If you have a digital camera, it’s a good idea to understand exactly what Pixels and Megapixels are. A pixel (
PICture
ELement) is the smallest part in a digital image. These are the small squares you see when you look at the image very closely. I always think of those little toys that are in the shape of pixels, like
HERE. All those little squares blend together and end up making your final image. It takes 1 million (said in my best Dr Evil voice) pixels to make a megapixel. Therefore, if you have a 6 megapixel camera, that means the camera’s image sensor can pick up 6 million pieces of information. The higher megapixels your camera has, the more data that is stored in the file. The more data stored means more details in the image. This is really important to know if you want to enlarge your pictures beyond 4x6. With more megapixels, you will have more data and therefore will be able to enlarge the image more without losing detail.
With most cameras, you can choose how much data is stored with each image. It’s always best to choose the highest level, or resolution, the camera has. You want as much data as possible when you are editing your pictures on the computer or when you make an enlargement. Yes, the larger the file the fewer pictures you can get on a memory card. However, memory cards have drastically come down in price. You can get about 480 pictures, with a 4 megapixel camera, on a
512mb memory card. That’s A LOT of pictures and the memory card costs significantly less than the equivalent in film and developing. Plus, the memory card is reusable. You can always reduce the resolution later, but you can never increase it. So make sure you always shoot the picture with the highest resolution you can. A common misunderstanding when it comes to resolution is the higher the resolution, the sharper the image. That is not always true. Sharpness depends on several different issues, including your lens, the lighting and how you manage the file.
To set the resolution on your camera, navigate your camera’s menu and find the”Resolution” or “Quality” option, choose the highest level possible and hit select (or OK depending on the camera). You usually can check the resolution by looking in the viewfinder. There should be some indication of the resolution.
Want to know how big a print you can get with your camera? Then it’s a good idea to follow the below recommendations.
2 megapixels = up to a 4 x 6 print
3 megapixels = up to a 5 x 7 print
6 megapixels = up to a 8 x 10 print
12 megapixels = up to a 11 x 14 print
Can you get larger prints than the above? Sure you can. It really depends on the picture and how you shot it. The above is just a general rule of thumb. So just get out there and have fun!
~Rason
