Do megapixels really count?

Question

Does a professional photographer need a digital camera which takes pictures higher than 6megapixels or are the lenses more important to him/her?

Answer 1

Check this out:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/mpmyth.htm

The number of megapixels that a camera has definitely makes a difference, but more often than not the size of the sensor and quality of the lens are what usually drives the performance. Even if you have an outrageous number of megapixels, they're not going to matter if the lens you're taking the picture through has low-quality optics, or if the sensor is too small to take advantage of the higher MP count.

It seems that most pro's use SLR's, and Canon's Digital SLR is a good option if you do truly need professional quality pic's. As far as picking a good couple of starter lenses for that Canon you can look here:
http://pic.templetons.com/brad/photo/dslrlens.html

Answer 2

If you always plan to compose your pictures perfectly, you don't need a whole lot of pixels. These days, I'd say that 5 MP or even 4 MP is fine for the average snapshooter and this can be obtained without unreasonable expense. 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-to-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 camera with more pixels. You will never be sorry that you did, but you might one day be sorry that you didn't.

Having said all that, though, pixels are not the only measure of image quality. The sensor size is important as well as the image processing softare included in the camera. You need to read reviews if you want a critical understanding of image quality for particular cameras. Try http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/ for more information on the cameras you are considering.

Answer 3

A LOT

If your looking for good quality photos you're going to want at least a 5 megapixle camera. In my prefrence 7mp is great... I know that many photographers have even 10mp cameras or more. I think that if your really interested in photography you should get a high mp camera.

My story:::

I just recently got a 7.2 mp camera. My mom had a 5mp and I can DEFINATELY see the difference between the two. The 5mp is still great and as long as you get a reliable garuntee and a reliable company your good!

The camera I just got is absolutely fabulous! It has great features like AMAZING zoom, 7mp, 2.5" lcd screen, TONS of best shot options, and my all time favorite- black and white. Plus it takes movies...
Its the::: Exilim Z70 (By Casio)
Love it! Highly recommend.

Answer 4

Just depends. If he's working for a magazine and do not plan on making larger than 8X10's than 4MP is more than enough for him. If the pro needs billboard size imagines then megapixels will count. Most professionals its probably more important to get a lenses rather than megapixels but pros are pros so they get both plus more.

Answer 5

Yes and no.

I ran tests with Fuji cameras and found that 2 MP and 4 MP were almost idenitical. It's how the pixels are put together more than how many there are.

Answer 6

If you want good clear pics that you can resize and edit as you please then having more megapixels is way better. he smaller the megapixels, the lower quality picture you will end up with.

Answer 7

5 is more than enough for an 8x10

Answer 8

megapixles mean how good you see the pic.like how good u see it.