The pixel race is over

When digital photography first came on the scene, there was a big debate about how many pixels, or picture elements, it would take to make digital photography as good as film.

When the first one million pixel cameras (one-meg) came out it is was very encouraging because we could see that it was going to happen, digital was going to work. Before long two-meg cameras were here producing very good results. Five-meg cameras had the ability to surpass 35mm and were taking aim at medium format. My first digital camera was a five-meg Olympus which I have used to make beautify 16x20 and larger prints.

I like to think of the number of mega-pixels a camera has as being comparable to the horsepower of a car. A minimum amount is needed for sure, but horsepower does not determine the quality of the car or even how fast it will go. There are many other factors that are more important. It is the same with cameras.

It turns out that after a minimum of about 3 or 4 meg, the number of mega-pixels a camera has is of little value in determining the quality of the photos.

Now that most cameras have 7 or 8 million pixels or more, this is no longer a factor in quality. In fact many cell phones have 5-meg cameras built-in that produce very low quality pictures, I know, I have one. The quality of the lens and the electronics are much more important.

Of course the skill of the photography is really the bottom line in determining the quality of the photographs.