Are you having megapixel envy each time you walk by the camera section of your favorite electronics store? So do I. But, do we really need more and more pixels? The answer depends on what we intend to do with the images. First, a quick definition of megapixel:


Megapixel is a fancy term for "million pixels". A single pixel is the smallest unit of color that a camera's sensor is able to capture. The more pixels the sensor can capture the sharper the image the camera can replicate. When comparing cameras, megapixels can be abbreviated as "MP".


Now then, how many of those pixels do we need? The first task in answering this question is to determine how we intend to use the images. We are mainly concerned about uses that require a high resolution digital photo. Putting a photo on the computer's screen requires a low resolution image, so any camera is sufficient, if this is our only intention. The most common need for high resolution photos is to print or develop pictures. Let us then focus on putting pictures on paper to answer our megapixel question.


Next we must determine the largest print size we would like of our photo. Let's presume that we won't be needing poster-sized images of our photos for wallpapering our home, so poster prints will fall into the "seldom or never" category. With extreme sizes eliminated, we have the three most common photo sizes to think about. According to online photo labs, the following minimum resolutions are adequate to create high quality prints:


4 x 6": 640 x 480 pixels (0.3 megapixels) 5 x 7": 1024 x 768 pixels (0.8 megapixels) 8 x 10": 1536 x 1024 pixels (1.6 megapixels)


I have found from my own experience that my 3 megapixel camera is the minimum that I would want for an 8 x 10" print. Any less will start to show pixilation upon close inspection. Through trial and error, I would suggest doubling the above megapixel recommendations when considering a camera. This tutorial has shown that if we only want 4 x 6" prints, then 0.6 megapixels are plenty. Most digital cameras start at 2 megapixels, which is adequate to generate quality prints up to 5 x 7".


Once you know the minimum megapixels required for your image needs, you can move forward to other aspects of your camera in order to be prepared to capture whatever moment comes your way.

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