DIGITAL BASICS

Words by Paul Worsley

The amount of detail that a camera can capture is called the resolution and it is measured in pixels. The more pixels a camera has, the more detail it can capture and the larger the pictures can be without becoming blurry or grainy (noise). 1megapixel means 1million pixels, 3 is 3million etc. Some typical resolutions include:
640x480 - Ideal for emailing photos as the resolution is quite low
1600x1200 - Almost 2 million in total pixels. Will produce a high quality 6x4 inch print.
2240x1680 - Almost 4 million pixels. Will produce a high quality 8x12 inch print.
4064x2704 - Almost 11 million. Will produce a high quality 20x30 inch print.

Bear in mind that even though you may think you will never need to enlarge your pictures to say 8x12 inch prints or bigger, there is the option to. There is also the option of being able to crop your images, which is a very handy thing to be able to do.

 Earlier I mentioned grain or noise, as it’s known in digital terms. This happens when you set your ISO (film speed) to usually higher than 400 or so. Low light situations can force us to increase ISO, for example say you are taking pictures in a museum where flash is not allowed. The key is to find a balance between having too much noise and enough light sensitivity for your camera.

So essentially instead of your camera recording onto film, images are recorded via an image sensor (CCD or C-MOS sensor) and that information is then recorded as data onto your memory card. The higher the quality the sensor is and the more pixels that are on that sensor, the higher the image quality.