Does Megapixels Matter For Cellphone Cameras?

Posted by Guest - Does Megapixels Matter For Cellphone Cameras? :
I'm comparing cellphone cameras and all seem to have different megapixel numbers. Does this make one camera better then another since it has a larger megapixel camera? thanks

Guest Says:
Megapixels dont mean much any more. Back when cameras first came out and digital cameras were 1 megapixel and going to 2 megapixel, etc., then it was more important I believe. Today if one camera is 12 or 8 or 40 megapixel, that doesnt mean the camera is better. I actually think its worse because in some cases it makes the image HUGE yet doesnt mean its better quality. (Huge means more space, longer to send to others, etc).

Whats much more important is how well it handles light, shutter speed, close up photo ability, all those types of things. Megapixels wont tell you that. Some features like burst mode on iphone and panoramic photos on iphone are great things, and even slow motion video they have now. Those things have nothing to do with megapixel, but the average consumer is getting sold that pitch because they think megapixel is what matters.

This is from a web search below:
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Megapixels measures the number of pixels written to a file, not a measure of the quality of an image. Megapixels is a nice marketing gimmick, but with regard to photography, it has no relation to picture quality (in fact, from an image quality perspective, very high megapixel counts invariably reduce image quality).

Guest Says:
Another key item with cameras is zoom. I mean the actual lens zoom that digital cameras have, not digital zoom. Digital zoom is pretty worthless and will distort the image, but the actual lens zoom is important and cellphones do not have that (and most likely never will unless there is a lens attachment you carry with you :-).

Thats one reason why digital cameras may always outperform cellphone cameras, at least if you want zoom ability to bring something close up.

Guest Says:
Always check other features, not the marketing gimmicks. Things like ability to snap clear pictures in bad lighting, lens zoom, picture speed, all those things matter alot.

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