What is a megapixel? I have an idea but it still boggles the mind.?

Question

I'm planning on buying a camera but this megapixel keeps popping up everywhere. I've asked sales associates but they get too technical and they become confusing after awhile. Please help this poor soul.....

Answer 1

Digital cameras capture images as pixel elements, known as pixels. Simply put, a megapixel is equal to one million pixels.

Digital images are made up of thousands of these tiny, tile-like picture elements. The more pixels, the higher the image resolution. Resolution relates primarily to print size and the amount of detail an image has when viewed on a computer monitor at 100%.

The number of megapixels is only one aspect relating to the quality of a camera, or the actual quality of a photo it is capable of producing. Factors such as camera sensor and the optical quality of a lens play equally important roles.

If you buy a digital camera with too few megapixels for your printing and editing needs, your photos will be degraded. Purchase a camera with too many megapixels and it could cost more than is necessary.

Deciding the "right" number of megapixels does not have to be confusing. Two main factors should be at the core of a decision when purchasing a digital camera: desired features and the number of megapixels based on the maximum print size you plan to make.

see u

Answer 2

OK think of it this way, you could make a picture on a piece of paper simply by using colored pencils and drawing dots. The more dots you draw the more detailed your picture would be. No matter how many dots you drew, you could break the picture down into dots. All you need to know about each dot is what color it is and how hard you pressed the pencil.

Computers are as dumb as posts. They cannot draw a line or be in the least bit creative. However they are good at remembering a lot of stuff. So we teach them to remember information about each dot.

Being computer nerds we can't simply call them dots, that's not technical enough. So we call them "Picture Elements". Over time that has been abbreviated to simply "Pixel". Each pixel is one dot.

Now the more dots we have and the smaller the dots are in a given picture, the better the picture quality will appear to be. As cameras and computers got better, they remembered information about first thousands and then even millions of dots. But being nerds again we can't talk about millions, that's too simple, so we use the prefix "Mega" to mean millions. Therefore a one megapixel camera simply has an image made up of one million dots.

Entry level cameras these days tend to record 4 megapixels. Better cameras go up to 8 or even 10 megapixels. The Hasselblad H3D-39 can even record a massive 39 megapixels of data!

Now the more dots the better right? Well up to a point. After a while if we are going to print normal sized photos, we reach a point where the printer can't print that many dots and our eyes can't see that many dots, so going bigger is not necessarily better. Specifics vary but this generally happens around the 5 - 6 megapixel mark.

So why buy an 8 MP camera, it's a waste of time right? Not necessarily. For two main reasons:

1) More megapixels means bigger prints. Let's say you take that one killer photo that you love, wouldn't it be nice to blow it up to A3 or poster size?

2) Cropping. With an 8 MP camera, you can do a fairly savage crop on your image without losing too much quality.

So I hope this clears up a little of the mystery for you! All the best with your photography!

Answer 3

It's the amount of picture data elements. The more elements the more detail and larger pictures you can obtain, however you'll store less on the same size memory card.

A standard 4x6 is 2 MP but it will render a decent 8x10 if you don't crop it.

An 8x10 with full detail usually requires a minimum of 5mp

A 16 x 20 picture usually requires 7 MP. This also allows you to crop an 8 x 10 50% without losing any detail.

In my tests 3 MP rendered a soft 8 x 10. 4 MP made the eybrows more prounounced and started to show freckles. 5 MP started to make the eye lashes more prounounced.

12 MP is considered eqivalent to fine grain film, which would start to show the pores on the skin in close-ups.

8 MP is probably eqivelent to 400 speed film

These days most people are starting at 5 MP which is enough for a good 8 x 10 and excellent 4 x 6

To fully understand the whole thing remember my test pictures. AT 4 MP 4 feet from the subject blow up to 8 x 10 there were only enough pixels (dots of picture) from two eye lashes. At 5 or 6 MP you will have enough pixels for each eye lash. YOu still don't have enough pixels to get the black or dark areas of blue or brown eyes. You know, those flakes of color in the eye. They will come out pure blue or brown. AT 8MP you will probably start to resolve those and start to see pores on the skin.

At 12 MP you will start easily see the pores on close up pictures and probably start to resolve "peach fuzz" hair along the cheek areas of a girl's face.

At 4 MP a 5 o'clock shadow is just a gray zone. at 5 MP you start to see the stubble. By 8 MP you can count the stubbles.

A 4 or 5 MP camera will generally not need "air brushing" as the picture of a person will be a little soft.

A 7 or 8 MP camera will show the crows feet next to the eyes. YOu will definately start to see the flaws in a close up face on an 8 x 10 at 8 MP.

A 1 GB memory card will hold about 750 4 MP images, 600 5 MP images 400 6 MP images, 300 7 MP images and 200 8 MP images.

Today you can get dandy 6 and 7 MP Kodaks and Nikons for under $200

A 5 MP is generally considered a begineers camera. PRiced around $100-$130.

Answer 4

A megapixel refers to one million pixels, and is commonly used in reference to digital cameras as an indication of resolution capability. A pixel is a tiny square on a computerized display that is so small it appears as a dot. The display screen is a solid grid of these squares or dots, which can be easily seen with a magnifying glass. The more pixels or dots that make up the display screen, the clearer the resolution or image will be. Greater numbers of dots or pixels allow for more refinement of the image, which results in higher, truer image replication.

Answer 5

A megapixel is the tiny little thing that makes up the picture of the camera. Basically, it's a measure of resolution and it's better to have a higher number of megapixels :-)

Answer 6

Don't get bogged down in the technical side of it...

Basically, the more mega pixels, the more detailed the pictures you take.
If you have 3 mega pixels, you can generally print out fine on A4 size paper, and 6 for A3.
My Phone for example is rather rubbish in comparison and only takes at 1.3 mega pixels.
You don't need more than 3 or 4 mega pixels unless you are a photographer really.

Answer 7

a pixel is a unit of measure they use for video, like how sharp and clear your picture will be.. the more pixels you have the sharper and clearer, so a megapixel equals 1million pixels,,

Answer 8

mean resolution n how clear ur pic can b after u zoom in...
like i hav a 1megapixel camera, the pic i took with tis camera wont b clear after i zoom 10x larger
if i use 10megapixel camera, it would b nice n clear after 10x zoom in
the higher the better

Answer 9

http://www.megapixel.net/html/cover.php

Go there you can see for yourself and read about it..