photo:megapixels
megapixels - how many is best for you?
Introduction
the initial thought for most people who don't understand photography and its nuances is that more megapixels in a camera is better - but they would be WRONG!
for most people somewhere between 16-24 megapixels is probably the sweet spot and having more megapixels will probably NOT get them better image quality but more problems
AI-based image resizing software is now extremely good at making very big nice enlargements of smaller megapixel images
How many do you actually need?
the current 16-24mp sensors give more detail than the traditional 35mm full frame film cameras
in general, you cannot tell substantive differences in image quality in prints until you double the resolution, however, this doubling factor probably only works for sensors 30mp or less as sensors greater than this may not result in substantive better images for the reasons outlined below
if all you do is post to the internet:
printing to 30“ x 40”
very good results are possible with well taken images at 12mp
those who want better close up viewing resolution 20-24mp will be better (in some situations up to 45mp may give better prints in some circumstances when printed to 50“ size and viewed up close)
remember the larger the print, the further away your viewer should be so you really should not need more than the above, this is why Apple promote their iPhone on road side billboards showing images taken with there 8mp iPhones blown up still look great
The problems with more megapixels
large file sizes which means:
slower shooting - these cameras generally have slower burst rates and take longer to clear the buffer so you can continue shooting
the need for larger memory cards and hard disk drive storage
slower backup times (especially to the internet)
much slower post-processing which can become extremely frustrating
more image noise and poorer image quality at higher ISO levels
issues with producing video outputs which need far less megapixels
cameras are usually sold at higher premium prices
YOUR IMAGE QUALITY MAY WELL BE WORSE or ONLY MARGINALLY BETTER (see below)
The supposed benefits of more megapixels
Why your 80mp sensor camera may not give significantly more than 24mp image quality
alternate means of getting more pixels
photo/megapixels.txt · Last modified: 2022/04/19 21:34 by gary1