Digicam Buying Guide: Resolving Megapixels

One of the most important factors in selecting a digital camera is the number of megapixels of resolution it offers.

A digital photo consists of millions of dots called pixels. A million pixels is called a megapixel. Thus higher megapixel cameras have more pixels in the photo which in turn means they produce pictures with greater detail.

Higher resolution is especially handy if you want to print large photos: for great quality you need around 5 megapixels for 8’’ by 10’’ photos and 7 megapixels plus for 11’’ by 14’’. More resolution also means that you can crop photos significantly without losing too much detail.

However if you are not interested in large prints or cropping, you shouldn’t worry too much about megapixels. Even low-end models like the Kodak C310 offer around 4 megapixels which is great for showing pictures on a PC or regular 4’’ by 6’’ inch prints. Also note that higher resolution photos consume more space on your memory card.

Finally, there is more to picture quality than resolution; you should research other capabilities like how well the camera reproduces colours and how well it shoots in low light

Mega Options:
0-1.9 Megapixel
2-2.9 Megapixel
3-3.9 Megapixel
4-4.9 Megapixel
5-5.9 Megapixel
6-6.9 Megapixel
7+ Megapixel

Next article: Optical and Digital Zoom

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