Digital Photography--- Cameras, mega pixels and file size.
By: ImageGenie staff
The most successful method of creating digital images is digital cameras. The image that starts out in digital form will normally yield a superior image when compared to one that has been scanned because there is usually a quality loss from the scanning process.
Digital cameras are rated by the mega pixel (MP) size of the image they will capture. Pixels in width multiplied by pixels in height equal total pixels. If the result is about 1,000,000 it is a one MP camera.
I use the Kodak DC4800 3.1 MP camera which offers 4 quality levels for slightly compressed JPG images.
3.1 MP 2160 x 1440 960 KB file size
2.2 MP 1800 x 1200 730 KB file size
1.6 MP 1536 x 1024 550 KB file size
0.8 MP 1080 x 720 325 KB file size
I take most of my pictures at 3.1 MP rating, edit and then resize them as desired for the purpose that I intend to use them. I frequently find that cropping an image improves the focus on the subject matter. I know from experience that I can always resize an image down to a smaller size with little or no loss of quality. It is almost impossible to increase the image size without some loss of quality.
There are some major advantages of the higher MP count if you plan to print the images or edit before printing. Based on my personal experiences and perception of image quality, my conservative opinion is that a one MP image can not be printed at a size larger than 4x6 and maintain an acceptable image quality. The actual guidelines for maximum image size look something like this:
1 MP 4x6
2 MP 6x8
3 MP 11x13
Keep in mind that the above guidelines are for "print quality" images as compared to a SLR 35mm camera. Web quality photos are another article.
Submitted March 10, 2006
More Articles in this Section
●History of the Camera●Top of the Line Digital Cameras
●How to Buy a Digital Camera
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