How Many Mega-Pixels Do I Need?

How Many Mega-Pixels Do I Need? One of the confusing things in choosing a digital camera is deciding how many mega-pixels you should look for.  The answer depends on what you plan on doing with the finished pictures.

First, you need to understand what a pixel is.  In terms of digital prints, a pixel simply means a dot of color that makes up the image.  A mega-pixel is equal to one million pixels.  The more mega-pixels a camera has, the greater the amount of information it records. 

The easiest way to decide what to look for is to know what size prints you are likely to print from your camera.  A one mega-pixel camera is fine for those who don’t plan on printing photos but rather just post them on the internet.  A small print, say 4 x 6, will print acceptably from this camera.

A 2 mega-pixel camera will enable you to produce good quality 5 x 7 prints and fair quality 8 x 10 prints.  When you reach 4 mega-pixels you can print out excellent quality 8 x 10 prints and acceptable 11 x 17 prints and a 5 mega pixel camera will allow you to print out high quality 11 x 17 prints.

Most families find a camera in the 3.2 Mega-pixel range to be the best choice.  The quality of both 5 x & and 8 X 10 prints is very good yet the files on your computer are not so large you need worry about not having enough space.

Any camera over 5 mega-pixels is unnecessary for all but professionals in photography; even then, only those who have need for poster-size prints find that many mega-pixels worth the money.  Most freelance photographers find 4 or 5 mega-pixels to be sufficient for excellent-quality prints.

The choice is yours.  Look to what you plan on doing with your photos and then decide.  In most cases spending the money for increased optical zoom and lower mega-pixels is the best choice.

Five Ways to Make Money Using Your Digital Camera

Five Ways to Make Money Using Your Digital Camera. Have you ever wanted to find a way to bring extra money into your household--yet don’t have a lot of time to spend on a full-time endeavor?  The solution is as close as the digital camera sitting there in a drawer. The following suggestions are only a few of the many ways you can make money in your spare time with your camera.

1. Pet photos -  Most owners won't struggle to take a photograph with their pet all by themselves. You can be the one who makes it easy on them. Not only can you charge for the service and your time, but you can offer the photograph in it's digital form or as a print that you can mail to them later - either created by your own photo printer or by a photo processing service.
2. Graduations - preschool, high school, or college graduations offer dozens, if not hundreds of opportunities to capture a significant moment in someone's life. If the family members of the graduate aren't located in as good a location or don't have as good a camera as yourself - you'll have even greater opportunity at getting the shots they couldn't.
3. Holiday Family Postcards - offer your services to families that want their picture taken and put on a postcard that they can send to their extended family and friends.
4. Photo Novelty Items - take photographs of people that want the pictures of themselves of their loved ones imprinted on coffee mugs, mouse pads, key chains, tee-shirts, and other items.
5. Newborn photo service - parents of newborns are some of the busiest people in the world. Advertise your services on an on-call basis so that you can take informal snapshots for the growing family either before they leave the hospital, or after they get home. This way both parents and the child can be in more of the pictures all together, and the parents have one less thing to try and figure out