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Message: <blockquote data-quote="humakt" data-source="post: 3636294" data-attributes="member: 140397">What does higher resolution do?Well, for the everyday user, not a great deal.If you are going to blow your pictures up so they can be posted on a billboard or the side of a bus then it may have use.But if all you are going to do is look at them on a computer screen then, truth be told, once you go over 8mp (and possibly really as little as 5mp) then it's a waste.The reason you see such numbers trumpeted with a fanfare by marketing departments is because it is a lot easier and cheaper for manufacturers to boost the pixel count than it is to put in a decent lens and sensor. And the overwhelming majority of the population has no idea what the technicalities of a lens or sensor data mean so it's wasted on them.But they know that 20mp is bigger (and therefore better) than 10mp, so it must mean the camera is better. And the advertisers play up to that.But anyone who knows anything about photography will know that's just smoke and mirrors. Again, once you go over 8mp (for a hobby photographer) it's pointless. Instead of looking at the megapixel count you should be looking at the quality of the lens - that's what decides whether you get a good picture or not.In fact, too many megapixels can start to distort the image when looked at in sizes normally found in print or on screen - it's something to do with the compression (it was explained to me by a press photographer, who said that he takes his pictures with the camera set at 5mp).My camera can take images at 20mp but I have it set at 10mp.It doesn't matter how many megapixels there are, if the lens is incapable of taking a sharp picture then you'll end up with a blur.In the same way a motorcyclist shouldn't scrimp money on a cheap helmet, or a camper buy cheap when it comes to a sleeping bag, a photographer should be focussing their money on a quality lens. That's the most important thing.</blockquote>

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