Digital Camera Buying Tips - Megapixels

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A digital camera is a lot different from a film camera, so it can be confusing for first-time buyers of digital cameras.

If you read any reviews of digital cameras - or listen to the salesperson trying to sell you one - you'll come across new terminology that doesn't apply to film cameras.

The two most important features that apply to digital, but not film, are number of megapixels and memory.

Others include digital zoom (as opposed to optical zoom), resolution, white balance, movie mode, CCD monitor, editing software, jpeg/tiff, and battery life (this also applies to film cameras, but is much more critical with digital).

If you bear in mind that a digital camera is more closely related to a computer than it is to a traditional camera, you'll better appreciate why you are now confronted with an array of new features and the accompanying techno-speak that doesn't apply to film cameras.

Understand the Sales Talk
Each of the elements unique to digital requires some understanding, so it's worth getting a basic knowledge of these before handing over your money. At least you'll know what the salesperson is talking about and also understand the manufacturer's sales literature and independent reviews.

As mentioned, the number of megapixels is one of the most important new features you have to consider. It's also often misunderstood, so is used by sales people to sell a more expensive product than is necessary for the buyer's needs. In most cases, more pixels means more dollars. But more pixels doesn't necessarily mean better photos.

My first digital camera was an Olympus C-2100 Ultra Zoom, fondly known by its legions of fans at the time as the "Uzi". It's only a 2.1 megapixel camera - pretty meagre by today's standards - but has produced some amazing photos that I've had printed very successfully at A4 or 8"x12" size.

It does have a superb Olympus lens, which obviously helps, and this simply adds to the contention that the number of megapixels should not be the deciding factor when buying a digital camera, particularly if you're on a limited budget.

The article below will help illustrate this.

Digital Cameras: How Many Pixels Do I Need?

With the bewildering number of digital cameras on the market, it's increasingly difficult to know where to start for your first purchase. One of the major determining factors of the price of a digital camera is the number of pixels. Nowadays, even 5.0 megapixel cameras are affordable, even for casual snapshots.

But is bigger always better?

Higher megapixel cameras do have some drawbacks. The first, and most obvious, is price. A basic 5.0 megapixel camera currently runs between $200 and $300. A 1.2 megapixel camera can be had for less than $50.

Storage for those large pictures will also cost you more. A 32 MByte memory card will hold around a hundred 1.2 megapixel pictures. This drops right down to around 60 pictures for 2.0 megapixels and to around 40 pictures for a 3.0 megapixel model. One other consideration, not often mentioned, is that a higher megapixel camera has to do more work to compress and store images, leading to longer waits between picture shots and viewing.

Before you rush off and spend $300 for a camera, consider what you will be doing with the pictures. Are you viewing them just on your computer? Sending them as email attachments? Printing them on an existing inkjet printer? Having them professionally printed?

The larger the number of pixels, the larger the file size - an important consideration if you are emailing them as attachments. The following chart shows sample file sizes, typical resolution and maximum print size for different pixel counts stored as high-quality JPEG files:

Pixels	File Size	Resolution	Print Size
1.2	480k	1152 x 864	4 x 6 inches
2.0	980k	1600 x 1200	5 x 7 inches
3.0	1.2M	2048 x 1536	10 x 8 inches
5.0	2.3M	2592 x 1944	11 x 14 inches

Most computers will only display the 2.0 megapixel image (at most) without scrolling, so you may find yourself resizing all your pictures - or not using the maximum resolution of your camera - if you have a 5.0 megapixel camera.

Only ever print pictures at 5 x 7, or only view them on a computer? Then a 2 megapixel may be enough for now. The prices will be lower next year if you want to upgrade later.

Obviously, the higher pixel cameras do have some advantages, especially when it comes to cropping and editing - and you know the salesman will want to sell you the best camera in the store - but I hope this information will help in making an informed decision.

About the author:
Marty is the editor of a number of websites including 1PhotoProducts.com and Word-definitions.com

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