Digital Cameras Specialty Digital Cameras

When I first got into digital photography, way back in the stone age, cameras with massive amounts of megapixels were unheard of. Today, it's like computer memory. It's not even an issue. However, lots of new photographers think that all you need to do is pick up a digital camera with tons of megapixels and you're set. Well, this is not the case. There is more to taking good photos than that. This article is going to point out a few things about your digital camera that can make the number of megapixels a moot point. Keep reading to find out what they are.

Probably even more important, when it comes to the quality of your digital photos, is the lens. Nothing is going to make up for a cheap one. The problem with really good lenses is that they are extremely expensive to make. If you've taken photos with film cameras, you know that really high quality lenses can cost hundreds of dollars. Well, the same thing is true with a digital camera. Don't expect to find a high quality lens on a camera that you picked up for $95. It's just not going to happen.

Then there is noise. Yes, noise. Not the kind of noise you hear, but the kind of noise you see. This is what makes your photos look "grainy" or unclear. Every camera introduces at least some noise into the photographic process. There is no such thing as a noise free environment. The cheaper cameras, just like with the cheaper lenses, will introduce more noise into the process than the more expensive ones. So again, in this case, megapixels, no matter how many, make very little difference in the overall quality of the photo.

And then there is the biggest lie of all when it comes to megapixels and that's interpolation. I'm going to try to keep this explanation as simple as possible because I am sure, like myself, you just hate technical mumbo jumbo. In plain English, interpolation is the estimated or "guessed" measure of the megapixels. All his really does is make it so that the actual image you get is larger, but you're not really getting any additional detail in your photographs...just a lot of wasted space. So an interpolated 12 megapixel value may really only be 6 megapixels, or less. I won't mention any manufacturers that do this but it is a common practice.

Bottom line is this. Just because you get a 12 megapixel camera it doesn't mean it's going to outperform a 6 megapixel camera. The lens, noise and interpolation, along with a number of other things that I haven't even touched upon, all contribute to the REAL quality of your camera.

In short...You get what you pay for...most of the time.

Want some more great tips on digital photography? Check out the link in my signature below.

To YOUR Photographic Success,

Steven Wagenheim

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