Is 16 megapixels good for a digital camera?
Category:
technology and computing
smartphones
So, yes, 16 Megapixel is an insane number of pixels, but here's some other matters that you should consider. It would stand to reason that the more megapixels the better the picture clarity. If you have a camera phone that takes eight megapixel photos, but does not have a good camera sensor then that's a real problem.
Also, is 16 or 20 megapixels better?
The photos print best quality when image is 300 DPI. If you want 11 x 14 inch high quality prints from a modern 1200 DPI laser printer, you need a 16 megapixel camera. A 20 megapixel camera would be ideal. If you want 16 x 20 inch high quality prints from a modern 1200 DPI laser printer, you need a 20 megapixel camera.
Also asked, how many megapixels do you really need in a digital camera?
The general rule for high quality sharp prints is 300 pixels per inch. So an 8x10 inch print needs 8x300x10x300 = 7.2 megapixels. One can still make very nice 8x10 inch prints with less megapixels, but the lower the megapixel count, the softer the image.
Megapixels vs. Maximum Print Size Chart
Megapixels | Pixel Resolution* | Print Size @ 300ppi |
---|---|---|
8 | 3264 x 2448 | 10.88" x 8.16" |
10 | 3872 x 2592 | 12.91" x 8.64" |
12 | 4290 x 2800 | 14.30" x 9.34" |
16 | 4920 x 3264 | 16.40" x 10.88" |