2006-12-02 20:37:15 · 7 answers · asked by AL IS ON VACATION AND HAS NO PIC 5 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Visual Arts ➔ Photography
Megapixels have nothing to do with the quality of the image just the size of the image. The higher the megapixels = the higher resolution of the image = larger print you can make. Higher resolution doesn't always gaurantee a quality image. You could take a picture with a 3 megapixel camera and as long as you don't print it any larger than 4x6 it can look professional if it's been taken with a quality image sensor behind a quality lense.
Every different camera has a different image sensor that will give you different results. Furthermore a major contributer to image quality lies in the lense. A cheap lense will give you poor results regardless of image sensor involved. My advice to you, is don't scrimp on $$ if you truly want a professional quality image. Also, don't think that every camera with more than 8 megapixels is a professional camera. If you are really serious about digital photography buy either a Nikon, Canon, or Olympus in the price range of $800 and up. If you are wanting to shoot with professional gear you could easily spend $20,000+ on the camera Body alone. And by body alone, I mean just the camera without any lenses. Each lense will cost you anywhere from $500 to $20,000+. You can pick up a good Semi-Pro camera under $2,000 complete with Body, lense, batteries, memory card etc. You could go even cheaper and get something along the lines of a Canon Digital Rebel or whatever Nikon's comparible class is for around $1,000. These will all be superior to your average point and shoot camera's for 200-500 bucks.
Once you get all of that stuff. You still need to learn to shoot like a professional. The camera has never made the Photographer. Learning to shoot like a professional can be done on a cheap Film SLR camera that you could probably find at any garage sale for less than $30. Good luck.
2006-12-03 06:18:54 · answer #1 · answered by FBWillie 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think 8 are necessary for everything, and megapixels are not the only factor.
If you have a 10 megapixel camera, but it only has the standard 3x optical zoom, and you want to take landscape photos or shots from far away, the 10 megapixels aren't really going to help you.
However, I think you could get more "professional" looking pictures from a digital SLR, which range in megapixel.
Although I do agree with the others that 8 is kind of the new minimum for "Professional" pictures, ask yourself what sizes you want to print. If the largest size is an 8x10, then getting a camera that has 5mp but has much more power in way of aperture setting, exposure time, lens adapter possibilities will yield more professional looking results than a point and shoot 8mp camera.
2006-12-03 04:53:22 · answer #2 · answered by e-rain 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Megapixels don't have anything to do with a photo being professional or not. A professional photographer can take a professional photo with a point and shoot camera or even a throw away........
Whether a photo is considered professional all depends on who created the image.
The reason for this is that some professions that a photographer could have wouldn't need a large file to work with. For example, a newspaper photographer wouldn't need to blow their pictures up to 8x10 because it wouldn't fit in the paper. So, a lot of photojournalists use cameras with lower megapixels (5 or so) so that the camera has a faster read time and they can shoot quickly like they need to.
On the other hand, a fine art photographer who was working on a gallery show would probably need a higher megapixel camera so that the images could be blown up poster size and larger......
It all depends on what the photos are for.....
2006-12-03 11:03:24 · answer #3 · answered by blphotopia 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Some stock agencies are now refusing to accept anything less than 8. But 3 to 5 will do very well up to 8X10.
2006-12-03 08:53:23 · answer #4 · answered by Bob 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Most women I talk to prefer at least 8 megapixels.
2006-12-03 04:39:09 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
Hmm... I would go with 8 these days, but a good quality digital photograph, if it is only going to be displayed digitally, can be taken with 3.2 Mpixels - what I have. If you are going to really enlarge the pictures BIG, then get the most Mpixels you can afford.
2006-12-03 04:40:53 · answer #6 · answered by Paul H 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I prefer 8. Then if the person wants something bigger than an 8x10 you can do it.
HTH
Lisha
2006-12-03 10:37:00 · answer #7 · answered by lisha1979 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋