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scrappynik · Jul 21, 2006, 11:15 PM

In your opinion, is it better to have more mp or a higher zoom? I currently own a 6mp with a 3x zoom and I am considering purchasing a camera with 5mp but 12x zoom. Will I notice a difference due to downgrading in mps? Thanks for any help & opinions!
Niki

cock3tail · Jul 21, 2006, 11:27 PM

I personally would prefer a camera with more zoom considering the number of pics I am likely to blow up. But it depends what you want to do.

Morag2 · Jul 21, 2006, 11:49 PM

Hey there Scrappynik.

You really are going all out on this new camera hunt, haha. I thought we had you settled on the P850 back on the Kodak boards. Anyway, let me lay out the pros and cons for you.

For the most part, zoom will be better. With the exception, in my opinion, being landscapes (where you are completely zoomed out). For these, you will notice a slight loss in quality in the overall landscape image. However, as we mentioned at the Kodak boards, if you plan on doing extensive landscape work, the P880 would be better than the P850 anyway.

Now zoom is useful in this way. Say you want to get a picture of a very small area. So you can take a picture at 3x zoom with 6MP and crop it so you have just the area you want. But after you crop and resize the picture back to a full sized picture, you will have lost that extra resolution. However, with the 12x zoom, you can zoom right into the area you want, and get the picture with no cropping or resizing, and still get a full 5MP image.

So basically speaking, any shot where you zoom in less than 3x you might miss the resolution, but any shot where you want a close shot, you will definatly want the zoom.

Also, since it is such a minor resolution drop, it really won't matter. Like if you were going from a 12MP to a 5MP then you would notice a huge difference... but going from 6MP to 5MP is really no big deal. And if I recall, you don't plan on blowing your shots up much, so even if you wanted 16" by 20" shots, the 5MP res would be just fine.

There you go, thats FAR more detailed than my answers on the Kodak boards. Any further questions, just post here and I'll try to look later, or send me a message.

slipe · Jul 22, 2006, 12:43 AM

If you plan to shoot over 3X regularly the extra optical zoom is significant. If you crop one of your 6Mp 3X photos to make the equivalent of a 6X zoom you will be using only 1.5Mp of the sensor. The same is true if you use digital zoom. If you crop to the equivalent of a 12X shot you are at about 0.375 Mp of the sensor or about the resolution of a standard cellphone camera.

These are some old shots I took with a 5Mp camera with a 3X zoom and a 4Mp camera with a 12X zoom. The percent difference is a little more than between 5 and 6Mp.

This is the shot at 3X:

This is the motor from my friend's boat across the way cropped from a 3X shot from the 5Mp camera:

This is a crop from the 4Mp camera taken at 12X optical zoom:

You can see that once you go beyond the optical capability of your 3X camera optical zoom becomes a lot more important than Mp.

scrappynik · Jul 22, 2006, 7:37 PM

Morag--lol, I have pretty much decided on the 850. I just wanted to get more opinions and see what the verdict was

Last year before I got my 7630, I was the same way, lol.

Slipe--wow, thanks so much for providing the sample photos!

My mind is definatly made up :|THANKS!

Niki

Morag2 · Jul 23, 2006, 7:52 PM

Haha, Slipe was able to give the evidence I'm too lazy to make. :lol:

Anyways, I'm glad you're decided, and I know what you mean about getting like that when you buy a new camera. I'm 15 and at that age, a digital camera costs A LOT of money, no room to buy the wrong one.

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Jul 21, 2006, 11:15 PM	#1
scrappynik Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 486	In your opinion, is it better to have more mp or a higher zoom? I currently own a 6mp with a 3x zoom and I am considering purchasing a camera with 5mp but 12x zoom. Will I notice a difference due to downgrading in mps? Thanks for any help & opinions! Niki

Jul 21, 2006, 11:27 PM	#2
cock3tail Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 401	I personally would prefer a camera with more zoom considering the number of pics I am likely to blow up. But it depends what you want to do.

Jul 21, 2006, 11:49 PM	#3
Morag2 Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 820	Hey there Scrappynik. You really are going all out on this new camera hunt, haha. I thought we had you settled on the P850 back on the Kodak boards. Anyway, let me lay out the pros and cons for you. For the most part, zoom will be better. With the exception, in my opinion, being landscapes (where you are completely zoomed out). For these, you will notice a slight loss in quality in the overall landscape image. However, as we mentioned at the Kodak boards, if you plan on doing extensive landscape work, the P880 would be better than the P850 anyway. Now zoom is useful in this way. Say you want to get a picture of a very small area. So you can take a picture at 3x zoom with 6MP and crop it so you have just the area you want. But after you crop and resize the picture back to a full sized picture, you will have lost that extra resolution. However, with the 12x zoom, you can zoom right into the area you want, and get the picture with no cropping or resizing, and still get a full 5MP image. So basically speaking, any shot where you zoom in less than 3x you might miss the resolution, but any shot where you want a close shot, you will definatly want the zoom. Also, since it is such a minor resolution drop, it really won't matter. Like if you were going from a 12MP to a 5MP then you would notice a huge difference... but going from 6MP to 5MP is really no big deal. And if I recall, you don't plan on blowing your shots up much, so even if you wanted 16" by 20" shots, the 5MP res would be just fine. There you go, thats FAR more detailed than my answers on the Kodak boards. Any further questions, just post here and I'll try to look later, or send me a message.

Jul 22, 2006, 12:43 AM	#4
slipe Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Indian Rocks Beach, FL Posts: 4,036	If you plan to shoot over 3X regularly the extra optical zoom is significant. If you crop one of your 6Mp 3X photos to make the equivalent of a 6X zoom you will be using only 1.5Mp of the sensor. The same is true if you use digital zoom. If you crop to the equivalent of a 12X shot you are at about 0.375 Mp of the sensor or about the resolution of a standard cellphone camera. These are some old shots I took with a 5Mp camera with a 3X zoom and a 4Mp camera with a 12X zoom. The percent difference is a little more than between 5 and 6Mp. This is the shot at 3X: This is the motor from my friend's boat across the way cropped from a 3X shot from the 5Mp camera: This is a crop from the 4Mp camera taken at 12X optical zoom: You can see that once you go beyond the optical capability of your 3X camera optical zoom becomes a lot more important than Mp.

Jul 22, 2006, 7:37 PM	#5
scrappynik Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 486	Morag--lol, I have pretty much decided on the 850. I just wanted to get more opinions and see what the verdict was Last year before I got my 7630, I was the same way, lol. Slipe--wow, thanks so much for providing the sample photos! My mind is definatly made up :\|THANKS! Niki

Jul 23, 2006, 7:52 PM	#6
Morag2 Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 820	Haha, Slipe was able to give the evidence I'm too lazy to make. :lol: Anyways, I'm glad you're decided, and I know what you mean about getting like that when you buy a new camera. I'm 15 and at that age, a digital camera costs A LOT of money, no room to buy the wrong one.