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Are megapixels still the predominant factor in image quality?
- Thread starter TH55
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Take a photography class. It will help you understand why megapixels aren't the end-all-be-all for image quality.
Having less crowded pixels will give better low light performance. 8mp is more than enough to print to the web and even do 8x10 photos. Looks like Apple choose quality over quantity.
This.
The thought that megapixel is a measure of image quality is a complete fallacy. It gives the general consumer a number to look at and compare when they don't know how else to compare. Why do you think DSLR's don't have the MP count slathered everywhere? Because pros know it doesn't matter.
My old Nikon D40 DSLR was only 6MP. Pictures from it will no doubt be miles better than any phone or point and shoot that has double or triple the MP. MP only dictates the size of the image file, it's not at all a measure of quality. The only time MP matters if you need to make poster sized prints of things.
They certainly aren't, but I still think Apple have failed by not having more megapixels, simply because 90% of the Iphone buying population have no idea "why megapixels aren't the end-all-be-all for image quality". They think the more megapixels the better and that's potentially a big chunk of buyers that could be swayed elsewhere e.g the Z1.
The MP race is something Android makers started as a means to achieve quality. Example, the 40MP camera on a MS phone. Sure it takes nice close up pics, but might be horrible in low light settings.
Megapixels were never the biggest factor in image quality. Most people think that because thats what everyday people know about cameras; the megapixels. Samsung makes lots of megapixels so it will make the normal crowd happy but really its behind the iPhone in terms of image quality. You could have a 41MP camera like the Lumia 1020 but if thats all it has then no matter how much detail there is the photo wont look good. (not saying the 1020 has a bad camera its just an example)
Megapixels were a marketing gimmick back in the early days of Digital Cameras. Sure it meant something when we were going from 0.7 MP to 1 MP to 2,3,4 Ect. But once we hit 8-10, unless you print wall sized posters on a regular basis it makes no difference. I think most people seem to understand that these days, I rarely hear people throwing out Megapixel stats. It's like with anything, there are a million factors that make "image quality" but a number and the word "mega" sounds good and looks great on a marketing poster.
Pixel count is just one part of the 'image quality' story. Size of the pixels and total sensor size are just as important. Nikon's flagship camera is 24MP, which is a lot, but it's less than some lower range cameras that have 36MP or even the Nokia phone that has 42MP. To say you're disappointed the new iPhone doesn't have more is like saying you're disappointed with a new make of car because the tyres are the same.
I for one commend Apple on not going down the 'more megapixel means better camera' route, and have instead focused on increased aperture, increased pixel and chip size, and the dual LED for better white balance. I hope it jolts people out of this megapixel myth nonsense.
Alex
I for one commend Apple on not going down the 'more megapixel means better camera' route, and have instead focused on increased aperture, increased pixel and chip size, and the dual LED for better white balance. I hope it jolts people out of this megapixel myth nonsense.
Alex
Those factors are only most important in low light, non-flash pictures. When taking pictures in daylight, well lit indoor places, or flash; mega pixel count is more important.
I am not all that excited about the 5S larger sensor; it is still no bigger than a pencil eraser. I am in the market for a new DSLR, and I want a sensor at least an inch in size.
"Are megapixels still the predominant factor in image quality?"
They aren't and they never were.
They aren't and they never were.
I guess you have never cropped a picture?
I purchased one of the first digital cameras on the market (1mp). The picture that justified my purchase was of my son scoring the winning goal in the championship game. I was unable to crop the picture to bring the image focus on the "moment" because the picture became too grainy.
Later I purchased a 10mp camera and I now have a nice collection of clean, cropped pictures of my son scoring goals in hockey. Nothing beats a close up (cropped) picture of just the goalie and my son with the puck passing by the goalie. You can only do that with a high-pixel-count camera.
Would you rather have an average 12mp camera which is worse in certain conditions than the previous 8mp one or would you rather have an 8mp camera which is maybe the best ever seen on a phone?
Phones are still way behind digital cameras so for them to make a better 8mp is a good step forward.
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Exactly and for what people use it for people would rather have a decent print to share on Facebook than one you could sit in paint and make into a massive 15 mega pixel poster.
More mega pixels won't offer anymore detail.
Phones are still way behind digital cameras so for them to make a better 8mp is a good step forward.
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Exactly and for what people use it for people would rather have a decent print to share on Facebook than one you could sit in paint and make into a massive 15 mega pixel poster.
More mega pixels won't offer anymore detail.
I wouldn't go quite that far... pixel count was important in the late 1990's for cameras and slightly later for cellphone cameras.
Still, these days the optics are usually the determining factor in technical image quality. Much past 6-7MP is a waste for most anyone who isn't a pixel-peeper (a 300ppi 8x10 print is less than 8MP).
Doesn't stop the marketing folks from focusing on physical specs in lieu of what actually matters.
It's similar with pixels on monitors. How many people who are excited about a 4k screen would even know one if they sat in front of one.
It's easier for a sales guy to quote the number of pixels, rather than learn what the sensor size, processor, aperture actually mean.
Once cameras get to about 8 megapixels, unless you are either
A. Printing posters
B. Cropping half your image away.
it stopped being that important.
It's easier for a sales guy to quote the number of pixels, rather than learn what the sensor size, processor, aperture actually mean.
Once cameras get to about 8 megapixels, unless you are either
A. Printing posters
B. Cropping half your image away.
it stopped being that important.
The 5S camera would need a 500% improvement in light capture (not the 15% improvement over the 5) to take any quality low-light pictures.
If you look at the pictures you take with phone cameras; > 90% are either outdoors or with flash; where pixel count is more important than the 15% larger sensor on the 5S.
BTW - I am the photographer for most of my extended family's sporting events. I crop nearly all the photos I take; even those taken with a large zoom lens.
And does your stereotypical Iphone buyer comprehend that? No. Your average Iphone buyer gauges the quality of a camera on the number of megapixels it has. You see cameras advertised, the megapixels is the spec that gets the most emphasis and looking at it from that angle, Apple have missed a trick. They have over-estimated the average intelligence of the Iphone buyer, they don't give care about dual flash, or sensor size, it's all about megapixels... It's like putting rear diffusers and spoilers on underpowered cars - completely useless, but that's what the idiots want, that's what we'll give em..... strange decision from Apple.. Just go to various 'gadget' websites and look at reviews of various smartphones, the reviewers, who I'm assuming are relatively intelligent people, are over themselves over the Xperia's megapixels and the 40megapixel Nokia etc etc - what hope has your typical Iphone buyer have of being jolted "out of this megapixel myth nonsense". Zero. And that's where Apple have failed. They don't understand their customers anymore, primarily because their customers have changed.
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