If you are lovers of printed photography, of photos on paper, you will surely be interested in having a camera with many megapixels. Well, in principle, the higher the number of megapixels, the better the quality of the photo.
But there are certain exceptions. In addition to the number of megapixels, other factors intervene that can improve or worsen the quality of our photo (I will talk about this another time).
Some of you will remember, in a previous article that I titled 4 great deceptions by digital camera manufacturers, I told you that megapixels are important when choosing a good camera, but that it should not be given excessive importance. While it is true that a decent amount of megapixels is necessary to print the photo at good quality, you should not look for high megapixel numbers either. And it is that people generally allow themselves to be influenced by numbers, many times without analyzing them, without knowing what they want them for.
To settle this question once and for all, today I have prepared a small table for you (lately I've been going for tables…) by means of which you can distinguish how many megapixels you will really need if you want to print your photos on paper.
This graphic is based on a 300dpi photo quality. If you do not know what this number is, do not worry, it is an indicator of the quality of the photo. Normally a 200dpi photo should have a fairly acceptable quality, but here I present the table based on a 300dpi quality, that is, an EXCELLENT quality, in order to respond to the whims of the most demanding ?
TABLE OF MEGAPIXELS AND PRINT SIZES IN CENTIMETERS
| megapixels | Print Size (centimeters) | Print Size (inches) |
| 2MP | 13.2 x 10.2cm | 5.2″ x 4″ |
| 3MP | 17.3 x 13cm | 6.82″ x 5.12″ |
| 4MP | 20.9 x 13.8cm | 8.21″ x 5.44″ |
| 6MP | 10" x 6.5" | 10.02″ x 6.67″ |
| 8MP | 11" x 8" | 10.88″ x 8.16″ |
| 10MP | 12.5" x 8.5" | 12.91″ x 8.64″ |
| 12MP | 14.5" x 9.25" | 14.5" x 9.25" |
| 16MP | 16.5" x 11" | 16.40″ x 10.88″ |
| 20 MP | 46.5 x 31cm | 18.3″ x 12.2″ |
| 24MP | 20" x 13.5" | 20.02″ x 13.4″ |
| 30MP | 22" x 15" | 22.40″ x 14.9″ |
| 36MP | 62 x 41.4cm | 24.40″ x 16.3″ |
| 44MP | 27" x 18" | 27″ x 18″ |
So now you see friends, a 10 megapixel camera should be able to capture us photos that we can print in A4 size, while maintaining the highest quality.
Now do you understand why I always insist that the megapixels thing is fine but that you shouldn't be obsessed with it either?
No more excuses... It doesn't matter what camera you have, it doesn't matter if it's 10 megapixels, 8 or 6. It's not the megapixels that will make you a good photo.
