Ugly Hedgehog - Photography Forum
Home Active Topics Newest Pictures Search Login Register
Main Photography Discussion
Do I need that many mega pixels?
Page 1 of 8 next> last>>
Mar 9, 2018 01:31:08   #
MikeMc
 
Debating between a Sony a7iii or a7Rii or a7Riii. I will shoot landscapes, street scenes, family activities. I’d concluded that the 24 MP a7iii would be the best choice but a salesman at Best Buy makes the point that I might need the 42 mp of the a7Rxxx for cropping photos. I won’t be printing large images, mostly veiwing via hi def monitor. There are a couple minor differences from the a7R to the a7 like touch screen, larger battery, etc but 42 vs 24 mp seems to be the most significant. Will the mega pixel size matter?

Reply
Mar 9, 2018 01:51:41   #
rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA
 
If you are not going to do enlargements, or something like wildlife with a long lens, yes you can probably be content with 24 Mp. Especially if you only view on a monitor or tablet.

Reply
Mar 9, 2018 01:53:55   #
Jesu S
 
It will only matter if you are planning to do very large prints. Since you are planning on mostly viewing your pics on an HD monitor, it should not matter much. As to cropping, for the type of photography you are contemplating, - landscapes, street scenes, family activities - you are unlikely to be doing much cropping. You can always use the additional pixels, but since your question was do you NEED them I think the answer is no.

Reply
 
 
Mar 9, 2018 02:25:13   #
TucsonCoyote Loc: Tucson AZ
 
Just make sure you take into account the added size in MB each picture will take up on the
computer drive.
Also remember the added MP will cost more which you don't mention, if price is no object
for you I would just spring for the more stuff and if you want to take smaller pics you can
always select that on your camera !

Reply
Mar 9, 2018 02:46:19   #
blackest Loc: Ireland
 
MikeMc wrote:
Debating between a Sony a7iii or a7Rii or a7Riii. I will shoot landscapes, street scenes, family activities. I’d concluded that the 24 MP a7iii would be the best choice but a salesman at Best Buy makes the point that I might need the 42 mp of the a7Rxxx for cropping photos. I won’t be printing large images, mostly veiwing via hi def monitor. There are a couple minor differences from the a7R to the a7 like touch screen, larger battery, etc but 42 vs 24 mp seems to be the most significant. Will the mega pixel size matter?
Debating between a Sony a7iii or a7Rii or a7Riii. ... (show quote)


The 24mp , tends to imply better low light performance faster frame rate and maybe longer bursts. the 42 mp should give greater detail at larger sizes.

See if any of that is true, indoor photography may be better with the 24mp ...

Reply
Mar 9, 2018 03:32:13   #
Leicaflex Loc: Cymru
 
Certainly, it is always good to have more resolution. However, there comes a point one has to ask what this high resolution is to be used for?
24 mega pixels is more than adequate to print to A2 and even A1, what I hear you say, you want more pixels? What for?

Reply
Mar 9, 2018 05:34:40   #
duane klipping Loc: Bristow iowa
 
If money is not a problem then go for the max. If down the road you think you need it you will have it. In photography you will aways find yourself wishing you had when you discover new methods or try new styles but fail because your equipment can't perform to your liking.

Reply
 
 
Mar 9, 2018 05:39:05   #
Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)
 
MikeMc wrote:
Debating between a Sony a7iii or a7Rii or a7Riii. I will shoot landscapes, street scenes, family activities. I’d concluded that the 24 MP a7iii would be the best choice but a salesman at Best Buy makes the point that I might need the 42 mp of the a7Rxxx for cropping photos. I won’t be printing large images, mostly veiwing via hi def monitor. There are a couple minor differences from the a7R to the a7 like touch screen, larger battery, etc but 42 vs 24 mp seems to be the most significant. Will the mega pixel size matter?
Debating between a Sony a7iii or a7Rii or a7Riii. ... (show quote)


Yes. And the salesman was right on target. More pixels are for flexibility in cropping and fine detail capture for viewing at relatively short distances. You can make a very large print from as few as 6 mp, because the corresponding viewing distance increases and you simply cannot see the fine detail anyway, even if the image was produced from a 42 mp image.

For landscape, the extra pixels will minimize detail "clumping" which would make the higher mp camera better.

When viewed at 100%, the smaller pixels of a higher mp camera will be noisier, since individually they capture less light. But the image will be substantially larger. For a proper comparison, however, you would need to "downsample" the 42 mp image to 24 mp, which will produce an image with similar noise and slightly better fine detail, provided the cameras are in the same generation. Downsampling is merely resizing an image to a smaller pixel count, using interpolation. Noise is averaged among adjacent pixels, and the net result is less noise.

Reply
Mar 9, 2018 07:33:53   #
Jim Bob
 
MikeMc wrote:
Debating between a Sony a7iii or a7Rii or a7Riii. I will shoot landscapes, street scenes, family activities. I’d concluded that the 24 MP a7iii would be the best choice but a salesman at Best Buy makes the point that I might need the 42 mp of the a7Rxxx for cropping photos. I won’t be printing large images, mostly veiwing via hi def monitor. There are a couple minor differences from the a7R to the a7 like touch screen, larger battery, etc but 42 vs 24 mp seems to be the most significant. Will the mega pixel size matter?
Debating between a Sony a7iii or a7Rii or a7Riii. ... (show quote)


Despite all the hype and BS, 24mp are good enough for just about everything. And that's the truth. Some of the highest rated cameras have even less.

Reply
Mar 9, 2018 07:43:54   #
Bill_de Loc: US
 
When marketing pushes megapixel counts to 100, you will have people telling you that 50 megapixels is OK if you are only going to view your images on your monitor. They don't know what they are talking about, but eating up the hype and spewing BS.

The $6,500 Nikon D5 has a 20 megapixel sensor. I guess the images from those cameras are only good for viewing on your flip phone.

---

Reply
Mar 9, 2018 07:45:04   #
Jim Bob
 
Bill_de wrote:
When marketing pushes megapixel counts to 100, you will have people telling you that 50 megapixels is OK if you are only going to view your images on your monitor. They don't know what they are talking about, but buying into the hype and spewing BS.

The $6,500 Nikon D5 has a 20 megapixel sensor. I guess the images from those cameras are only good for viewing on your flip phone.

---


Exactly Bill, exactly. Thanks for bringing common sense and experience to bear on this issue.

Reply
 
 
Mar 9, 2018 08:26:48   #
selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA
 
Jim Bob wrote:
Exactly Bill, exactly. Thanks for bringing common sense and experience to bear on this issue.

Do you really think people are interested in common sense? More resolution and more investment is not going to make your photography much better.

Peer pressure, persuasion from sellers. GAS and a general lack of understanding of the science behind resolution are what is driving a lot of the hype about high resolution sensors.

If you don't routinely print large you probably don't need the extra resolution. If you absolutely have to have it, be prepared to invest heavily in better prime lenses because your current lenses, especially zooms, are probably inadequate.

Better yet, look into medium format. You get more resolution from old film cameras and lenses and a decent scanner than you are likely to ever see from the small format digital offerings. You might even learn more about photography than you will from an auto-everything digital.

For most of us, 24 MP is plenty and it's not going to make our existing kit of lenses look bad.

Reply
Mar 9, 2018 08:40:18   #
Jim Bob
 
selmslie wrote:
Do you really think people are interested in common sense? More resolution and more investment is not going to make your photography much better.

Peer pressure, persuasion from sellers. GAS and a general lack of understanding of the science behind resolution are what is driving a lot of the hype about high resolution sensors.

If you don't routinely print large you probably don't need the extra resolution. If you absolutely have to have it, be prepared to invest heavily in better prime lenses because your current lenses, especially zooms, are probably inadequate.

Better yet, look into medium format. You get more resolution from old film cameras and lenses and a decent scanner than you are likely to ever see from the small format digital offerings. You might even learn more about photography than you will from an auto-everything digital.

For most of us, 24 MP is plenty and it's not going to make our existing kit of lenses look bad.
Do you really think people are interested in commo... (show quote)


I'm not sure why you quoted my post only to arrive at the same conclusion I originally stated. I guess like everyone else you figure saying the same thing a million times is more persuasive than saying it twice.

Reply
Mar 9, 2018 09:02:12   #
chaman
 
Jim Bob wrote:
I'm not sure why you quoted my post only to arrive at the same conclusion I originally stated. I guess like everyone else you figure saying the same thing a million times is more persuasive than saying it twice.


Because he LOVES to hear himself talk. Talk, but when it comes to WALK....nothing. Average snapshots at best.

Reply
Mar 9, 2018 09:05:18   #
Jim Bob
 
chaman wrote:
Because he LOVES to hear himself talk. Talk, but when it comes to WALK....nothing. Average snapshots at best.


You da man.

Reply
Page 1 of 8 next> last>>
If you want to reply, then register here. Registration is free and your account is created instantly, so you can post right away.
Main Photography Discussion
UglyHedgehog.com - Forum
Copyright 2011-2024 Ugly Hedgehog, Inc.