Megapixels?

I'm still searching for the right digital camera, and I have another question. Megapixels? What are they and do I want more or less. I see a varied range with the different cameras.
Thanks,
Joan

Basically, it's the number of pixels per square inch, I think. All you REALLY need to know is, if you're not going to be printing your pictures out on paper, all you need is something around 3 megapixels. Anything higher is just a waste of money. My 3.3 megapixel camera takes pictures so large that I can't get them on my screen. They are literally about 3 times larger than my screen until I resize them. The quality is excellent too. If you DO want to print your pictures out on paper and make them pretty big on paper, the pixel count WILL matter.

Normally it is better to get a camera with as many pixels as poss., but as hczone6 said, anything over 3 mega is a waste of $$.

All the best

Wintermoor

Thought I might just add a bit to a very interesting topic.

My Kodak DC210 is just over 1 megapixel which gives me a maximum resolutin of 960x1280 pixel image size which I have always found adequate for screen work. In fact more than adequate and I always reduce image size by 50%.

As already well explained; if you want clarity from high resolution in print-outs you need to go to a higher resolution, but, remember that you will need a photo quality printer which will output at a high resolution also, or high pixel count will be defeated, + expensive paper for best quality.
Any images of mine that you may see in DG are taken at a low resolution of 640x480 pixel camera setting and even then I very often reduce by half to email or load to the forums. In plant portraiture I have always had has much concern for true colour reproduction as for resolution.

If I was upgrading I would probably go for Nikon coolpix.

Peter.


This message was edited Thursday, Apr 4th 6:27 AM

Peter, My old camera was a 1.3 megapixel Olympus and I always got very nice comments about my pictures. The reason I got something "better" was because I wanted more features, like an optical zoom (mine now has a 7x optical zoom). Plus, I just like getting new stuff!...lol...I always enjoy playing with technology.

Everybody is right about low resolution for web posting. It just depends on what you want this camera to do. I would opt for an optical zoom as opposed to more pixels if you don't plan to print out your photos yourself.

It also depends on how picky you are about print quality.Most decent digital cameras over 1 megapixel will give you a print with the equivilent of about 400 speed film.That is,if you have a decent photoprinter and good paper. That's about the quality of a 'point and shoot' 35mm. I don't have 400 speed film or a point and shoot camera on the place...but I've been into photography since I was a teenager and was photographer for our yearbook.

You need to determine the uses this camera will have and then search for a camera with those features.

Thank you all. You all have been very helpful. The reason I want this camera is just to take pictures of my gardens and flowers so I can see how they change over the years, to identify where things are planted, and also to put pictures in my garden jounal. I may use it for an occasional picture of something else, or to sell something on ebay. I have a great 35 mm camera that I use for everything else. So I now know that I don't need lots of magapixels, and less may be better for me in the long run. Thanks so much for all your help. I think I understand now.

Thanks again for all the help. I bought my camera finally. Found one on ebay that was barely used and had registration card and all still in the box. It's not the best of the lot, but what I could afford. It's a step or two above the one I use at the office I think, so I'll know how to use it already I hope. I decided on a Sony Mavica FD73. I'm excited to get it. I got to emailing back and forth with the lady I bought it from and she sent me pictures of her gardens that she took with my camera. The pictures are really nice and the gardens are too.

So, I finally bought my camera and found a new gardening friend. Can't beat that.
Joan

Have you signed her up here at Dave's yet?????

Hmmm...you might have an idea there Melody. I'll see if she would be interested.