Digital Cameras! High MegaPixel VS Image Quality ?!?!?!

[edro]

I am a little confused on the megapixel rating of digital cameras. I understand that higher megapixels = larger pictures, but that doesn't necessarily mean better picture quality does it?

I here that the Canon A40 (2 megapixel) camera has awesome quality. I currently have an HP 315 which is 2 megapixel, but the picture quality kinda sucks and it has no zoom(digital only). I swore that if I paid some money for a new camera I would get something like a 4 megapixel camera, but according to some people the A40 has incredible quality and it is only 2 megapixel.

What do you think?

I want a camera with great quality, good macro capabilities, optical zoom, and that's about it.

Thanks!

 

[bmacd]

more pixels=better quality when resampling/resizing. Try taking a picture with a 1mb camera and enlarging it. You'll see how blocky the picture looks after. Then take a 4mb camera and do the same thing....you probably won't lose any quality at all.

-=bmacd=-

 

[edro]

So you are saying that there will not be much difference between my HP 315 2MP camera and the Canon A40 2MP one?

 

[bmacd]

i'm too well informed on cams...just know the basic run down. i had a sharp ez-1nu or something like that and tried blowing up a pic. It sucked. Then i got a kodak 4900 dc cam and it's awesome!

-=bmacd=-

 

[Koing]

Originally posted by: edro13
So you are saying that there will not be much difference between my HP 315 2MP camera and the Canon A40 2MP one?

The picture quality will be quite similar. The difference will be the difference in the amount of compression used, the quality of the lenses and how the camera is programmed to use how much colour of each colour that it records. All of this stuff is out of your control. You can edit the colour levels though witha program.

For you I would go with a camera that offered a high MP count and have the features that you want.

 

[Vette73]

It seems like the best cameras have a Optical zoon lense. Not just for the zoom part, BUT the quality seems to be better.

I have a Olympis 510 and it rocks for what I need it for

 

[edro]

I understand you can "blow up" a pic. I don't care about that. I want to "shrink" the pics down to like 640x480 or smaller, and for 4x6" photos. Would shrinking a 4MP pic look better than shrinking a 2MP pic to the same size? Or can a 2MP camera take better pics than a 4MP camera?

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: edro13
So you are saying that there will not be much difference between my HP 315 2MP camera and the Canon A40 2MP one?

Not saying that at all. Bear in mind that all 35mm film has the same resolution (given the same ISO speed), but not all cameras take equally good pictures. MP only measures the resolution of the CCD image sensor, a camera can have a high-resolution while having a crappy lense/focusing system/etc. Likewise, a camera can have a lower resolution but a very good lense/focusing system/etc. Then there's the quality of the CCD itself, the sensitivity of the CCD's vary, and they also have different characteristics in low light. And then there are the tint tendencies of different CCDs. There are a low of variables, all MegaPixel measures is the maximum resolution of the camera.

ZV

EDIT: When shrinking the images down, why not just choose 800x600 on the camera from the beginning? Resizing an image is going to involve some loss of quality no matter what, and the more you resize it, the more loss there will be. Given your use, I'd say to stick with a 2MP camera since that's the lowest resolution that would commonly have the features you are looking for. As has been said, pick the features, not the resolution.

 

[bmacd]

there is little to no noticable difference when resizing pics from 2448 x 1632 Pixels to 640 x 480 with my kodak 4900dc

-=bmacd=-

 

[edro]

So does anyone have any experience with the Canon A40?

 

[Muadib]

Originally posted by: edro13
So does anyone have any experience with the Canon A40?

I don't, but Steve does.

 

[joe678]

Originally posted by: edro13
I am a little confused on the megapixel rating of digital cameras. I understand that higher megapixels = larger pictures, but that doesn't necessarily mean better picture quality does it?

I here that the Canon A40 (2 megapixel) camera has awesome quality. I currently have an HP 315 which is 2 megapixel, but the picture quality kinda sucks and it has no zoom(digital only). I swore that if I paid some money for a new camera I would get something like a 4 megapixel camera, but according to some people the A40 has incredible quality and it is only 2 megapixel.

What do you think?

I want a camera with great quality, good macro capabilities, optical zoom, and that's about it.

Thanks!

i got a hp 315 on hds forum in the camera/printer deal but the quality sucks so i ebayed it and ordered an elph s200...boy i cant wait till that sucker gets here...the hp quality was always grainy and dark i couldnt stand it...

 

[joe678]

Originally posted by: edro13
So does anyone have any experience with the Canon A40?

i think rossman can tell u alot more about this camera...i've seen pics floating around this forum taken with the a40 and it is DEFINITELY better quality than the hp 315...

 

[xchangx]

I have the a20, and the pictures are incredible. The only problem is that the camera has a problem focusing in the dark. I found a fix for it, but the camera locked up during the flash, so I have to send it in.

The reason your hp sucks is because of the lack of optical zoom. Canon is known for thier lenses, which is the reason I got the a20.

The a40 is basically the a20 with movie capabilities.

 

[RossMAN]

The Canon A40 is definitely better than the HP 315 in both image quality AND features, so get the Canon A40.

Here's all the reviews you need to make your decision:

PROFESSIONAL REVIEWS
imaging-resource.com (with sample pictures)
dcresource.com (with sample pictures)
steves-digicams.com (with sample pictures)
dpreview.com (97 owner's ratings almost 5 out of 5 stars in every category)

CONSUMER REVIEWS
ePinions.com (100% recommended by 8 reviewers)
Amazon.com (4.8 out of 5 stars with 39 customer reviews)
CNET.com (8 out of 10 stars with 95% positive reviews)

As always YMMV, this should expire TOMORROW Saturday, 9/21.

Until tomorrow Dell has the Canon A40 for $239 with no rebate hassles, awesome price trust me!