Then, I met some photographers claimed that megapixels doesn't matter at all because it is the person who is behind the camera that counts. They make huge prints even before there are more than 3MP digital cameras are available and those prints are still fantastically beautiful. So, is that true? Not exactly...
Today, I'm not going to talk about digital cameras but I shall talk about my knowledge on the megapixels itself. I do aware that some people think that the bigger the megapixels, the better it is and it gives some sort of self-satisfaction. However, bigger megapixel usually take up more storage space and you will need a bigger storage hard disk to cater for all the image files.
Now, here is the thing - all of us knows that digital image is made up of a collection of pixels and most often that not, I do get questioned for "How many image's pixels do I need for my design job?" Now that's an annoying question usually received by certain photographers or sometimes, web designers because most designers don't usually memorize the pixel sizes but instead, we calculate the image's size based on the inch or mm at 300 dpi/ppi.
You might be wondering why must be exactly 300 dpi/ppi and not something lesser than that? Well, that really depends on what and how the final design is delivered in the end. For a magazine quality, which requires the viewer to look at the design at real close distance, 300 dpi/ppi is the only acceptable standard and as designers, we deliver high quality products to our customers as well just like any other professionals out there.
So back to the question, how many megapixels digital camera is necessary to get the job done. Well, for my case, you need at least 4MP digital camera to provide images for a full A5 size print (148.5mm x 210mm) and at least 9~10MP digital camera to provide images for a full A4 size print (210mm x 297mm).
As for banners and buntings, they are normally viewed from a distance so a 100 dpi/ppi would be suffice. For example, a 6~8MP digital camera will do the job just right for a 2ft x 6ft bunting.
Digital cameras up-to-date at these days offer an approximately 12MP image files and that is more than enough for high resolution design job for A5 to A4 size prints and middle resolution for banners and buntings. My verdict is unless you are doing a very high quality prints at 300 dpi/ppi A2 size , you would not need a 36MP digital camera, which only Nikon D800/D800E offers that, period.
You might be wondering why must be exactly 300 dpi/ppi and not something lesser than that? Well, that really depends on what and how the final design is delivered in the end. For a magazine quality, which requires the viewer to look at the design at real close distance, 300 dpi/ppi is the only acceptable standard and as designers, we deliver high quality products to our customers as well just like any other professionals out there.
As for banners and buntings, they are normally viewed from a distance so a 100 dpi/ppi would be suffice. For example, a 6~8MP digital camera will do the job just right for a 2ft x 6ft bunting.
Digital cameras up-to-date at these days offer an approximately 12MP image files and that is more than enough for high resolution design job for A5 to A4 size prints and middle resolution for banners and buntings. My verdict is unless you are doing a very high quality prints at 300 dpi/ppi A2 size , you would not need a 36MP digital camera, which only Nikon D800/D800E offers that, period.
