Last week I talked about buying a camera and the different things you should look for when considering what type of camera to get. One of the things that I said not to be too concerned with when purchasing a camera where the megapixels of the camera. If you went through and looked at different cameras, you may have noticed that cameras all have different number megapixels. These numbers refer to the degree of resolution a photo take by the camera has. If your camera boasts a 14.6 mp rating, you may only get 13.9 of those. The rest of the pixels will be taken up by data.
Every image your camera takes is made up of pixels. A megapixel is equivalent to one million tiny pixels. 14.6 mp's mean that there are close to 14 million pixels that make up your image. This is a good thing. Think of pixels this way. On old Gameboy and Nintendo games, Mario looked like this:
Megapixels are important when considering what camera to buy. As a pro photographer, I have be able to print photos that can cover a wall (you never know what a customer will order!), so higher megapixel ratings are very important to me. You are the deciding factor in what will work for you.
Every image your camera takes is made up of pixels. A megapixel is equivalent to one million tiny pixels. 14.6 mp's mean that there are close to 14 million pixels that make up your image. This is a good thing. Think of pixels this way. On old Gameboy and Nintendo games, Mario looked like this:
You can very clearly see in this picture each pixel that makes up Mario. This is called a pixelated image. The picture of Mario below is very different, as you can easily see.
This picture of Mario is made up of many more pixels than the previous one. The result is a clearer image, one much better for printing than the other. Make sense?
So how does this relate to cameras? As stated before, each camera has a number related to pixels, whether it's 5 mp on your phone or the newest Nikon, which boasts an impressive 36 megapixels. Megapixels are one of the factors that control the size a picture can be printed. The table below represents how big a print can be made from some of the smaller mp's, as well as the resolution size.
| Max Print Size | Minimum MP | Resolution |
|---|---|---|
| 4 x 6″ | 2 megapixels | 1600 x 1200 |
| 5 x 7″ | 3 megapixels | 2048 x 1536 |
| 8 x1 0″ | 5 megapixels | 2560 x 1920 |
| 11 x 14″ | 6 megapixels | 2816 x 2112 |
| 16 x 20″ | 8 megapixels | 3264 x 2468 |
| 16 x 24″ | 12 megapixels | 4200×2800 |
Megapixels are important when considering what camera to buy. As a pro photographer, I have be able to print photos that can cover a wall (you never know what a customer will order!), so higher megapixel ratings are very important to me. You are the deciding factor in what will work for you.
I hope this brief intro into the world of megapixels was of some help! If you have an idea for what you would like to see in a Photography Basics post, comment below and let me know about it!
Love! 36 mp wow that is crazy! Figured out tonight where I get my love for photography....MY DAD!!! Come to find out he loves it and apparently has some really expensive cameras back in Texas!
ReplyDeleteThis is just fantastic. That said, I'm curious about how people get things to look epic on iPhones (which might be 3 MP) but suck on an 8MP camera.
ReplyDeleteI guess that's just experience at that point.
A lot of it is experience, and some of it is that it's easier to get a picture to look amazing on an iPhone, especially when using a program like Instagram, which has presets you can apply to the photo to make them look pretty (vintage, b&w, etc). There are similar apps for the Android system, too. You can make any photo look good if you know how to apply a preset. It's one of the more aggravating aspects of photography. The reason a person doesn't seem to do as well with an actual camera is because they have to manipulate the photo themselves in what is normally a cheap version of photoshop, something they have no idea how to use.
DeleteAnd some people just have that amount of talent. There are websites and forums and books dedicated to what is now being called "iphoneography". But for the most part, it's presets and luck.
Useful information shared..I am very happy to read this article..thanks for giving us nice info.Fantastic walk-through.
ReplyDeleteCamera House