The Truth About Pixels - Part I: Digital Cameras

Most digital cameras today boast of greater resolution and picture quality. What does that mean to the amateur or occasional photographer? You hear of cameras with 3 megapixals up to 6 or 7 megapixals. What is that? The book that comes with the camera explains all the buttons, bells and whistles, but does not explain megapixels. Most people do not like to work with numbers much, but it is necessary to understand pixels. So here's my attempt to explain pixels. I'll try not to involve too many numbers.

To understand pixels, one must first remember the good old days when you took pictures on film and let the development labs worry about pixels. But, they didn't really have to, because the exposed negative just captured the image that was reflected through the lens. It was all there and the only thing that affected quality was the size of the negative. The bigger the negative was, the larger the picture that could be produced. When the world went digital, the pixel was invented. So what is a pixel? If you divided a picture in hundreds of horizontal and vertical lines, you would actually have a large number of little squares that when put together, created the picture. Each square is a pixel. So, when a digital camera says it has 1-megapixel capabilities, it means that the total number of horizontal and vertical squares produced when a picture is taken equals 1 megapixel (1,000,000 pixels).

A 3 megapixel camera produces a picture that has 3 million pixels in its makeup. If all the pictures were the same size in each camera, it would be easy to understand why a camera that produces more pixels would be a better quality camera. Here is where the camera makers are not forthcoming with information. What they don't tell you is that as far as I can tell, every digital camera produces pictures that have 72 pixels per inch per picture both horizontal and vertical. The only difference is that a 3 megapixel camera produces a larger picture than a 1 megapixel camera and a 5 megapixel camera produces an even larger picture yet. The reason I say "as far as I can tell" is that I have not tried all cameras or studied the information on all cameras. There may be some out there different, but they probably are not in the amateur photographer's price range.

Conclusion: For video uses only, your camera purchase decision should be based on features other than the number of pixels.

Wayne Rockwell is a professional videographer at Legacy Pictures to Video and specializes in Video Montage creation and Photo Retouching.

---

Creating Personalized Photo Calendars

About Personalized Photo Calendars:Photo Calendars are 12-month, wall-hanging calendars that you can create using your own digital photos and captions. As you customize your own photo calendar, you can start the calendar on... Read More

Digital Camera Bags - Purchasing and Using

Some compact cameras are small enough to fit in your handbag or pocket, but I still recommend purchasing a camera case. It will save your camera from unnecessary wear and tear.What do you... Read More

Portrait Photography: Tips and Methods

Portrait is defined as, "A likeness of a person, especially one showing the face, that is created by a painter or photographer, for example." In the area of portrait photography there are some... Read More

Picture Framing for Photographers - Part 1

Imagine being able to frame all your own photographs just as well as a professional. You can save enough money to easily pay for all the necessary tools, and the convenience of being... Read More

Start Up a Travel Photography Business

Too many people have the idea that being paid to take photographs of exotic places is the ideal job. It may take years of effort to be paid by magazines such as the... Read More

Four Unique Ways for the Pet Portrait Artist to Stand Out

The warm feelings are flowing all around when the pet lover sees her commissioned portrait of her beloved dog or cat for the first time. Would you like the love to last even... Read More

Take Spectacular Nighttime Photos with Your Digital Camera - Part II

Night photos can take on a somewhat magical quality you may find lacking in normal daytime photography. Amazing night pictures certainly can attract attention. As the sun goes down, however, it becomes harder... Read More

HP Digital Cameras - History and Beyond

HP has started making digital cameras only recently. However, the firm provides a one-stop-shop for all digital facilities. The company has made a large number of innovations over the years. Let us view... Read More

Digital Imaging Explained

Digital Imaging is a process where an electronic photograph, scanned document, or image is converted into a series of electronic dots called pixels. Pixels is an acronym for "picture elements".After the image is... Read More

7 Things You Must Do If You Want To Make That Perfect Camera Shot

Saturate yourself with your subject and the camera will all but take you by the hand. Margaret Bourke-WhiteThese tips should help you relive those moments back where you've said "if only I had... Read More

Applications of Underwater Video Cameras

There's so much you can do with an underwater video camera. If you enjoy snorkeling or diving, you can use the camera to show your friends and family the beautiful tropical fish, colorful... Read More

Selecting Good Stock Photography in the Age of Digital

The business of stock photography has drastically changed over the last few years. Ten years ago, selecting photographs for your brochure or newsletter meant spending hours pouring over stock photography catalogs and ordering... Read More

Studio Photography and Digital Backgrounds

The article given here was written for Adobe Photoshop 5,6,7,CS, and Adobe Photoshop Elements 2 and 3.Most photographers who are serious about improving their portrait taking skills have realized that a beautiful background... Read More

The Photography Portfolio: Building Your Reputation

If you have hopes of becoming a professional photographer, or even just of trying to get your work published in a public forum, you will need to create a photography portfolio. So what's... Read More

Making Money With Digital Photography And Live Events

A few years ago I became interested in digital photography, mainly for web publishing and personal reasons. You know, how nice is it now to NOT have to deal with film, scanning pictures,... Read More

Digital Cameras and Digital Photography

Before you rush into buying your digital camera this holiday season make sure your properly informed. Many consumers during the holiday season rush into purchasing electronic equipment in a mad panic to get... Read More

Your Mobile Digital Darkroom ? Five Tools of the Trade

While digital photography offers you the ability to review photograph instantaneously, it also offers you the added convenience of editing photos on the fly as well.Enter the world of the mobile digital dark... Read More

Tiny Cameras, Big Pictures and Make Your Photos Great!

The path to picking a digital camera usually leads to a fork in the road. On one side is the small camera that's convenient to carry but doesn't take the sharpest pictures; on... Read More

A New Way to Use Old Snapshots

If you're like me, you have hundreds of photographs sitting in envelopes. Pictures from birthday parties, weddings, family gatherings, anniversaries, the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving and Christmas. You have already put the best... Read More

Infrared Photography and Big City Crime

One of the major problems of the larger cities of the word these days is crime. It appears that the larger the city the more-acceptable serious crime seems to be. If not because... Read More

Digital Zoom Versus Optical Zoom

The digital camera is but a technological advancement of the conventional analog camera. And thus every component of the analog camera must have been upgraded or changed to bring in some improvisations. This... Read More

Digital Wedding Photography: Myth Vs. Reality

1. Myth: Digital photos are pixilated or fuzzy. Reality: most people that say that have never seen a photo produced by a professional grade digital camera. The quality of modern digital cameras is... Read More

The Arizona Desert Museum

The vast beauty and richness of the desert can be easily seen in one place in Tucson, Arizona. Known as the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum ["Desert Museum"], this gorgeous and convenient site is... Read More

Start Your Own Photography Business from Home

Anyone with the right camera equipment, and the necessary skills can set up a home business, marketing photography. You need only to convert a room of your house into an office, and then... Read More

Megapixel Cameras: How Many Megapixels Do You Need?

Knowing which megapixel camera to buy can be intimidating. There are literally hundreds of models of digital cameras out on the market today. How can you know how many megapixels you'll need?Megapixels: The... Read More

Start a Photography Business from Home

Anyone with the right camera equipment, and the necessary skills can set up a home business, marketing photography. You need only to convert a room of your house into an office, and then... Read More

Help! My Old Colour Photo has Turned Pink ? 5 Minute Digital Fix

Almost all of us will have seen this particular photographic problem, namely, your old colour photographs appear to have taken on an overall pink or blue tint.This is primarily due to the chemicals... Read More

Cropping Digital Photos Into Shape

Did you know that in many cases digital photos are cropped by the time they reach paper? If you have never "cropped" your photos manually, you may not be aware that it is... Read More

Nude Art Photography

Nude photography is the genre of art photography, whose subject is the representation of the naked (full nude) or partially naked (half nude) human body.The aesthetic value of nude photography and its boundary... Read More