What do mega pixels really mean when it comes to digital cameras

When you hear digital camera you may or may not think of mega pixels, but mega pixels are an important part of the digital camera. It is true the more mega pixels a digital camera has the higher the price is to purchase the digital camera. Mega pixels range from 1.3 to much, much, higher, such as 14 to 18, and many times the bigger the mega pixel, the better. Now what exactly does mega pixel mean, digital camera images are made of rows of colored dots that make up a rectangular grid to produce the whole picture, these dots are called pixels. In digital cameras each pixel is either red, green or blue. The pixels can have a number of different brightness values, usually 256 in screen displays, but often 1024 or 4096 in camera images. Because digital camera images are generally larger than this, it is more convenient to refer to their sizes using the term mega pixels (mp), where 1 mp = 1 million pixels.

The number of mega pixels you need is going to depend on what you are going to do with the pictures you are going to take with your digital camera. If you are going to just view your pictures on a computer screen or simply want them for a web site, you will need a fewer number of mega pixels. If you are planning to print 8 x 10 prints from the pictures you take, you will need and want a larger number of mega pixels, a minimum of 3.5 is recommended for printing 8 x 10. As mentioned before, the more mega pixels a digital camera has the more it is going to cost you, but it doesn't hurt to have more mega pixels than what you need, as it leaves room to grow and you may also explore the options of printing high quality photos for your friends and family.

Now if price is an issue, a digital camera with a lower mega pixel can often times do a nice job, just remember when taking pictures to shoot at a higher resolution.

Another factor of great importance that has to do with mega pixels when it comes to digital cameras is memory. Most digital cameras come with some kind of memory card to provide storage. Usually they come with a small capacity card. Often times you will need to purchase a larger memory card for your digital camera. It would be wise to purchase a card that will allow you to save at least 50 pictures; you may even want a memory card that allows you to save even more. The number of pictures you can save in the memory space will depend on the image size. Higher mega pixel cameras produce larger file images, so they fill your memory up faster. If you travel frequently you may want a memory card that allows you to save a large number of pictures, this will be helpful when you are not able to be near a computer to download all the pictures you have taken.

The zoom feature may also be an important factor when it comes to digital cameras. There are two different types of zoom, there is the optical zoom and the digital zoom. The optical zoom refers to magnification within the lens itself when you zoom in or zoom out on the subject. In other words, the lens adjusts forward and backward just like with a film camera. Optical zoom does not diminish the quality of the digital photo. Make sure your digital camera has a powerful optical zoom capability, if you like to use the zoom feature when taking pictures. Digital zoom doesn't change focal length. Instead, as you zoom in closer, a smaller and smaller portion of the digital sensor is used to record the digital photo. This lowers the number of pixels in the photo. If you zoom in too much, when you make a print from the photo it many times will lack clarity and sharpness.

These are just a few important factors when it comes to digital cameras.