What Camera Resolution Do I Need?

What Camera Resolution Do I Need?

If you are serious about your passion for photography, you might spend hours clicking memorable moments of your life. With variety and type of cameras being available in the market, you might think which one should be your pick. You might have questions like do you need a ten megapixel camera or a three megapixel will work for you. This is one of the trickiest questions you can resolve – the earlier you know the better it is. Your resolution will depend on what you do next after clicking? Will you use this picture at an exhibition or scale it down from its original size? Will you take prints of this picture or will you use it for your online web album? Defining you resolution needs will depend on your post clicking requirements.

Your camera resolution is related to your photo print sizes

If you are the one who loves larger than life prints, you would need a higher resolution camera. Know the size of your prints while buying your digital camera. However if you are the type who clicks and only wants occasional small copies, you can opt for an average resolution and also save on spending some extra for a higher resolutions camera.

Connecting resolution to photo size

It is as simple as this. Know that an 8-megapixel camera detains up to 8 million pixels per photo. To obtain a high quality print, you need about three hundred dots per inch (dpi) or more. This is usually the same as pixels per inch. So this means, if your 8-megapixel camera clicks at 3200×2400, then you need to divide each side by 300 dpi to calculate the photo size that will create a satisfactory print quality at this resolution. So you need to divide 3200 and 2400 by 300 to meet an 8″x10″ picture with good print quality.

Install photo editing software

If you are using a lower resolution camera and yet want to explore more with your photography, you can choose to use editing software which can help you enhance color balance, crop your images, help you adjust lighting, can auto correct and much more.

The more pictures you take, more comfortable you will get. More than the resolution, it’s your style and ability to click and capture the moment in a way you want. It’s a skill you can attain with practice. Remember to always make backups of your pictures. You can enhance them using various software for better results or to suit any specific requirements.

Photo editing can help you go a long way for you to produce an effective image quality. However to avoid any confusion, you can choose a 7-megapixel resolution and higher. But also know that online photos will even by fine at resolutions below that. You should know that images shot with a 4-megapixel and a 6-megapixel camera, when scaled down to smaller size only reflect slight color difference with minor changes here and there. Know what you want and choose your resolution carefully.




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