Learn Digital Photography: Knowing Your Megapixels!

The number of features that come with a digital camera can be overwhelming and knowing what these features really mean can be a task in itself. From ISO to exposure, how do you know what you need? Here we are going to take the guesswork out of knowing how many megapixels your photography will require. First let's make sure we know what a megapixel actually is:

Megapixel is a fancy term for "million pixels". A single pixel is the smallest unit of color that a camera's sensor is able to capture. The more pixels the sensor can capture the sharper the image the camera can replicate. When comparing cameras, megapixels can be abbreviated as "MP".

Now then, how many of those pixels do we need? The first task in answering this question is to determine how we intend to use the images. We are mainly concerned about uses that require a high resolution digital photo. Putting a photo on the computer's screen requires a low resolution image, so any camera is sufficient, if this is our only intention. The most common need for high resolution photos is to print or develop pictures. Let us then focus on putting pictures on paper to answer our megapixel question.

Now we need to decide on the largest print size we would like of our photo. Although pictures can be printed into poster-size images, the expense comes bigger also. Since most of us will not be using this size, we will consider poster prints a rarity. Since we have eliminated posters, next we find the three most common photo sizes to choose from. Online photo labs have specified that the following minimum resolutions are enough to generate high quality prints:

4 x 6": 640 x 480 pixels (0.3 megapixels) 5 x 7": 1024 x 768 pixels (0.8 megapixels) 8 x 10": 1536 x 1024 pixels (1.6 megapixels)

I know from personal experience that my 3 megapixel camera is as low as I want to go for an 8 x 10" print; any less would start showing pixilation at close examination. Based on this experience, I suggest doubling the above megapixel recommendations when buying a camera. This exercise has taught us that if we only want 4 x 6" prints, then 0.6 megapixels are sufficient. Most digital cameras start at 2 megapixels, which is sufficient to produce quality prints up to 5 x 7".

Once you know the minimum megapixels required for your image needs, you can move forward to other aspects of your camera in order to be prepared to capture whatever moment comes your way.

Looking into digital photography? Check out this Digital Photography Guide HERE... Digital Photography Get Great Tips on how to take Digital Photographs plus Digital Camera Reviews