Back in 2009, when I made my living photographing stock imagery, the size of the images we could license made a difference in our potential for sales. Photos were sold based on how big the file was (in megapixels), so photographers with large-megapixel cameras had a more competitive edge over those of us who did not. At the time, I was using a Nikon D200, a 12-megapixel camera, and felt pressured to upgrade. When it was obvious that Nikon (at the time) was not going to come out with anything with more than 12-megapixels, I decided to make the move to Canon, which already had a hefty 21-megapixel 5DMarkII in their inventory.
Now, my career has slightly shifted. I still shoot stock (you can see my growing portfolio on Stocksy), but it is not my main focus. In fact, over 90% of my income is derived from sales through products I create for my online shop, the Nicolesy Store, and I also write articles and share photos through social media. The photos I use are typically consumed by other people on a screen (phone, laptop, tablet), so technically I don’t really need a camera that creates 20+ megapixels. I just need something that makes images that are large enough for the content I create.
I’ve also been thinking a lot about the mirrorless cameras out there right now, especially the Fuji and Sony systems. I own a 16-megapixel Fuji X-T1, but I have also had the chance to play around with the Sony a7 series cameras and lenses, too. While there is no denying that the quality of the Sony full-frame sensors is amazing (especially the brand-new 42.4-megapixel Sony a7RII), is that more than we need? Sure, everyone has their own uses and preferences, but when does the amount of megapixels start to become overkill … or does it?
Here are some points to ponder, both “for” and “against” the need for a large megapixel camera:
- For: Printing is probably one of the biggest reason to have a huge sensor. As the print sizes get larger and larger, a higher-megapixel camera is more desirable.
- Against: Most of what we share is online, and people rarely share full resolution images online (and if they do, a user would need to zoom in to see it up-close). When I share to Instagram from my Fuji X-T1 or Canon 6D, they are resized down to 1024×1024 pixels. That’s tiny compared to the size the image started with! And most other images, whether they are on Facebook or a blog, can only be viewed as large as the screen they are on (which is definitely not over 20 megapixels).
- For: A higher-megapixel image allows you to get more aggressive with your cropping and still have a decent-sized image.
- Against: The more megapixels, the greater the need for memory card and hard-drive storage. In fact, my husband just gave me two 32GB SD cards that he was planning on getting rid of because they were too small for his 42-megapixel Sony a7RII! (Score!)
- Against: Large RAW files require very fast and updated computer processors to make edits. Older computers or antiquated versions of software may have a difficult time working with extremely large files.
I’m not saying that high-megapixel cameras don’t have their place, in fact, if Fuji came out with a 30-megapixel X-series camera, I would probably be adding it to my camera collection as soon as it came out. 🙂 There is no denying that having extra wiggle-room for editing, cropping, or just to create more detail is ideal. I just don’t see the need to base an entire purchasing decision around the number of megapixels a camera has. It’s one feature out of many. In the coming months I’m going to take a crack at printing my own photographs at home, and I’m curious to see if that will alter my opinion on megapixels and how many I actually require for my photography.
Nicole S. Young is a professional photographer living in Portland, Oregon. She is the author of several books and eBooks, and runs her own online store for photographers, the Nicolesy Store.
You can read more of Nicole’s articles here, and view her work and website here.
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