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How Good are 6.1 Mega Pixels?

doug anderson

New member
Folks: Thinking about getting a compact. Looking at the D40 kit, which is going for less than $400. It's the old model, 6.1 megapixels. I'm hearing more and more that a zillion mp are not necessary. Interested in hearing your thoughts.

D
 

Cem_Usakligil

Well-known member
Hi Doug,

Thanks for opening up the ol' can of worms again ;-). I hope that this was not meant as a troll/bait? (LOL)

Well, the best answer I can give you is that it depends on your target (as well as the subject matter).

Are you going to print at A0-A1 size and will the audience view the print from a close distance? If so, 6 MP is cutting it short. Are you going to share pics on the screen and hand-out the occasional 4x6 prints? Then the 6MP is more than enough. OTOH, are you going to crop heavily? Maybe then you should have some extra resolution as a reserve. Etc, etc, etc.....

Cheers,
 

Joel Schochet

New member
Doug,

Depends on what you plan on doing with your photographs. If you're just going to post to the web or print 8 x 10 or smaller, the D40 is fine. If you're going to print larger, say 13 x 19, or you think you'll be cropping the image in major way, the D60 is probably a better bet. The D60 not only has more MP, it has Nikon's later imaging processor so you'll probably get somewhat better results overall. The D60 kit with the 18-55mm VR lens is a better deal, IMHO. The addition of vibration reduction is a real boon to low light photos, even though it doesn't eliminate motion blur.

Hope this helps.

Joel
 
I started out with a D40 myself about 2 years ago and for the price, it was a very good deal. The deal is even better now as you stated. I quickly realized however that it had some limits that I did not want to live with so I upgraded not too long after getting it.

The things I did not care for were
1) in order to have auto focus capability you had to buy AF-S lenses. They are more expensive and there are a lot of older Nikon lenses that you cannot use (unless you manually focus)
2) it does not have any automatic exposure bracketing function (you can still do it by manually changing your EV after each shot) Not that big of a deal but I bracket a lot and it is so much easier on my D200 and D3 bodies.
3) it had no mirror-up capability.

I realize I may not be as particular as some but I have prints from my D40 files up to 16 x 24 and they are still some of my favorites.

James Newman
 

doug anderson

New member
Thanks, folks. I wasn't trying to revive the pixel wars, just get some info. I think I'm going to go ahead and get the Canon G10.
 

Daniel Buck

New member
i come from shooting a few years on a Canon 1D (before my 1Ds2), which was 4mp. I felt that it was just enough to print decent 8x10s (but only because the sensor had a weak AA filter which gave nice and sharp files!). I think that 6mp is about the threshold for consistently getting decent 8x10 prints. If you don't plan on printing larger than 8x10 very often, or don't usually do alot of cropping on 8x10 prints, then 6mp should be fine :)



In more practical terms, an 8x10 print at 300dpi requires a 3000x2400px image. 6 megapixels in a 2:3 ratio DSLR is right at about 3000x2000, and when cropped to a 4:5 ratio for 8x10 prints, you end up with 2500x2000 which prints an 8x10 at 250dpi without up-resing. 250dpi is fine for decent 8x10 prints. Probably indistinguishable from a 300dpi print unless you are looking very close at the print.

Now, as you can see that leaves you with very little room (none!) for cropping and leveling, if you don't want to up-res the file to 8x10 or print at a lower DPI.


So, I think your print size should decide your megapixel size. 6mp is the threshold for decent 8x10s, in my opinion. If you want to print 300dpi (without up-sizing) and have the ability to crop, and level your image before printing an 8x10, then you'll want something larger than 6mp. But in practical terms, 6mp is ok for general 8x10 printing.
 
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when I got my first digital camera it was a 2mp and cost me $1k. After that I made kooking books for Nestle with a 4mp Olympus... a 6mp cost a fortune then... now I have a 22mp digital back and I want not to upgrade ... ever...

I think 6mp is good, probably 22mp will also be good tomorrow. I would say: get the camera and go shoot...

on the other side, what I really want to have is a MICRO 4/3 with

img48b2d92c5aebf.jpg


picture something like this but digital...

http://www.olympus.co.jp/jp/fun/wallpaper/camera/dl/newyear2007_02S.jpg
 
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