Kate Aitken, biology junior, recently bought a digital camera. One major factor that influenced her decision was the eight-megapixel feature of her camera.
For many technology buffs, megapixel is the first word that comes to mind when thinking about digital cameras. These one or two magical digits often seem capable of summing up the worth of a complex piece of technology without considering other factors.
But some argue it has become increasingly apparent that digital camera producers have recognized the consumer’s thirst for megapixels and want to produce cameras that boast higher megapixel counts without being better cameras.
“There are a lot of factors,” said John Caro, photography junior. “I have seen a six megapixel camera that shoots better than a 10 megapixel one.”
Caro said the way the camera uses the megapixels is important to the quality of the pictures. He also said the lens on a camera can be a factor in picture quality.
A megapixel equals 1 million pixels. A pixel is one dot of color that, combined with several million other pixels, makes up a digital image. Megapixels can be calculated similarly to area, with the number of pixels along the height and width of a photo. If a camera has 2,048 horizontal pixels and 1,536 vertical pixels then the camera will produce 3,145,728 pixels in a given photo, or about three megapixels.
In a 2002 Consumer Reports study, a two-megapixel camera scored higher in print quality than several four-megapixel cameras, some of which cost hundreds of dollars more. The article warns that by making prints that are 8 by 10 inches or larger, other factors, such as lens quality, can offset benefits offered by cameras with higher resolutions.
The Consumer Reports Web site said a three or four-megapixel camera produces an 8 by 10 inch photo of an uncropped image that looks as sharp as a photo from a six or eight-megapixel model. But if photos are to be enlarged more than this, a six to eight megapixel camera may be needed.
The advantage of having more megapixels in a camera is the ability to enlarge a photo or zoom to a more extreme degree. But there are disadvantages that come with having more megapixels in a camera that a consumer must consider.
The number of pictures a camera can hold on a hard drive is based on two main factors: the memory capacity of the camera and the resolution of the pictures taken. Photos with higher resolution will take up more space on a camera’s hard drive as well as on the home computer. Cameras with more megapixels will produce photos with higher resolution.
The more obvious disadvantage comes from the fact that a camera with more megapixels is usually going to cost more, be larger or both.
While the number of megapixels cannot be ignored when judging the worth of a digital camera, consumers must be careful not to fall for the marketing ploys that promise a better camera based only on the number of megapixels.
—–Contact David McCoy at dmccoy@lsureveille.com