Is comparing megapixel ratings on cameras like comparing apples to oranges?
I have a friend using a digital camera that takes larger pictures with better resolution, but are half the file size than my new Sony 7.2 MP. The difference is extremely evident when reducing the size. What gives?
I found out that my NEW Sony camera is only rated at 72 DPI. The other camera(s) I see are 180 DPI.
This will be the long answer….
It may come as a surprise, but you can sometimes get better photos from, say, a 6-megapixel imaging sensor than an 8-megapixel sensor. When does this happen? When the 6-megapixel sensor is physically larger than the 8-megapixel sensor. That’s because a bigger sensor can gather more information about the scene in front of it. This is called the CCD, or Charge Coupled Device….it is what captures the image information. The more ‘capture’ points, the more clarity.
The bigger the chip, the bigger each light-receiving section, or pixel, is, and the more data the sensor can save about what it “saw.” That additional information makes for photos with better “dynamic range” — that is, more realistic highlights and more detailed shadows.
This doesn’t mean that you should give up on all other features in favor of larger sensor size. For one thing, most people won’t notice a major difference in dynamic range with small size increases from one sensor to another — in fact, as with the larger megapixel counts, sensor size is mainly important to demanding hobbyist photographers, who will be making larger prints and shooting uncompressed photos. For another, lens quality and many other factors also affect your photos. But generally, understanding the role sensor size plays can sometimes help you understand price differences between different cameras, and decide if the extra cost is worth it to you.
Additionally, the original file format is of major importance, along with your photo program. A “.TIFF” or “.BMP” file format will be much larger in size than the same picture in “.jpg” format. Also, “.jpg” is considered a ‘lossy’ file….this means that each time you save the file, there will be some loss of clarity due to the inherent compression technique. The best format for saving a picture is .PNG, it is not a ‘lossy’ format and it is usually much smaller than “TIFF” or “BMP”.
Whew!! Hope that helps.
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