One of more the confusing things when choosing a digital camera is to decide how many mega-pixels you should get. This depends on what you plan to do with the finished photos.
First, you need to know what a pixel is. In digital printing terminology, a pixel or picture element is only a of colour that makes up the image. A mega-pixel equals one million pixels. The more mega-pixels a camera has, the greater the detail of the image.
The easiest way to decide what to look for is to know what printing size you are likely to print from your camera. A one mega-pixel camera is fine for those who does not plan to print photos but simply post them online. A small print, for example a 4 x 6, will be acceptable if printed from this camera. More... / Hide...
A 2 mega-pixel camera will enable you to print good quality 5 x 7 photos and fair quality 8 x 10 photos. With a 4 mega-pixels you can print out excellent quality 8 x 10 photos and acceptable 11 x 17 photos. When you get a 5 mega pixel camera, it will allow you to print out high quality 11 x 17 photographs.
Most families find a camera in the 3.2 Mega-pixel range to be the best compromise. Printing 5 x 6 and 8 x 10 photographs gives very good results and at the same time, storing the files on your computer does not take up that much space.
Any camera over 5 mega-pixels is unnecessary for most. However, professional photographers — and even then — only those that require to print poster-size pictures will find it worthwhile to spend the money for that many mega-pixels. Most freelance photographers find 4 or 5 mega-pixels to be adequate.
The choice is yours. Make your decision based on what you plan to do with your photos. In most cases spending more for increased zoom and reduce the mega-pixels is a better choice.