A few days ago we mentioned in an article about a Hello Kitty digital camera the opinion of Mark Elgen of The Raw Feed that most amateurs don’t gain anything more from greater digital camera resolution once it gets past about four to six megapixels.
Now a recent test by a writer for the New York Times seems to add credence to Mark’s claim.
Yesterday, The New York Times’ writer David Pogue blogged about a Discovery Channel TV show he taped recently (which will air in February), in which he had a professional photo lab print out 13-, 8-, and 5-megapixel photos at 16″ by 24″. Then they posted the photos in Times Square in New York, and asked passersby to say which was best — a kind of megapixel taste test. NOBODY COULD TELL THE DIFFERENCE.
The megapixel is written on the side of the camera so the person who bought it can proudly tell his friends his camera is so-and-so many megapixels. In response, his friends nod their heads in approval. They are impressed and the camera has served it’s purpose.
People would see the difference if they had to edit those pictures on Photoshop.
The higher the resolution is, the more flexibility you get.
Also, more megapixels means you can make larger prints while retaining clarity.
Those two are probably the main reasons you’d want more megapixels. If you’re not editing your photos or making posters, then yeah, no need, as far as I can tell.