Lens or Camera?

[photo28]

Just getting an idea.

I have a Sony A200 with the kit lens.

I decided to print a few shots to see how they came to see if I could make a few bucks.

They weren't bad(plus I wasn't using photo paper, and not exactly the best photo printer, nothing wrong with it though)...

I printed a 8x11s (or around there), the images weren't very noisy, actually quite nice, I just saw that mistakes I made while shooting it stood out.

My question is:
What makes the biggest difference on printing (quality of the images)? Lens or camera body?
Remember, I have an A200 with the kit lens. Photos didn't come out bad, but still didn't cross the line of a shot I'd buy. Is it the lens that makes difference in the (printed) image quality, or the camera body (more so)?

I'll take recommendations, but I'm not a professional (at least yet), so I'm not going to be spending thousands. Just something where I can make a few extra bucks - for fun.

 

[Derrel]

Not printing on paper designed and optimized for printing images is a serious mistake--that alone is more important than the camera or the lens. How the images are prepared in post processing is important, but if you print on non-photo paper, your images will always look sub-par,no matter how great your lens or camera.

Here is an article that goes through some important factors in printing images

How Big Can I Print by Thom Hogan

 

[photo28]

Thanks.
Sorry if I was misunderstood - I don't have plans to print on Non printing paper, I just had no photo paper left.

 

[photo28]

I have an HP Photosmart C1380 - I right clicked the photos and saw the DPI - 96 DPI Horizontal, 96 DPI - vertical. How is this? (10mp sensor)
Can I get it higher?

 

[photo28]

Anyone else?

 

[musicaleCA]

96 DPI is loooow for an image that's going to be viewed relatively close. Something like 250 would offer more resolution.

Echoing Derrel, printing method and technique are the most important parts...that can colour management (what a bloody headache). I would suggest just doing-away with the idea of printing at home and get your images printed at a lab. Sure it costs more, but one can't argue with the results of having it done right.

 

[photo28]

got it to 300 now