner of the picture in the upper right you are most proud of?

[The Vulcan]

12 years ago I bought my first digital camera - an Olympus C2020 with a massive 2mp sensor!

Whilst setting it up a friend called around and I accidentally fired off a shot.

Not so bad for 2 mp eh?

And, is it the corner of the picture in the upper right you are most proud of?

My biggest "miss" from the UK - no annual Pirelli calendar

[skippybangkok]

Seems then the only up side is really the quality of the pixels / picture, and the MP's are really secondary

[hughden]

I find that a better judge of image quality from the sensor is the MP/cm² pixel density as used by DPreview.

For example, the Canon 1D has 10.1 megapixels and has 1.9 MP/cm² pixel density. A Canon Powershot SX200 has more megapixels at 12.1, but has 43 MP/cm² pixel density. Guess which will give you better images.....

I wish the manufacturers were forced to put the pixel density on the box, rather than just blaring out about how many megapixels the camera has.

[skippybangkok]

Twick Question.

guess the 1.9 (bit like the large format camera's )

[Pooklook]

So with the camera's going upwards now of 12 Mb, 16 or more............... simple question - why does one need so many MB 's ?

If you plan to enlarge or crop your picture you want a camera that produces more pixels.

If not, you can search for one with the features that are important to you and that is within your

budget. To me the glass in front of the camera is so00oo important. If you invest in a higher end

camera with "more megapixels" then be prepared to bite the bullet on a great lens.

There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs. - Ansel Adams

[Bard]

Increased megapixels give more details, better for crops and better for increased print sizes. Downside is normally increased noise, and softness at smaller aperture.

How much megapixels do you need? Well for print sizes in A4 size it's 6 megapixels as minimum recommended, and A3+ has 12 mp from what I recall, say you crop a 12 mp picture to a 6 mp you still get very nice A4 prints. For A2 and big prints you start wanting 20 mp, do normally people need this? No... The mp race is pretty silly now, any of the dslr cameras today have more than enough mp's. Sure if you want crystal clear, dead sharp big prints look for high mp, but then again you would probably be in the Hasselblad user group and they got 50 mp.

I got the 5D Mk II which is 21 mp I think, but the reason was not mp for buying it, it was how brilliant it sat in my hand after the 450D, how big and bright the viewfinder was compared to the crop sensors and it is full frame, and that was my main reason, full frame. For me full frame is much more important than megapixels or frames per second, but that is me. I am sure that any camera be it cropped or not, how many megapixels, brand or what have you is of no real importance. Importance for me is "does it sit good in my hands", "do I like the menus", "is this easy for me to operate", "will I buy lot of gear for this, and do the brand actually have the extra gear", "does the prices for camera, and later additional lenses and gear make sense"

So never mind the pixels really, and remember the pixels is far from the only thing they upgrade on new models. It is normally heaps, processing, processor and lot of other things, and the other upgrades might be more crucial for image quality, convenience etc. than the megapixels will ever be.

[Sunny Valentine]

The larger the format you print, the further away from it you are as you are watching it. I made brilliant prints of my old 6 MP Canon 300D in A3+ format. It would possibly not stand pixel peeping, but - unless you are in full format where I guess that 20 - 24 Megapixels might make sense - you wont see a lt of real information with 15 Megapixel in an APS-C sensor either. Think Bayer Pattern ....

6 to 8 Megapixels does it for me on a crop sensor. Unfortunaely you cant buy these Cameras new any more.

Sunny

[astral]

The bigger the sensor, the more Mpixels can be put on it, without noise coming critical.

See some of the comparisons between point and shot jobbies and a full frame SLR.