Can D3200 resolution be reduced??

[MediaMan09]

There is debate out there about the impact of "too many" megapixels, re noise, files size etc. One of many references is here. I choosing between a D3200, 5100 and Samsung NX20 and wanted to confrim it this was a real issue or not.

QUESTION - On the D3200, can one reduce the resolution in the megapixel settings ?? Looking at the specs, it infers there are options (albeit limited) for 6016 x 4000 ; 4512 x 3000 ; 3008 x 2000 .. I assume this corresponds to 24, 16 and 12 MP, and so does this mean the potential noise/file size porblem can indeed be maanged?

[TCav]

First, DxOMark shows that Sony's 24MP sensor (the one in the Nikon D3200) is no noisier than Sony's 16MP sensor (the one in the Nikon D7000 and D5100.)

Second, higher resolution hides noise. While a 24MP image may have the same Signal-to-Noise ratio as a 16MP image, the individual errant pixels in the 24MP image will be smaller and less apparent.

As a result, there is no potential noise problem.

File size is another matter.

[jphess]

But to answer your question directly, you can shoot reduced size JPEG images but not raw images. Nikon does not have a compressed raw file like Canon does. However, it is my understanding that the compressed file is still full resolution.