How many pixels for photo ???
 

Hi all

Are there set recommendations for how many pixels make a good quality photo. Reason being my camera is set to 6 millon pixels and is filling up my pc pretty quick. As I only normally print maximum size 8" x 10" would a lower setting still give the same results.

Many thanks for your time.

Mike

Re: How many pixels for photo ???
 

A lower setting will not give the same results. I'd say 6 megapixels is a good resolution if you print at 8x10 ins but it depends what sort of pictures you're taking and how sharp your eyes are.

You can try reducing the image size setting in the camera a little and see whether you can tell the difference, or alternatively you can try increasing the JPEG compression on your camera (the quality setting).

At the size you're printing, though, I think you will probably notice any reduction in size or quality.

Have a look at buying yourself an external hard drive for your digital photos - they are getting cheaper all the time.

Re: How many pixels for photo ???
 

Good piont about the external hard drive.............any recommedations on a good one and what to look for ?

Thanks again

Mike

Re: How many pixels for photo ???
 

There's a good discussion about this here:
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/mpmyth.htm

Ken suggests 7.2 megapixels for a 10 x 8 print so I'd say 6 would be fine. I nearly always shoot at 5 mp even though my camera offers 9.1 mp!

If you want to know why you shouldn't buy a camera with too many megapixels read this:
http://www.dpreview.com/articles/compactcamerahighiso/

If you want to understand a bit more about digital cameras try some of these:
http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/Glossary/

Re: How many pixels for photo ???
 

Freecom Toughdrive Pro: great little usb powered drive and shockproof to boot. My server techs at work use them to shift data between sites and they've proven to have a very low failure rate.

Re: How many pixels for photo ???
 

But remember, for security, store your photos in more than one place! You could archive them to several DVDs.

Some more good suggestions in here:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/re...ssage=19508176

Re: How many pixels for photo ???
 

I would be inclined to leave the camera settings as they are at 6 million Mike as they make a much more usable photo for editing and printing.

For the photo's that you know you just want to view or save on the computer why don't you just resize them, that way you keep the quality for the printer and you also ultilise the hard drive space you have.

Re: How many pixels for photo ???
 

Just wait for the 1 pixel cameras to come out (I am not kidding).

Re: How many pixels for photo ???
 

Always capture at the best possible setting your camera has, you can always reduce quality later. Back up all your images to hard drive and CD/DVD disk, and check the back up is readable on another computer. I know it's obvious, but you don't have a film negative as insurance with a digital camera. If the hard drives dies you lose everything. There are plenty of external USB hard drives around, Maplin have this 320Gig unit for £60 http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...rce=1&doy=13m8

Re: How many pixels for photo ???
 

I bought the Casio EX-Z1050 10.1 mega pixels camera (3648 x 2736 - poster size) superb quality

http://www.comet.co.uk/cometbrowse/s...hTerm=EX-Z1050

£135 not bad price

Re: How many pixels for photo ???
 

Sounds great but won't I lose the quality if I want to print later............if not how does it work ???:dunce:

Thanks

Mike

Re: How many pixels for photo ???
 

A rule of thumb is
6x4 = 2mp
7x5 = 3mp
8x10 = 4mp
and so on. These are minimums to get a 300dpi image at those levels. That means no cropping or anything else.
6mp is about where you need to be. You just need a better storage location or two.

Re: How many pixels for photo ???
 

some of my pic in 10meg are 6.5MB

Re: How many pixels for photo ???
 

If your anything like me you will have 100's if not 1000's that you know you will never print out, you will also have a fair idea on the ones that are worth printing.

Just resize the ones that you know won't be printed, it makes no odds where you store them as you will be saving space, as other people have pointed out it don't take long to start filling the space you have real quick.

Re: How many pixels for photo ???
 

That was an excellent read, thanks :)

Re: How many pixels for photo ???
 

I have taken this advice and just brought one of these !!!:)

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx...ationKey=50683

Mike

Re: How many pixels for photo ???
 

I'm glad that someone actually reads my stuff - thanks!

Re: How many pixels for photo ???
 

A 6mp camera has an output of approx 2000x3000, give or take a couple of hundred. At 300dpi 2000x3000 pixles equates to approx 6x10 inches. Most digital cameras output 1:1.5 ratio so probably not 8x10"s more likely to be 8x12 inches.

You can probably drop the dpi down to increase the print size quite comfortably to about 150-200 without any major loss of quality, but of course once you've got rid of it, you can get it back, so backing up your camera's memory card to a CD-ROM when you transfer your images to your computer and start editing them is a good practice. Personally I would not start changing the DPI on any originals.

Also, you should consider what you're using the photos for, if you're only ever going to look at them on your computer screen then the max you'll need is 96dpi, but for printing 300dpi is recommended. You do not need more than 300dpi.

Re: How many pixels for photo ???
 

That is because if the camera has converted them to a JPEG file which is a compressed file. If you could save them as RAW data which is the actual information captured by the CCD you would find much bigger files.

Re: How many pixels for photo ???
 

If you're saving as JPEG then the size of the file will vary according to what's in the picture. For example if you take a photo of a pure white light with just a little detail in the bottom left of the frame then the image will be much smaller in file size than if you take a complex landscape with losts of colour and detail. It's just the way JPEG compression works by discarding pixels that are similar to the ones next to it. The more it thinks it can throw away, the smaller the file size.