Megapixels DonÂ’t Matter?

[Osiris]

A technology writer for the NY Times has a fairly interesting editorial posted today on why megapixels donÂ’t matter. Definitely something for people to keep in mind this holiday season when you are camera shopping.



We blew up a photograph to 16 x 24 inches at a professional photo lab. One print had 13-megapixel resolution; one had 8; the third had 5. Same exact photo, down-rezzed twice, all three printed at the same poster size. I wanted to hang them all on a wall in Times Square and challenge passersby to see if they could tell the difference.



While some people might be skeptical, I have to agree with this guyÂ…after a certain point, you canÂ’t really tell the difference. Obviously there will be a visible difference between 1.3 megapixels and 5 megapixels, but I think anything above that will be just as the author says, very hard to tell any difference.

http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2006/11/21/21pogues-posts-2/

 

[Deathawk]

Clears up a bit of stuff if I really want to know what type of camera I want to buy now

 

[b1gapl]

Nice find warez. Now I can save some money. I was thinking of an 8.1MP sony digital cam, but I'm just going to pick a 7.2MP.

 

[The General]

Okay? Let's have 5 foot tall prints, 10.5mp, 7.1mp, and 5mp, I guarantee you'll be able to tell the difference.

 

[Apokalipse]

yeah, most people I know have printers that use 5 foot tall paper

unless it's your job to design large posters, it's going to be a waste.

 

[maroon1]

You can tell the difference between 10 megapixel and 5 megapixel, if you zoom in

 

[Turq]

Yeah, if youre big on photoshop, or want to crop out alot of a picture, then you will want more MPs. That said the 5.1 I have works great for most of my purposes

 

[InvestorJeff]

Yea, for everyday users 5.1 seems to work just fine. The average user is not going to be able to tell a difference unless they dissect the picture...

Although if they were the same price... i'd take the higher megapixel one

 

[COD2_fanatic]

Yea, for everyday users 5.1 seems to work just fine. The average user is not going to be able to tell a difference unless they dissect the picture...

Although if they were the same price... i'd take the higher megapixel one

yea but what if the camera with the higher megapixel rating is a peice of [snipped] and would more than likely die in a week? Gives ya something to think about doesnt it

 

[Nitestick]

resolution isn't everything anyway. just because a camera can take higher resolution images doesn't mean the CCD is operating correctly and the picture will be good.