La camera It is one of the aspects that we look at the most when we are about to buy a smartphone. And when it comes to evaluating the quality of the resulting photos, megapixels are the easiest aspect to quantify.
However, this does not mean that it is the most important thing. In fact, the cameras that have a greater number are not always the ones that take the best photos.
Megapixels, important or marketing strategy?
What are megapixels?
Digital images, that is, the photos we take with a digital camera or smartphone, are made up of small points of visual information.
These points are known as pixels. And, by the time they are grouped into millions, we can call them megapixels. We can think, then, that the more pixels we find in an image, the more quality it will have. And this is something that is not false at all.
However, it is not the only factor that influences when it comes to finding a good quality.
The important thing is the sensor
The sensors with which photographs are taken in mobile cameras are, in general, very small. This causes the pixels they take to be smaller as well.
By having pixels of smaller size, the final quality of the photos is lower than that of an image taken with a camera that had fewer megapixels but a larger size. This is the reason why, for example, many SLR cameras do not have such a large number of megapixels, but nevertheless take better photos than those of a smartphone.
Other Influencing Factors
Another aspect that also influences when taking good photos is the ability to manage the light. In fact, many smartphones take pretty decent photos during the day, but are capable of taking decent images at night. This also depends on the size of the pixels, since small pixels absorb light less well than large ones.
Depth of field is another important factor. In fact, it is the reason why many smartphones are dedicating one of the cameras only to it.
In the end, the importance we give to megapixels is more of a marketing strategy what other thing. Being the most quantifiable element, it is the best way to promote a camera. But it is neither the only factor that influences nor even the most important.
Do you look at the camera when choosing a new smartphone? Do you think that megapixels is an important factor to take into account or do you prefer to look at other aspects? We invite you to go through our comments section and give us your opinion about it.
How do you know that a camera, in addition to having many megapixels, also includes an excellent sensor?