imagextrordinair Loc: Halden, Norway

It is true there are ways to gain flexibility in your photo editing, like for cropping.

More mega pixels may be less expensive than purchasing multiple focal lengths and perhaps wiser monetarily, but for too many I believe it is also a form of laziness. Relying on a sensor stuffed with small but plentiful pixels to reduce legwork or composure skills is more picture taking than producing a quality image.

For me I prefer composure and avoid cropping as much as possible. I take my time and use skills that have developed over time to get the image I see when I compose from the start.

Simple math will tell you what you need to know when choosing pixel density. An example is 20 megapixel sensors will print images to 21.9x 14.6, and 100 mpxls will print to 49x 32.6. that's what they say but there is more...

The truth is that your lens also plays a big part in the outcome. I print regularly to 60 inches wide at 50 mega pixels using a TSE lens. I recently printed at that resolution with detail so fine you can see people holding their cell phone in the deepest part of a landscape image nearly two mile away.

Pixel density is less important than pixel quality, spacing and pitch. 9 times out of ten most are reducing the size of their image for social media plus never print large. You could do well with 10 megapixels if you do not crop or print big.

The result and use of your image is all that maters, so understanding pixel overkill is possible, plus the fact that you can achieve more with composure and good glass might be something more important to think about.

any image edited under two-feet wide means a 20 mega pixel sensor will be more than enough. Additionally a tilt shift lens can turn your 20 mega pixels into 50 in under a minute, an option mostly ignored.

One of the best learning methods to consider is to use only one fixed focal length each day for a week and force yourself to move forward and back to compose regardless of look vs focal length.

Understanding composure, practice, a good lenses and avoiding being a picture taker will be much more valuable than purchasing a 100 megapixel camera body that will most likely slow down your computer... and eventually be reduced to 6 mega pixels for things like magazine or social media needs...

The horse is not quite dead yet i will assume...

BebuLamar

What do you mean by "composure"? You mean it's better being calm than cropping? I don't understand.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Have you ever tried to approach a skittish animal or a dangerous one and say "Wait" let me get closer, and compose and think about the shot and try different lenses?
Ever shoot action like at a football game?
Sounds like you haven't.

Haden123

I agree with pretty much everything you say, and I understand that you use the word “composure” as a synonym for “composition” (that should be pretty obvious to all readers).
However, there are a variety of situations where is not possible for a photographer position himself/herself in the ideal spot to compose the ideal image. In these situations, it is essential to crop the image in post processing. Also, a well composed image may contain within it several other beautiful compositions which can only be obtained through cropping the original image. In all of these situations it is helpful to have 50 megapixels to work with. Thanks for your post.

BebuLamar

It's the compostion that requires either cropping or a long lens. With subjects that you can get close, the perspective of the subject up close with a relatively wide angle lens and one with a long lens but taken far away are quite different. Perhaps the one taken at long distance would result in a better composition. So if you have all the long lenses you ever need then there is no cropping otherwise there are time cropping results in better compostion than getting close.

srg

After having pondered my errant photographic ways, I have yet to regain my composure.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

The megapixel war is like the horsepower war in the 1960s. There's no such thing as too much. Engines kept getting larger, and horsepower kept increasing. I had a 427 Ford with 427 advertised HP. That was fun to drive.

brentrh Loc: Deltona, FL

Trying to get best composition in camera is what beginners do cropping will give you best results

dbrugger25 Loc: Raleigh, NC

Until not too many years ago, the standard Olin Mills portrait camera was an Olympus E1, 5 mp camera.

I remember that in the early 2000's a 5 or 6 mp camera was considered to be great. I printed many 11 X 17 prints from my old Olympus E5. Later, I came to believe that I needed 12 MP.

Now, my cameras are all 30 to 45 MP. If I need to crop substantially, the extra pixels really help. The extra pixels also fill-up my hard drives very fast.

SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA

You seem hung up on pixels. You’ve started 3 threads, the first two about trying to increase your megapixels and now this one saying you don’t need those megapixels. Yes, using the right lens and getting as close as possible is important but it can still require cropping. That being said, I have no problem cropping images from my 20 mp OM-1.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Since the beginning of my illustrious photographic career, I've realized that composition is king. If exposure and focus aren't perfect, composition can save an image.

imagextrordinair Loc: Halden, Norway

Moving closer or further happens with a lens or with your feet... the point is cropping is not necessary unless is becomes a habit...

imagextrordinair Loc: Halden, Norway

selecting the right lens for a composition is easy enough and a zoom is perfect for sports, filling the frame with some forethought and minimizing cropping is a point worth mentioning.

imagextrordinair Loc: Halden, Norway

Perhaps... but I do keep my composure

srt101fan

Content is a lot more important than composition!