Megapixels Explained: How Many Do You Actually Need in a Camera?

What Is a Megapixel?

A digital photograph is made from millions of tiny picture elements called pixels.

One megapixel equals approximately one million pixels.

A camera that produces an image around 6000 pixels wide by 4000 pixels tall creates roughly 24 million pixels in total, so we call it a 24 megapixel camera.

That’s really all the number is measuring: image resolution.

Megapixels tell you image size, not automatically image quality

This distinction matters.

A 50 megapixel camera does not automatically produce photos that look twice as good as photos from a 24 megapixel camera.

Megapixels mainly determine how much pixel information is available in the image. What those pixels actually look like depends on many other things.

Those include:

• Sensor size
• Lens sharpness
• Autofocus accuracy
• Available light
• Camera movement
• Subject movement
• ISO setting
• Image processing
• Dynamic range

A perfectly focused 20 megapixel photograph taken with a good lens can easily look better than a slightly blurry 50 megapixel photograph.

Resolution cannot restore detail that was never captured properly in the first place.

How Many Megapixels Do You Really Need?

For most people buying a modern interchangeable lens camera, I consider 20 to 24 megapixels a very comfortable range.

It gives you enough resolution for normal printing and plenty of room for online use while keeping file sizes manageable.

Here’s how I think about the common ranges.

12 to 16 megapixels can still be enough

Older cameras with 12 or 16 megapixel sensors are not suddenly useless.

If your photographs mainly end up on:

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Websites
• Digital photo frames
• Phones
• Tablets
• Normal-sized prints

you may never notice a meaningful resolution limitation.

Even 4K displays contain only about 8.3 million pixels. That means a 12 megapixel photograph already has more resolution than needed to fill a 4K screen.

The limitations become more noticeable when you start cropping heavily or making large prints.

20 to 24 Megapixels Is the Sweet Spot for Most Photography

This is where many general-purpose cameras sit, and there’s a good reason for it.

Twenty to 24 megapixels gives you enough detail for:

• Family photography
• Travel
• Portraits
• Street photography
• Landscapes
• Product photos
• Content creation
• Online business images
• Large home prints
• Moderate cropping

A typical 24 megapixel image may be around 6000 by 4000 pixels.

At a high-quality print resolution of 300 pixels per inch, that gives you roughly a 20 by 13-inch print without needing to enlarge the file.

You can print larger too. Viewing distance increases with larger prints, so you don’t always need 300 pixels per inch for posters and wall art.

That’s why I wouldn’t hesitate to use a good 20 or 24 megapixel camera for most serious photography.

When 30 to 45 Megapixels Start Making Sense

Higher resolution becomes genuinely useful when you need more freedom after taking the photograph.

Cropping is the easiest example.

Imagine photographing a bird that only occupies a small portion of the frame. If you cannot get physically closer or use a longer lens, you may crop the photograph afterward.

Starting with more megapixels means you can throw away more of the original image while still having a reasonably detailed final photograph.

Higher resolution can therefore be helpful for:

• Wildlife
• Birds
• Sports
• Landscapes with fine detail
• Architecture
• Commercial photography
• Large prints
• Product photography
• Heavy cropping

But there’s a cost.

The files become larger, memory cards fill faster, editing can require more computer power, and storage requirements increase.

You should have an actual reason for wanting that extra resolution.

What About 50, 60, or Even 100 Megapixels?

These cameras absolutely have a purpose.

Professional studio photographers, landscape photographers, commercial photographers, and people producing very large prints may benefit from extreme resolution.

But a 60 megapixel camera isn’t automatically a better travel camera than a 24 megapixel model.

In fact, the added resolution can expose weaknesses elsewhere.

Small focusing errors become easier to see. Lens quality matters more. Camera shake becomes more obvious when you inspect files closely. Storage requirements increase considerably.

So I wouldn’t choose 60 megapixels simply because 60 is a larger number than 24.

Buy resolution when your photography needs resolution.

Sensor Size and Megapixels Are Not the Same Thing

This is probably the biggest source of confusion.

A smartphone might advertise 48, 50, 108, or even 200 megapixels while a dedicated mirrorless camera has “only” 20 or 24 megapixels.

That does not mean the phone automatically captures better images.

The physical sensor can be dramatically different in size.

Think of megapixels as slices of the sensor

Imagine two tables.

One is small, and the other is much larger. Now imagine dividing both tables into 24 million sections.

Both have the same number of sections, but the sections on the larger table can be physically bigger.

Camera sensors work somewhat like that.

Pixel size and sensor design affect how efficiently the sensor handles light. That’s one reason a 24 megapixel APS-C or full-frame camera can perform very differently from a phone sensor carrying a much larger megapixel number.

Modern computational photography makes phones remarkably capable, but megapixel counts alone don’t tell you which camera produces the better photograph.

Why a Bigger Sensor Can Matter More Than More Megapixels

A larger sensor can provide advantages that are difficult to express with one number on a specification sheet.

Depending on the camera and situation, those advantages may include:

• Better high ISO performance
• More control over depth of field
• Stronger low-light performance
• Better dynamic range
• More flexibility with interchangeable lenses

That’s why I look at megapixels alongside sensor size rather than separately.

For example, Canon’s EOS R100 uses a 24.1 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor measuring approximately 22.3 by 14.9 mm. 

That 24.1 megapixel number tells you the resolution. The APS-C part tells you something different about the physical imaging system.

Both matter.

More Megapixels Won’t Fix a Bad Lens

The sensor can only record the detail the lens delivers to it.

Put a soft, low-quality lens in front of a very high-resolution sensor, and you may get a huge file containing plenty of pixels but not as much meaningful detail as you expected.

A sharp lens on a 20 or 24 megapixel camera can produce remarkably detailed images.

This is one reason I would rather spend money on a useful lens than chase megapixels I don’t need.

Focus matters just as much

The same principle applies to autofocus.

If the person’s eyelashes are sharp when you intended to focus on the eye, the extra megapixels aren’t solving anything.

Good technique still matters:

• Focus accurately.
• Use an appropriate shutter speed.
• Keep the camera steady.
• Choose good light.
• Use a decent lens.

Get those things right first.

Do More Megapixels Help With Cropping?

Yes. This is one of their clearest advantages.

Let’s say you photograph at 24 megapixels and crop away half the pixels. You still have roughly 12 megapixels remaining.

That is plenty for online publishing and many print sizes.

Start with a lower-resolution file and perform the same aggressive crop, and you have less image information left.

But cropping shouldn’t replace getting closer

I still wouldn’t treat high megapixel counts like a substitute for composition or the right lens.

If you can frame the photograph correctly when taking it, do that.

Cropping should give you flexibility, not become the entire shooting technique.

This matters particularly with wildlife. A 45 megapixel camera with a short lens is not automatically better than a 24 megapixel camera with the appropriate telephoto lens.

How Many Megapixels Do You Need for Printing?

Printing is one of the few situations where resolution requirements become fairly concrete.

For a high-quality print viewed relatively close, 300 pixels per inch is a common target.

A 24 megapixel file around 6000 by 4000 pixels can therefore produce roughly a 20 by 13-inch image at 300 pixels per inch.

A 20 megapixel image still gives you plenty of room for common frame sizes.

And larger prints don’t necessarily require the same pixel density because people usually view them from farther away.

For ordinary home printing, albums, framed photographs, and wall art, 20 to 24 megapixels is rarely the thing holding you back.

How Many Megapixels Do You Need for Social Media?

Far fewer than most modern cameras provide.

Instagram, Facebook, websites, and messaging apps typically display images at resolutions dramatically below the full output of a modern mirrorless camera.

If social media is your main destination, buying a 45 megapixel camera specifically for resolution makes little sense.

Other features may matter much more:

• Autofocus
• Lens selection
• Wi-Fi transfer
• Articulating screen
• Stabilization
• Size and weight
• Video features

That last point leads to another misconception.

Megapixels and Video Resolution Are Different

Still photo megapixels and video resolution are related to pixels, but you shouldn’t judge video capability from the still photo megapixel number.

A 4K video frame is roughly 8.3 megapixels.

That means a 20 megapixel camera already has plenty of sensor resolution to produce 4K in principle.

The important questions are how the camera reads the sensor and processes that video.

Some cameras use the full sensor width. Others crop the image. Some oversample from a higher resolution. Autofocus performance can also differ between photo and video modes.

The Canon EOS R100, for example, records cropped 4K video at up to 24 fps, while Full HD can reach 60 fps. Canon also specifies that 4K uses contrast-detection autofocus rather than the Dual Pixel CMOS AF used for Full HD recording. 

So don’t buy a camera for video simply because its box says “24 MP” and “4K.”

Look at the actual video features.

When 20 to 24 Megapixels Is Already Plenty

Once you understand all of that, camera shopping becomes much easier.

You can stop asking, “Which camera has the most megapixels?”

A better question is:

Does this camera have enough resolution for what I actually photograph?

For most beginners and everyday photographers, the answer is yes once you reach roughly 20 megapixels.

That’s also why the two cameras below are interesting. Neither tries to win by posting an enormous megapixel number. One gives you 24.1 megapixels on an APS-C sensor, while the other uses a 20.3 megapixel Micro Four Thirds sensor and adds in-body stabilization.

They solve slightly different problems.