5 megapixels: what the number does and does not mean
Sunday, May 9th, 2010 · 8:30 pm
A customer asked for "a phone with the most megapixels". I said, let's see what you photograph. He said: "My wife, my car and the sheep." I said: for the wife, 2 MP is enough. For the sheep, 5 MP. For the car you need a better driver.
Megapixels are the number of dots. More dots do not make a better photo if the lens is small and the light is weak. A 3 MP phone with a good lens and a window is better than a 5 MP phone with a bad lens in a cellar.
What I look at: the lens (is it glass or plastic?), the flash (LED is good), and the time between pressing and the picture, because a child does not stand still for a second.