How many megapixels do you really need?

Gaz81

Gaz81

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Gary
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Hi,

Righty, as the topic says really.

How many megapixels do you actually need?

Based on getting your images pretty much as you want them in camera with only slight cropping if needed and prob never printing over say 12 x 18, and that being rare.

Most of my stuff ends up on flickr and little gets printed (the last thing was a 12 x 18 wedding image)

Reason I'm asking is I'm looking at changing camera to something that's a bit faster with better AF and been looking at the 1D MK3 but it would mean going from 12.8 to 10.1 MP.

I know they are different cameras in terms of what they are used for, just interested in resolution at the moment.

cheers,

Gary
 
depends on what your shooting and what with.. having just upped my megapixels by using a mkIV with a prime lens (no zoom) I notice a great difference and can now crop in a lot more and still get a decent pic... So the more megapixels the better in my situ

remember... i cant zoom.. i cant move nearer the subject so cropping is important in certain situations .... thats before i am told a good photogrpaher should be able to frame in the camera:)
 
I can't see 2mp making a great deal of difference, i have A1 poster size prints from 12mp, i'm fairly sure if they had been shot at 10mp there wouldn't be much difference.
 
10MP is fine for 12x18 as long as it is not heavily cropped past 6-8mp, AND it is sharp at pixel-peeping level. Anything inferior shows up quite quickly at that size.
But note that 6mp perfectly focused image is infinitely better than 12mp slightly out of focus one.
 
ok - I shoot with D3 bodies mostly but my D2Hs bodies produce wonderfully rich web pics and prints up to 18" x 12" - also had half page press spreads from them - 4.5 Megapixels!
 
To get a decent 12 x 8 image you need around 8Mp (printing at a respectable 200ppi)

12 x 240ppi = 2400 pixels
18 x 240ppi = 3600 pixels.

So you need an image of aproximately 2880 x 3600 = 8640000 (just over 8Mp)

Now you may want a little more resolution in case you want to crop an image top that size?
 
Gaz81 said:
Thanks for the information folks, it's good to know MPs aren't the be all and end all
Click to expand...

Its not the be all or end all.. but it must be important or we would still be using 2mp cameras... as stated it depends on your needs .. some will find it more important than others:)
 
EOS_JD said:
To get a decent 12 x 8 image you need around 8Mp (printing at a respectable 200ppi)

12 x 240ppi = 2400 pixels
18 x 240ppi = 3600 pixels.

So you need an image of aproximately 2880 x 3600 = 8640000 (just over 8Mp)

Now you may want a little more resolution in case you want to crop an image top that size?
Click to expand...

that is all theory - I regulary get great 18 x 12 Prints from 4 MP files - sharp as a tack!
 
KIPAX said:
Its not the be all or end all.. but it must be important or we would still be using 2mp cameras... as stated it depends on your needs .. some will find it more important than others:)
Click to expand...

It was back then.... Nowadays it's not because once cameras went over the 8Mp mark, this allowed images to be printed to huge sizes without any great loss in quality. 2Mp cameras were severely restricted and film had a huge resolution advantge then. Not quite so much of a difference (although film probably still leads - especially in dynamic range)
 
awp said:
that is all theory - I regulary get great 18 x 12 Prints from 4 MP files - sharp as a tack!
Click to expand...

I agree by the way. I print my 19x13 images at 150ppi - I was really pointing out you don't need to be at 300ppi for a large image like 18x12 - that would need a 20Mp camera :)
 
I've printed canvases as big as 120cm on the longest side at 10MP without problem :)
 
that is all theory - I regulary get great 18 x 12 Prints from 4 MP files - sharp as a tack!
Click to expand...

I think Andy's not far off here, ive got very sharp 16x12 from a 5mp compact and a sharp A2 canvas from a 5mp prosumer. Good light and a sharp lens is more important in my opinion
 
You still want room for cropping though.
 
All depends really... do you need to crop, what size are you realistically needing to print photos at, and how close up are those prints going to be viewed... A huge billboard is a giant print but noone's looking at it with a loupe up close.

I had a photo printed on 4* A0 sheets (making one huge backdrop) recently, but the res didn't matter too much really because it was all going out via 1080i max TV, filmed from the other side of the studio...
 
KIPAX said:
it must be important or we would still be using 2mp cameras
Click to expand...

A lot of it is marketing-driven, the manufacturers (and Canon are the main culprits where pixel count is concerned) need a usp to get consumers to put their hands in their pockets every 18 months or so and one of the best ways to do that is persuade buyers that they need something that the new product has, in this case more pixels, whether they really do or not.
 
I'm using both D3 and D3x at the moment and to be honest for most applications, the D3 is more than adequate - especially when you take into consideration the iso capability of the latter...
 
Gaz81 said:
Thanks for the information folks, it's good to know MPs aren't the be all and end all
Click to expand...

its a case of knowing your cloth before you cut it..

i use 4 and 6 and dont print above 6x4

other uses are flikr and other forums...usually you are sized down for them
 
10 Mega pixels is more than enough for most people. Anything more is normally for people who heavily crop like bird photographers.
 
Andy said:
10 Mega pixels is more than enough for most people. Anything more is normally for people who heavily crop like bird photographers.
Click to expand...

been reading about pixel density...seems to vary from 4 to 24

:|
 
dcash29 said:
Ive never done major crops. Always walked further forward or used a longer lens
Click to expand...

I don't really crop too much either except to change print sizes. BUT - it's still useful to be able to do so - Sometimes there's more than one composition contained within your image.
 
I just went from a 1DsII which was 16.7MP to D700 which has less MP (13.something) and I'm not concerned at all about the drop in MP. I'd rather have a sharp shot that one with lots of MP and blurred because of a lack of ISO.

And you can always upsize, either in photoshop or using genuine fractals.

This one was from the 1Ds and it blew up OK :)

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I think what people forget is that when you're blowing stuff up to huge sizes the natural viewing distance is also correspondingly increased.

I.e. you don't look at a 20ft billboard for six inches away. You look at it from 100ft....
 
IMO about 5-6 is fine when cropped. So long as the shot is really sharp it'll blow up fine to almost any size. 18in prints are the most resoultion critical I find. They're often viewed in great detail, so must withstand any print-peeping!! Above that people start to move a bit further back and pixels become less important again.

I currently have a few shots from printed at 30 inches and they are shot at 4.5MP.

Also, the material makes a big difference. 18in prints can be made on paper, if you start using other materials (especially canvas) the actual resolution becomes less important too.
 
Creative cropping is very handy.

I love double spreads on a large photobook and you are not getting the results I require with a a low MP count.

I have a G9 (not too fond of it) and yes it has too many MP's but the sensor is tiny.

Of course when it comes to photography which is a truely subjective art form your milage may vary.

Horses for courses and aw that jazz.
 
Obviously don't need the huge amounts of Megapixels that the latest cameras come with, don't need a lot of the other features either such as video
Problem is some of the innovations I do want, so just have to put up with it I suppose

Not going to get everything you want or it doesn't seem like it anyway, maybe you should be able to buy a custom made camera to your own spec
 
JEmerson said:
IMO about 5-6 is fine when cropped. So long as the shot is really sharp it'll blow up fine to almost any size. 18in prints are the most resoultion critical I find. They're often viewed in great detail, so must withstand any print-peeping!! Above that people start to move a bit further back and pixels become less important again.

I currently have a few shots from printed at 30 inches and they are shot at 4.5MP.

Also, the material makes a big difference. 18in prints can be made on paper, if you start using other materials (especially canvas) the actual resolution becomes less important too.
Click to expand...

i use 6...thanks for the encouragement
 
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