I have a new Sony 7.2 Megapixel Camera- what megapixel setting should i set it to?

Question

I only use pictures for printing on 5x7 paper and sharing online- just wanted to know what is the most practical setting for this purpose? I know setting too high will have very large file sizes while too low will affect picture quality.

Answer 1

For superb 5x7 inch prints, you need 3.4 megapixels. So if you can set your camera to 3.5 or 4 megapixels, do that.
Just keep in mind that this WON'T be enough to make larger prints at high quality.

In case you're interested, here's the math:

With a sensor aspect ratio of 1 : 1.5, a 5 x 7 inch print will be cropped from a 5 x 7.5 inch image.
And for a print quality of 300 dpi...

5 inches x 300 dots per inch = 1500 pixels
7.5 inches x 300 dots per inch = 2250 pixels

1500 pixels x 2250 pixels = 3.375.000 pixels.

Answer 2

Honestly, a 2 MP camera will print a pretty nice 5x7, so it's really up to you. The biggest question is, how many pictures can you take for the size memory card you have. at 7.2, you actually can print a pretty nice 16x20 but not put near as many pictures on a card. The purists will tell you to alway choose the most megapixels because you can always scale a picture down to e-mail or whatever. Do this, take the same shot at all settings having someone hold up a piece of paper with the setting written on it, then have all the pictures developed and then choose the size you think looks best. I'm betting that it will be hard to tell the difference.

Answer 3

I'd just like to put a PS onto OMG's answer. If you intend to do any cropping before printing your 5x7's, you might want to use the higher MP setting.

Again, this is just in support of the previous answers, but I have a few photos on Flickr to include in a discussion on how many pixels are enough. Go to my page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/7189769@N04/ Near the top, click on "tags." In the "Jump to" box, enter the word "Pixels" and then press the "GO" button. Some of the pictures are from a 4 MP or even 3 MP camera, showing you what you might expect without any cropping. I think they are quite acceptable.

Some of the pictures are from a 10 MP camera (the swan and the pansies), showing the value of having those large images so that you can crop a smaller image out of the original picture and still end up with a satisfactory image.

Answer 4

I can't speak to your Sony, but my Canons all have native 72 dpi resolution. It's really an irrelevant figure, as the pixel dimensions are the primary indication of the resolution of the image. For printing, however, 240-300 dpi is recommended. You can change the dpi by going to image/image size in the Photoshop menu. While you're there, you could change the height and width dimensions to match the size of your desired print. Since this will often change the image's resolution, you should work with a copy of the original, leaving the original untouched. A better way of getting the ratio of height to width for printing is to use the crop tool. This will put the pixel dimensions in the right ratio for printing. If the dimensions are right, a professional printer will interpolate pixels if the printed image is bigger than the original. The one I use (Mpix) will tell me if the image is too small for the desired size. But you'd be surprised with how large you can go without seeing noticeable softening.

Answer 5

The higher the mega pixel you have your camera on , the more memory you take up on your card. But if you are just printing on 5x7 and sharing on-line you can use no less than 3.0 mega pixel, your pics will stll come out looking good.

Answer 6

2mp seems a bit small. I'd go with about 4mp. Usually cameras just come with a small medium or large option. I would go with medium and set the resolution to fine, instead of superfine.