IQ from a 6MP image on a 10MP sensor

[Breaux]

I can't find an answer to this on the internet, and I don't remember seeing it discussed here:

All else being equal, If I have a 10MP sensor, set to take a 6MP photo, will I get the same image quality as with a 6MP sensor? (I realize "all else being equal" may not be completely possible in real life)

How exactly does the 10MP sensor create the 6MP image; does it just resize it in-camera?

I'm wondering if I should have a camera with 10MP available (maybe a Nikon D60), just in case, even though I usually won't need more than 6MP.

Thanks.

 

[o hey tyler]

I can't find an answer to this on the internet, and I don't remember seeing it discussed here:

All else being equal, If I have a 10MP sensor, set to take a 6MP photo, will I get the same image quality as with a 6MP sensor? (I realize "all else being equal" may not be completely possible in real life)

How exactly does the 10MP sensor create the 6MP image; does it just resize it in-camera?

I'm wondering if I should have a camera with 10MP available (maybe a Nikon D60), just in case, even though I usually won't need more than 6MP.

Thanks.

Well, regardless of how many MP your camera has, you should be shooting in RAW. When shooting RAW, the entire unprocessed image taken directly from the sensor is available to use. If it's shot on a 10mp camera, the RAW file will be 10MP. I would strongly suggest that you shoot RAW instead of 6MP JPEGs, as you'll have more ability to process the images. Especially if you started shooting film. Processing a RAW file is a digital version of being in a dark room (more or less).

 

[Breaux]

Thanks "o hey"! I didn't think about the fact that the reduced files were jpgs.

 

[KmH]

Don't confuse MP (megapixels, which define image size) with MB (megabytes, which define file size). They are not the same thing.

 

[djacobox372]

That's actually a good question, you should get slightly higher quality if the 10mp image is smart about how it is shrinking the image.

 

[Garbz]

Or you could take a 10megapixel photo and then reduce the size in post and have complete control over not only the many resampling algorithms, but also some of their settings.