What is the use of having 10 megapixels in a camera if you are not going to enlarge the picture?

Question

Is there any use? Does it make 4x6s and 5x7s clearer? I am having trouble getting an answer to this precise question. Please tell me any information you know, as I am in the market for a compact digital camera, and I have been reading up about all the factors that make a good camera, as well as which ones are best. What I have actually learned is that the more unneeded megapixels you have, the noisier the picture will be. Is this true? Most of my pictures will be 4x6s and 5x7s.. and for sure I would never make them any bigger than an 8x10. Any recommendations? It seems to me that you have to pay the price (grainier pictures, etc.) for an ultra compact digital camera, like the sleek Casio Exilim, which I like.

Please no links to Camera Review sites, as I've read them all.

So is there really any use to more mps for a smaller pic.. or are they in the way? Would I be actually better off with a 5mp.. or how many mps do you recommend? I love taking pictures and I am pretty good at it.

WOW, Everyone's answer was so great that I just can't pick one.. so I'll leave that up to others.
Thank you all so much for the educated answers; this has helped me a lot.

Answer 1

If you always plan to compose your pictures perfectly, you don't need 10 MP. If you want to allow for cropping, which means enlarging only a portion of your image, the more pixels the better.

Imagine taking a scenic view and then noticing that the middle 20% of the photo would make an even better picture. Suppose you take a picture of a whole group of people and Aunt Clara really, really looks great in the picture, but everyone else looks lousy. If you have the pixels to work with, you can still make a decent print of Aunt Clara that she would be happy to have.

If you buy a 10 MP camera and don't want to TAKE large photos, you can always set the camera to a lower file size. You can never go the other direction, though. Unless the cost is a major issue, buy the 10 MP camera. You will never be sorry that you did, but you might one day be sorry that you didn't.

Answer 2

It is not exactly true that more megapixels will introduce noise into your shots. The issue here is pixel density. Many cameras keep introducing more and more megapixels but the sensor in the camera is the same size. There are more megapixels but they are packed more tightly together. This is, for the most part, not a problem. However, as you increase the ISO setting, making the sensor more sensitive to light, for high speed shots of moving objects or low light photography, you get noise. A larger sensor (also a higher quality sensor) doesn't have this problem so much. Digital SLR cameras typically have very little problems with noise, even at high ISO settings. Compact cameras have lots of problems with noise and can only use lower ISO settings. In general, a lower megapixel camera will not perform any better because the sensor in the higher megapixel cameras is almost always of better quality.

The maximum megapixel resolution that will show up on most computer moniters is about 3 megapixels (ie a 10 megapixel shot and a 3 megapixel shot look the same). So, if you want a camera to post pics on Ebay or something, there is no point in going anything except el cheapo. For standard shots, 5 megapixels is about it. However, more expensive cameras tend to be better in other ways (it's not just about megapixels). Also, if you use digital (as opposed to optical) zoom, as many compact cameras do, the magnification comes at the expense of resolution. A higher megapixel camera can get away with this while a lower one can't. Any cropping you do (ie you cut out part of the image and then blow the rest up to standard size) will cut down the resolution as well.

If I might make a suggestion, don't get the Casio. Instead, consider the comparable Canon cameras, the SD digital ELPH series. In general, Canon makes the best cameras. If you scroll through the testing on this site, you will see that the Canons take better pictures:

http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/cameraList.php

Answer 3

For 8x10 inch prints you will not see the difference between 6MP and 10MP. You'll only notice a difference if you print poster size or if you want the ability to crop small details. And then only if you're using a good lens... a 10MP sensor out-resolves most consumer grade zooms.
And you're right about image noise. The more MP you cram onto a tiny sensor, the smaller the individual photosites, the more you sacrifice image quality - most noticably at high ISO settings. With each new generation of camera they still improve the sensor design to mitigate this, but you'll see a real difference between models of the same generation.
All of this emphasis on Mega-pixels reminds me a lot of the old marketing tactic for PCs, where they improved the CPU clock speed beyond the point where it really mattered (the bus speed etc. had become a bottleneck). A bigger number does not make a better computer or camera.
For what it's worth, I use a 10MP Nikon D200 with a +$1000 zoom lens. If I were in the market for a compact camera, I'd be happy with 3 to 6MP and focus more on lens quality, low light performance, and responsiveness (stat-up time, shutter lag).

Answer 4

10 megapixels would be overkill for the enlargement sizes you want. i think you'd be better off finding a nice 5 mp camera - something with a high quality lens in the focal length range you want, something fast if you need the speed, etc.


"they" say that you need a resolution of 300 pixels per inch for the best quality pictures....anything higher is wasted. that means for 5x7s you would need 300x5in by 300x7 in or 1500x2100 pixels....which comes out to about 3 megapixels. so 5 mp should be more than enough for you; that should give you some flexibility to crop or go a little bigger.

and yeah, you're right about the noise issue...though i've never actually handled a point and shoot with that high a pixel count....

Answer 5

I am with you. Economics would save you A LOT if you stop at 4-5 MP which is the granularity of the paper, even with cropping!

You can get a killer Casio for 250 at Price club, (great return policy by the way, 1 YR ) which you will probably break or lose, in the mean time.

Plus the technology changes every 18 months.

One factor that no one seems to address is the apature or quality of the light for low light and flash photography, The older casios had bigger lenses, the newer cameras seem to blur all flash and lower light sittuations.

Answer 6

Everyone has already touched on the major points, so I won't reiterate anything in my answer.

If you're not going to shoot with a tripod, 10 megapixels will go to waste. More megapixels mean more detail, but viewed at full size, those fine details will be a blur if you're shooting by hand. No matter how good your statue impression is, your breathing, heartbeats, swaying, and squeezing of the shutter button will introduce enough movement to lose those fine lines.

5mp should be fine for 5x7 prints, (see lazy_magnet's response for the math,) with room to crop. I have a 7.2MP camera (it was cheap,) but rarely set it above 3 or 5MP for day to day snaps.

Answer 7

Just remember that the more megapixels, the more data (picture information) is going to be recorded by the camera. This will translate into better quality images, higher resolutions for enlargements and cropping without experiencing interpolation, better color saturation, and more flexibility in post processing (if you choose to adjust levels, hues, backlighting, etc.). However, if you plan on never, and I reiterate NEVER, enlarging your photos then don't bother. But to quote your own posting regarding your photographic skills, "I am pretty good at it", I'll bet at some point down the road your going to take that killer shot that you're just gonna' have to enlarge. And at 5 megapixels you're only going to be able to push the image so far before it falls apart.

Answer 8

It allows cropping a small part of the picture and still get high quality.
If you compose the pictures properly when taking them and don't intend to crop any of them significantly, 4 or 5 MP are plenty.
BTW, for outstanding color quality, check cameras with the Faveon chip. Vastly superior to CCDs or regular CMOS sensors.