Pixels and Megabits
By manunulat
@manunulat (604)
Philippines
November 16, 2008 11:17pm CST
I'm no photo geek but I have read a short article about the features about camera and stuff. It says that while most people who get the new gadget boasts about the large megapix thing, that isn't the main thing a camera is judged for efficiency and quality. So for those who know about their cams, could you share about this technical things and well, what do you recommend for me to buy?
3 responses
@Pigglies (9329)
• United States
17 Nov 08
I've noticed that too, people go for megapixels rather than quality. I had a 2 megapixel Nikon that beats out a lot of these crummy cameras that claim to be 8 megapixels. If you have a bad lens and 8 megapixels, so what? The megapixels just mean that you can print the photo larger.
If the largest photo you want to print is a small poster, then 5 or 6 megapixels is enough.
Go for a better quality lens and features that you like. Personally, for point and shoot cameras I like the Nikon CoolPix line. You can get really good deals on these too if you buy one that is an older model (and still get it new). I noticed the one I bought for $300 before (Nikon CoolPix S5) is now barely over $100 and maybe even less some places. But the new ones are also very reasonable. My first digital camera was the Nikon CoolPix 800 and after that I got the Nikon CoolPix 8700. I've also tried a couple Canon cameras and those are nice too, but I like the body shape of the Nikon better, much easier to hold onto.
1 person likes this
@manunulat (604)
• Philippines
17 Nov 08
That's right, the article points at the lens' quality so much and the megapixel thing is just not that important. I appreciate your response, gives concise supplement.
@stiener (735)
• Singapore
18 Nov 08
A digital is made up of pixels,millions of them. The more pixels there are within a given area,the smoother the picture. So the higher the megapixels (MP) a camera offers, the clear is the picture? Technically...yes. However, the vividness of the photos produced by a camera relies on 2 other factors. First is the CMOS,if your camera is a 12 MP camera but the CMOS is really of very low quality, chances are that you will get pictures with high noise (ie dots on the picture...lots of them). The second is the optics. If the lens are not good in quality, the picture may loose its sharpness. These are the 3 basic considerations when choosing a digital camera. Beyond these are features that offer a wide range of controls like aperature, shutter etc...
@trickiwoo (2702)
• United States
19 Nov 08
Megapixels do factor in... especially if you plan on printing your photos. But the image sensor is what makes a real difference. The larger and more powerful your image sensor is, the better your photos will look. A good image sensor means your photos have low noise and more dynamic range. As far as megapixels go, unless you plan on printing out billboard size images, 6 megapixels should be all you need.
