The higher the megapixel count on a camera sensor, the greater amount of detail that can be captured in a picture. This is important to remember because what I talk about from here on out is assumed that it is comparing two cameras with similar characteristics like lenses and sensor sizes but just different megapixel counts. Because the DSLR can absorb more light from the environment than the smartphone, it generally takes better pictures even if it has a lower overall megapixel count. In general, a DSLR is able to take more accurate pictures because it uses lenses and sensors that are larger than the smartphone. In my example at the beginning I mentioned a smartphone and a DSLR. Now there is much more to just the number of pixels that make up the sensor. For instance, a 3008 x 2000 sensor in my Pentax K100 DSLR equates to six megapixels. To get the total number of pixels, you simply multiply the number of horizontal pixels by vertical pixels. In the simplest terms, the megapixel rating is the total number of pixels that will make up and image captured by a camera sensor. Does this mean that the Lumia is going to take better pictures than a DSLR camera? Obviously it won’t because of other factors but it is important to learn how a camera’s sensor and number of megapixels can impact your photos for better or worse. A typical consumer DSLR features around 15 megapixels or more and the Nokia Lumia 1020 smartphone has an unbelievable 41 megapixels in its tiny body. That same number of pixels can be found in just about every webcam for a laptop.

Ever been shopping for a camera or a smartphone and seen that the various ads and documents tout the number of megapixels that they can shoot? Back in the early days of digital photography, you were lucky to have a 1.2 megapixel camera.

What are megapixels for cameras