is 8-MP good?

Answer 1

It's not inherently bad! Megapixels are only part of the story of image quality in a digital camera though. If you use a coke bottle for a lens on a twenty megapixel camera, even at 20 MP the picture is gonna suck. Sensor design also has quite a bearing on image quality. Some sensors are "noisier" at high ISO settings than others. Anti aliasing filters also have an effect. MegaPixel is not the "final answer" criteria in what camera to get. The 10 megapixel DSLRs are now on the market. Will I sell my 8MP? No way! It still takes great pictures! I still use my 1MP camera for some web based auction pics. Just because something is obsolete doesn't make it unusable!

Answer 2

Pixels - How many are enough?

If you always plan to compose your pictures perfectly, you don't need 8 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 an 8 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 8 MP camera. You will never be sorry that you did, but you might one day be sorry that you didn't.