How important are mega pixels?

[Alpha]

For things like retouching, big images are a huge help.

I take it you meant 50 megapixel images? People do it all the time. That's like saying "Don't shoot 4x5. The negs take up way more room than 35mm."

 

[Rekd]

Big images make editing EASIER? WTF?

Huh? Who said that? I missed it! edit:, nevermind... I found it!!)

I also read something about how more MP gives you more room to crop, and for sports it's absolutely correct. There is more real estate to work with on higher MP, and no level of deflecting or denial is going to change that. :lmao:

 

[Rodney]

I would like to thank everyone for their responses. As I stated in the original post, I am new to digital and all the info that you have given is very helpful. Thank so much. Hopefully getting my camera tomorrow. CAN"T WAIT!!! Feel like I am a kid again and its CHristmas eve. LOL

 

[usayit]

Big images make editing EASIER? WTF?

Huh? Who said that? I missed it! edit:, nevermind... I found it!!)

I also read something about how more MP gives you more room to crop, and for sports it's absolutely correct. There is more real estate to work with on higher MP, and no level of deflecting or denial is going to change that. :lmao:

You are ignoring several things... (here are a few)

# From a cropping perspective the 2mp difference isn't going to buy you anything... do the math... the difference is nominal.

#There is diminishing returns in terms of squishing more sensor sights in the same area. (as Derrel said)

#Ability for the lens to resolve enough to crop.

#No lens is perfect. Cropping and enlarging brings out more attention to these imperfections. This is regardless of the number of pixels in sensor. (I am keen on this as I often adapt older, sometimes uncoated, lenses to a 2x crop sensor camera)



Ignoring these subtile points (as well as the points already made) and continuing to restate the obvious is in of itself .. denial.



Here's a question....

Why do photographers consider "digital zoom" as an unacceptable feature to use but "cropping" is considered ok?

 

[IaR17]

very important, in my opinion, is the sensor size!
With hight ISO and a small sensor too many MP could cause problems!

 

[DennyCrane]

very important, in my opinion, is the sensor size!
With hight ISO and a small sensor too many MP could cause problems!

That IS an important aspect, but it's lessened in it's impact by modern in-camera processors... like the Canon 7D and T2i's dual Digic 4s. They cram 18mp onto an APS-C sensor (1.6 crop factor) and manage excellent low-light, high ISO noise control.

 

[bushpig]

Nah. All the best cameras are <1 megapixel. I have myself a few of these. They're great.

Here's one of my shots with a Game Boy Camera (Japanese model):

Forget DSLRs. Who needs them when you can spend less than $20 and get a Game Boy and a camera for it?

 

[jemima.harris]

Megapixels indicate how much detail an image will have becasue the number of megapixels will determine the quality of your final photo and more megapixels in an image will mean a larger sharp print can be made from the image. A picture element is made up of simply a dot. Digital camera images are made up of these dots called pixels. One megapixel equals one million dots.

​

 

[Garbz]

Megapixels indicate how much detail an image will have becasue the number of megapixels will determine the quality of your final photo and more megapixels in an image will mean a larger sharp print can be made from the image. A picture element is made up of simply a dot. Digital camera images are made up of these dots called pixels. One megapixel equals one million dots.

​

ERRRRRRRR, sorry, but thanks for playing.

I guarantee that the Canon 1D outperforms the iPhone 3GS.

Anyone taking one element of the camera system so far out of context needs their head checked.

 

[skieur]

Contrary to what has been said by some, it is possible to see the difference in megapixels between shots. A camera with more megapixels resolves more detail. It may produce more picture noise which may be bad for some shots but tolerable in others or removeable in post. In some shots more detail may not really be wanted,...as in do we really want to see the pores in the skin of the face of a model? On the other hand we may want to see the lace and detail in a wedding dress. In a landscape, fine detail may be irrelevant.

So, as to how important megapixels are, it depends on what you shoot and for what purpose or end use.

skieur

 

[supraman215]

With enough megapixels you could have the equivalent picture quality of a 1200mm lens using T2i, with a 200mm. It's more likely that megapixels are going to go up to that level long before you have $100k to drop on a 1200mm L lens.

I'm not talking about going from 10-12mp. I'm talking about 24mp, 40mp, 60mp (highest today for professional cameras). There will be a time when a D3000 equivalent camera will have a 60mp sensor, and when it does you won't need a lens longer than 100mm to get close to the subject. Because you'll be able to produce a high quality 12mp picture by cropping that 60mp picture down. So now how important are megapixels? A 4x5 negative will never fix into a 35mm camera body BUT 60mp will, and beyond. That's how important megapixels are.

 

[usayit]

With enough megapixels you could have the equivalent picture quality of a 1200mm lens using T2i, with a 200mm. It's more likely that megapixels are going to go up to that level long before you have $100k to drop on a 1200mm L lens.

I'm not talking about going from 10-12mp. I'm talking about 24mp, 40mp, 60mp (highest today for professional cameras). There will be a time when a D3000 equivalent camera will have a 60mp sensor, and when it does you won't need a lens longer than 100mm to get close to the subject. Because you'll be able to produce a high quality 12mp picture by cropping that 60mp picture down. So now how important are megapixels? A 4x5 negative will never fix into a 35mm camera body BUT 60mp will, and beyond. That's how important megapixels are.

You are forgetting the glass' ability to resolve... cropping simply enhances those imperfections.

A 40mp MF digital with an 80-ish mm lens will outperform a 40mp 135 digital with a 50-ish mm lens.

MP isn't important anymore because of diminishing returns. Its the same reason why a 12mp P&S will have difficulty producing the same quality images of a 12mp canon 5D.

 

[Idahophoto]

The importance is going down. Look at digital medium format, they sell fewer and fewer each year. I was reading a article where one top high paid photographer paid out like 45K about 2 years ago for a Haselblad system and its already obsolete and was saying his Canon produced photo's that rivaled it. Melissa Rodwell on her forum Fashion Photography blog did a nice comparison Product Advertising Shoot Featuring the Phase One P40+ and Nikon D2x | Fashion Photography Blog and I had a similer discussion in a photography class. For the most part we have reached what we really need. Sure we will get more, it's what we all want, but don't really need them for the most par. K maybe a few people who shoot million dollar jewlery might benefit from a slight more detail, but my 50D is more than enough for me right now and I think even, if and when I make Pro, it still will be. Sure Ill upgrade, but there are stellar works done by 8 and 10MP cameras that I could not tell if done with a 18 or 20+. Hope this helps

 

[Alpha]

The importance is going down. Look at digital medium format, they sell fewer and fewer each year. I was reading a article where one top high paid photographer paid out like 45K about 2 years ago for a Haselblad system and its already obsolete and was saying his Canon produced photo's that rivaled it. Melissa Rodwell on her forum Fashion Photography blog did a nice comparison Product Advertising Shoot Featuring the Phase One P40+ and Nikon D2x | Fashion Photography Blog and I had a similer discussion in a photography class. For the most part we have reached what we really need. Sure we will get more, it's what we all want, but don't really need them for the most par. K maybe a few people who shoot million dollar jewlery might benefit from a slight more detail, but my 50D is more than enough for me right now and I think even, if and when I make Pro, it still will be. Sure Ill upgrade, but there are stellar works done by 8 and 10MP cameras that I could not tell if done with a 18 or 20+. Hope this helps

You're forgetting MF digital's primary advantage, which I've mentioned elsewhere on this forum. A modular system is of the utmost importance when the only component you need to update is the digital component. So far, MF is the only format that satisfies this.

 

[asuphotofreak]

mega pixels only truly matter when you are doing things like blowing up your image. The larger the image the more pixelated it will look. Pixels will also come into play when doing digital editing. honestly I have taken classes on digital slr and studied pixels and all of the things that go along with it. 2 pixels don't even really sweat over unless your a serious professional.