Sony has recently released the much anticipated a7iv camera loaded with many bells and whistles. One of the most talked-about features of this camera is the improved sensor with an astonishing 61-megapixels. This is a significant improvement in the full-frame digital camera category. And yes, many reviews have gone as far as to claim that this new Sony camera has floored both Nikon and Canon in the full-frame camera category.
Not to be outdone, rumors are swirling around that Canon is about to announce a new 75-megapixel camera soon. It seems that the megapixels war has just gotten intense. Why are camera manufactures on a megapixel race? Is it just marketing ploy, or is the number of megapixels beneficial to the photographer?
To answer this question, we must first understand what a pixel is; the advantages and disadvantages of a low and high megapixel count. So, what is a pixel?
What are Pixels
Pixels are the smallest bit of information that, when put together, create a viewable image. Pixels are like individual pieces of the puzzle that holds bits of details of the puzzle. It is only when these pieces of information are put together that you can view the whole image.
Digital images and screens work in a similar way. All digital images are composed of small dots that make up the whole image. The way a digital display work, for example, is by illuminating millions of these minute points on the screen. You can think of a screen as an area composed of small light bulbs that can be controlled individually. These little light bulbs are what we call pixels.
A digital camera takes pictures by breaking down and recording the scene into these individual dots (pixels). The resulting image we see is a combination of these individual pixels. A pixel can, therefore, be looked at as the smallest piece of information that a device can record or display. As photographers, when we edit our images in postproduction software such as Lightroom or Photoshop, we are working on these small bits of information.
Does it matter how many pixels you have? To answer this question, we have to look at the advantages and disadvantages of both low and high megapixel cameras.
High megapixels count
What are the advantages of shooting with a high megapixel camera such as Sony a7riv? The most significant advantage of a high megapixel camera is the ability to capture a more detailed image. It is as simple as that. The more pixels you have, the more detail you will get.
The ability to return fine detail is a massive advantage in postproduction. It gives you the ability to push your image more while maintaining image quality. For example, if you shot with a wide-angle lens, you can substantially crop the image to zero in on what you want and still end up with a high quality cropped image.
The same is true if you want to enlarge your image. An image with more megapixels can be enlarged more than an image with a low megapixel count. This is the reason why you cannot blow up a picture taken by an eight-megapixel mobile phone to say 24×36 and expect a reasonable print. What you will end up with is a print showing individual pixel, aka a pixelated printed.
You can test this by zooming in a low and high pixel image. You will see that you can zoom more a high megapixel image without pixelating the image than a low megapixel image. Design215 has a helpful megapixel chart, which shows how much you can enlarge an image while without losing image quality. Click here to see the table.
disadvantages
Having high megapixels has its own disadvantages. The most obvious one is file size. A camera with a high megapixel count will produce a file that is large than a low megapixel count camera. For example, an uncompressed Sony 7riv will yield a file over 90mb, which is massive for a single image. With data this huge, you will need to invest in larger sd cards as well as hard drives. The problem does not end here. You will also need a more robust computer to handle files of this size. As you can see, the cost of taking and storing images of this size can quickly escalate.
Low megapixels count
Low megapixels have their place and are beneficial in some areas. One of the significant advantages is the small file size that it produces. This means that you won’t need high capacity sd cards for the camera as well as hard drives.
The small size of the files also means that it will use fewer computer resources to process the image. Large files are taxing on the computer, straining the computers’ memory and processer. On the other hand, smaller files put less strain on the processing power, which in turn means faster processing of the images.
If you shoot sport or wildlife photography, you will probably use the camera bust mode. In this mode, high megapixel cameras are not ideal as they usually run into buffering issues. The size of the files they produce means that the cameras’ buffer will quickly be filled. With a low megapixel camera and small file size, the problem of filling the buffer is minimal, so you can continue to shoot without waiting for the buffer to clear.
disadvantages
On the negative side is the lack of detail to work with in postproduction software. Low megapixel images cannot be heavily edited without sacrificing image quality. The same is true if you want to enlarge the image. Any substantial enlargement of a low megapixel image will result in seeing the actual pixels (pixelated image) and not the details. In other words, the more you enlarge a low megapixel images, the more pixelated the print will be.
Final Thoughts
So how many pixels do you need? Although it may seem that the more megapixels you have, the better it is, the actual decision depends on the photographers’ needs and budget. High megapixel cameras are pricey, and storing the images also require storage devices with more space; hence, it can be taxing on the budget. If you can afford a high megapixel camera, go for it. Otherwise, most cameras these days do have enough pixels in them to reasonably crop and enlarge the image.
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