AHH... explaining digital camera picture quality

[tgillitzr]

AHHHH!!!!!

So I buy my parents a digital camera as a combined Mothers Day/Fathers Day. I got them a Canon A40. Its a 2.0 megapixel camera. A pretty nice camera....

Tonight my dad takes a picture of a rose and sends it to me. Its 1.3 megs. I don't care, as I have cable and it only takes a few seconds to download. But he also forwarded it to others, which are sure to have Dialup. So, I explain to him that he needs to compress the picture with IfranView ( I installed it on their computer). He says, how about I just take them at a smaller size.... bleh.

I told him that he could do that, but that I didn't buy them a 2megapixel camera for them to use it as a .5megapixel camera. He tells me, well doesn't lowering the resolution just change the picture size? I said no, it changes the quality of it as well.

We went back and forth....

I'm pretty sure I'm correct here... anyone able to help me explain it to him better?

 

[gopunk]

dunno, but i always take at largest size possible (with usable speed)... you can always make them smaller and decrease resolution, but you can't go the other way around (at least not very well).

 

[tgillitzr]

exactly... but he seems to think all that resolution does is change the image size....

which it does, but it affects the quality as well

 

[TNTrulez]

Just tell him to use the software to decrease the picture size as well as storage. The problem is that most cameras already compress the picture before hand so that you can't do anything to change picture storage space unless you resize the pix.

 

[TallBill]

where they nice pics at least

 

[tgillitzr]

they were nice pics... although slightly blurry

Rose
Bird

 

[BD2003]

Maybe you should have thought twice about buying them a 2 megapixel camera if they have no idea what the extra resolution is for. Or even exists for that matter.

 

[tgillitzr]

Originally posted by: BD2003
Maybe you should have thought twice about buying them a 2 megapixel camera if they have no idea what the extra resolution is for. Or even exists for that matter.

Maybe I should have kept it for myself and gave them my 1.3 mega pixel camera
heh

 

[Cattlegod]

my 2 mp camera on the 3rd highest setting takes 400-500kb picture sizes.

there is

tiff 4-8 megs i think, can't remember, never use this setting.
SHQ jpg 800-1.3 meg
HQ jpg - 400-500k
something else here for low quality

there should be a setting on the size of picture it takes. i can't tell between HQ and TIFF hardly at all, i mean, i have to stare at the pic for about 1-2 min to notice any differences.