The current crop of the beginner digital camera can have a wide range of megapixels. Just look at the advertisements and you can expect anything between 3 and 8 megapixels anytime. It is generally believed that a beginner digital camera with a higher megapixel will help you shoot a much better picture, and there is only a little truth in it. A higher megapixel beginner digital camera will merely allow you to take out bigger prints without the image getting pixelated – and nothing more!

But what really are these megapixels all about? Well, they are nothing but an indicator of the image size you can get from a beginner digital camera. In any digital camera, the photograph is captured by the camera’s CCD before it is stored in the memory card. And the sensitivity of a camera’s CCD is measured in million pixels or Megapixels. If that seems to be mumbo-jumbo, here’s the whole thing in English thing: it’s the number of dots that the camera uses to capture an image! The higher your megapixel count, the bigger your image files are going to be.

The need for high megapixels depends entirely on the size of output you need. If you normally get postcards printed or are taking snaps to e mail them to your friend, posting in your blogs, or maybe just storing them in your computer, then a hi-res image shot with a 3 megapixel beginner digital camera should be quite enough!

On the other hand, if you dig photo-correction or scrapbooking, you would be cropping out portions of the images and enlarging them. In that case you are going to need higher resolutions so that your cropped out image does not pixelate.  

The downside of higher megapixels is the issue of storage. This could be relevant to your memory cards – you gobble up storage space in your beginner digital camera much faster with larger images – and end up either shooting fewer photographs or spending megabucks on expensive memory cards. Don’t forget your PC’s hard disk either – with a spanking new digital camera for beginner in your hands, you could dump gigs of images on your HDDs every week, and a “no more space” message could be just a few months away!

So you see, resolution in terms of megapixels is the one of the more critical aspects while choosing a beginner digital camera. Too little for your needs could spoil the images; and too much could make you go bankrupt! Here are some guidelines to solve the megapixel mystery and help you find the right megapixel camera for your needs. 

Up to 2 MP:

Found in older cameras, or gadgets like mobile phones or PDAs. No good for prints, but okay for e mailing or posting in websites or blogs.

3 MP:

Helps you get great 4X6 prints, respectable 5X7 prints, and if the camera optics are good, tolerable 8X10 prints.

4 MP:

Hmmm….. That’s much better! Your 4X6prints look straight out of a professional studio.  6X9 and 8X10 prints look great, too.

5 MP:

Enlarging your prints to 8X10 or 11X14 is a cruise. You are coming close to the pros now with the best digital camera for beginner!

6 MP:

You are on the high quality lane, but uh-oh, the price is rising! Print quality is like a dream, though, and you can go beyond 11X14.

A word of caution here: don’t fall for the high megapixel digital camera for beginners with an unbelievably low price; they might have too few features to make them useful even if they are the cheapest digital camera!

Also, go for the very high megapixel stuff only if you have money to burn and a huge passion for photography. If you are like the rest of us, stick to the medium level beginner digital camera. That’s all you are probably going to need, anyway!

Memory Card

Since a new camera has enough internal memory (or a free card memory) for only 15 or 20 images, a 1 GB or 2GB memory card is needed so that you don’t run out of storage space just when the birthday cake is being cut! Memory cards are therefore a must-buy accessory with your beginner digital camera. Visit our online store for a large selection and bargain prices on a beginner digital camera.