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How many megapixels do MOST photographers REALLY need?


4 years 4 months ago #667397 by Roger Lang
What's funny is that yesterday while at a coffee shop with some photography friends, I had just pulled out my new Nikon Z6 that I picked up to show off.  After about 5 minutes, a guy comes out of nowhere and recognizes the Z6 and starts talking about how good of a camera it is.  But then jumps into how I should have gone with the Z7 because it's 46MP vs the 25MP in the Z6.  The Z7 was more "future proof".  

Now I didn't buy into much of what this guy was chatting about.  However it did get me thinking about how most peoples cameras are way over kill for their needs.  For me, 25MP is more than plenty, and I suspect for most and what they use their cameras for, they don't even need that.  Would you agree?  
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4 years 4 months ago #667418 by Nikon Shooter
I have bodies of 12. 24, 36.3, and 45.7 MP… they all have their
very specific jobs.

12 MP for event, general and web,
24 and 36.3 MP for my most important publishing work, and
45.7 for long lens work — wildlife.

Tell me what is your aim and you may get a suggestion. I would
not, at this point, consider buying a mirrorless but your 25 MP
are a decent resolution.
Light is free… capturing it is not!
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4 years 4 months ago #667423 by Rawley Photos

Nikon Shooter wrote: I have bodies of 12. 24, 36.3, and 45.7 MP… they all have their
very specific jobs.

12 MP for event, general and web,
24 and 36.3 MP for my most important publishing work, and
45.7 for long lens work — wildlife.

Tell me what is your aim and you may get a suggestion. I would
not, at this point, consider buying a mirrorless but your 25 MP
are a decent resolution.


I'll bite, what's the correlation with long lens work and wildlife with the 45.7MP vs 36.3MP?
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4 years 4 months ago #667425 by Nikon Shooter

Rawley Photos wrote: I'll bite, what's the correlation with long lens work and wildlife with the 45.7MP vs 36.3MP?


It is not "vs", I shot with the D800E and the D810 afterwards.
Since I can not get too close to wildlife and TCs are no good
solution, greater resolution — D850 — is my solution but this
implies impeccable gear and sharpness.
Light is free… capturing it is not!
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4 years 4 months ago #667427 by effron
Need and want are separate things. I got by fine with 12MP, do well now with 24 but WANT my 36.3 for many things. Its depends mostly on how big of a print you want/need.....
Why so serious?
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4 years 4 months ago #667428 by effron
Addendum....NOTHING is future proof.
Why so serious?
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4 years 4 months ago #667429 by fmw
I use 16MP.  It is better resolution than film so it if just fine for me.  I settled for film resolution for a very long time.
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4 years 4 months ago #667441 by garyrhook

Rawley Photos wrote: I'll bite, what's the correlation with long lens work and wildlife with the 45.7MP vs 36.3MP?


A higher pixel density gives you more ability to crop. If your lens can't reach far enough cropping can help.

Note that a 24mp crop sensor has a density of ~65K pixels/square mm, whereas a D850 at 45.7mp has a density of 53.2K pixels/square mm. And since a given focal length renders an image the same way no matter what size the sensor is, it's not true that bigger is always better. A long lens with that Z6 might be superior to the same lens on a Z7.
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4 years 4 months ago #667450 by Ozzie_Traveller
G'day Roger

All good comments above ..... but coming back to the text in your post title

My answer for about 95% of people I talk to would be "3 to 6 megapixels" because all they do is look at images on their phone or computer screen (ie: 1/4mpx for the phone to maybe 4mpx for the computer) and then move on to the next image

Printing? - "nah mate, don't bother any more" is a common answer as well

Phil from the great land Downunder
www.flickr.com/photos/ozzie_traveller/sets/
Phil from the great land Downunder
www.flickr.com/photos/ozzie_traveller/sets/
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4 years 4 months ago #667453 by Sawyer
16-24MP would be my guess with all this
Canon 5D Mark II | Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM | Canon 35L | Sigma 85 1.4 | Helios 44M-6 58mm(M42) | Zeiss 50mm 1.4 (C/Y) | Canon 135L | (2) 430EX II
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4 years 4 months ago #667474 by Joe Peterson
Guessing - 24mm
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4 years 4 months ago #667565 by Scott Klubeck
Yeah, I'm with you around 20 - 24MP is more than plenty
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4 years 4 months ago #667566 by Scott Klubeck

Joe Peterson wrote: Guessing - 24mm



:rofl:
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4 years 4 months ago #667598 by KCook
"Need" is a loaded question! I could probably get by with (thus need) only 7Mp or so. But more is nice. And the more expensive the camera, the higher "nice" rises. One thing I don't care for with huge rez is the huge file size.

Kelly
Canon 50D, Olympus PL2
kellycook.zenfolio.com/
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4 years 4 months ago #667701 by Matt Nguyen
Most likely don't know how to get maximum use from their iPhones!
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