Digital Photography Technology

What are megapixels? They are a dot that represents a color. A megapixel is 1,000,000 pixels. These different colored dots are what make up a picture.

Resolution is what determines the quality of a picture. More pixels, better resolution, better picture, larger prints. This is what the camera salesman would tell you. Not so.

It takes a given number of colored dots to make a good, quality print. 3.2 meg with make a 5×7 print and a 6 meg make a 11×14 print. That is if the print will be viewed close up. If the print is to be hung on a wall, and viewed from a distance, then larger prints can be made and will be very acceptable.

Why purchase a camera with a large number of megapixels? Not necessary, unless numbers impress you. The downside of a large number of camera megapixels is that more digital memory is required, which will cost more. Down loading will take longer, larger hard drive, and a faster computer is needed.

When are more camera pixels needed? If you will be making extremely large prints, or doing a considerable amount cropping. If the pictures you taken have subjects that are small, and need to be enlarged, more pixels are required.

Pixels are really not what makes the digital picture look great. It is the color and sharpening algorithms in the software that makes the picture.