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General discussion

The use of cameras with many megapixels and digital zoom !

by vdweerd Feb 24, 2010 9:02PM PST

The use of photo/video cameras with many megapixels and digital zoom ?

There are numerous comments on these fancy cameras, saying that all those megapixels are mostly useless, and digital zoom is of no use at all.
To my surprise I never see any comment in the opposite direction, which, in my view would be very adequate. So I wonder where I am wrong ?
The generally accepted critique:
(1) So many megapixels imply very small pixels, too close together, resulting in "spill over" between them.
(2) more than about 3-5 megapixels you never need, and only are a useless burden in your digital storage media.
(3) digital zoom results in loss of detail.
(4) All those megapixels are no more than a hype and a means to impress the ignorant consumer

But I think:
(1) My first digital camera had 3 Megapixels, which was more than fine for what I wanted (unless I used digital zoom). That is 6 years ago. I suppose the technique of refining those pixels has devellopped since then, justifying a lot more of them in the same surface without any negative effects. How many more ? 5 x in 6 years seems not unlikely ?
(2) More than 5 megapixels can be very useful, even essentially nescessary, if you use digital zoom, especially for a video camera (because you can't cut out a centre part of the video afterwards, like you can with a photo).
Moreover one mostly doesn't store the raw data but some compression form (jpeg/mpeg), enabling you to make the resulting file as small as you like with the required detail. The gain is a better picture, because you started the compression with more detailed data.
(3) Digital zoom is realized by using a smaller part in the centre of the sensor. Zoom is measured linearly (focal length), but the sensor is a two dimensional surface. So a zoomfactor of 2 means 4 times as small a sensor surface. Zoom 3: 9 x as small. That goes very rapidly. So if you start with a sensor of 12 megapixels, and zoom a factor of 2, you're back to 3 megapixels. No luxury at all, those 12 Megapixels. At the other hand: digital zoom (with modest zoom factors, but for video the zoomfactor can be larger because it needs no sensor larger than 1 megapixel) needn't be so bad at all, provided you have enough megapixels. The advantage over optical zoom being the much lower price.
(4) May be true to some degree, but in the light of the above not nearly as much as often suggested.

Where am I wrong ?

Discussion is locked

3 Posts
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You're not wrong.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Feb 24, 2010 9:14PM PST

What you may want to consider is that each of us may have other goals. Applying my goals to others is where we get into trouble.

My current best camera I take everywhere is a 8 megapixel and my best shot ever was with an early generation 640x480 sub megapixel color digital camera by Epson with all but 256 colors.

Point? Take it all with many grains of salt and forget the camera.
Bob

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Agree with the moderator
by hjfok Feb 25, 2010 11:29AM PST

Different people have different needs. One should pick the specs optimized for his/her needs.

Having more MP is not evil marketing and having fewer MP is not the holy grail to photography nirvana.

Many people seek help in camera forum because they encounter problems with low light photography, too much noise, blurry images, slow AF missing the shot, etc. So a lot of replies are focused on specs that improve low light photography, thus favoring lower pixel density, larger aperture lens, etc.

Certainly some people will benefit from high MP cameras, those who do large prints, have a lot of details, do a lot of cropping (or digital zooming). Crowding too many MP in a compact does have some draw backs, more noise in low light, lower dynamic range, etc. Bottomline is you can't have it all. You need to know what you need and pick the specs that fit your style of photography. One should also be reasonable. If need very high MP count, then should consider D-SLR, otherwise will need to settle with lower quality low light photos. If you notice, both Nikon and Canon have two lines of top pro cameras. Nikon has the D3 with fewer megapixels for those photographer who routinely snaps low light action photos without flash. Then there is the D3x with higher pixel count for those who do studio or art photography where having enough lighting is not an issue, but needs more MP for fine details and large prints. Canon also has the 1D Mark IV and 1Ds Mk III with similar specs.

There are many many other factors that affect the image quality, the lens, the lighting and the exposure all have much bigger impact than MP for image quality. So to be fair, MP should not be the biggest factor for one to pick a camera.

Furthermore having good photography skills is still the most important ingredient, getting right exposure, settings, framing, timing, etc.

Finally having luck and the right timing can trump having the best camera any day. Having a great content can sometimes even trump the best photographic technique. Some of the most influential photos and images that transform our society and world are not taken by photographers at all. So don't get stuck and confined by the camera specs. Afterall, a camera is merely a tool. The good photographer will learn the strength and weakness of the camera at hand, and find ways to maximize the ability of the camera to capture the vision. It is the image and vision that is powerful, not the camera.

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very helpful !
by vdweerd Feb 25, 2010 3:51PM PST

Thanks a lot for so clearly putting things in the right perspective. Just what I needed.
I myself will never be a professional photographer. Just want to take good snaps on vacation trips, without carrying a big bag with a D-SLR and lenses. I often use zoom and video but medium quality is OK. And prefer to have it integrated with a cell phone. They come with optical zoom of no more than 3x, so many MPs for some extra digital zoom would be useful for me, provided the lense is good enough.

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