To my friends and family I have become the go-to for all questions about photography. This includes all the questions when it comes to choosing a new camera.

The one question that I hear most often is “How many megapixels should I get?” The cameras that are out there have a pretty wide range of  megapixels available. Seriously, it is the most asked question.

First off, lets explore just exactly what a Megapixel (MP) is. Megapixel refers to one million pixels.

So a camera that is 3.1 megapixels means that it has 3.1 million pixels. A pixel is a tiny little itty bitty square on your computerized display. The more pixels the better the resolution and more refined detail. Have you ever taken a picture and blown it up too big and the image becomes just a bunch of colored squares? Those squares are pixels.

Choosing the amount of megapixels for your camera will depend on what you are going to do with the photos you take. If you are just taking amateur/personal photos to put on the web or look at on a computer, megapixels are not as important.

If you are planning to print “regular size” photos then it is important to look over megapixels. Most cameras these days are at least a 3.1 megapixel, and for printing regular 3 x 5 inch photos anything from a 3 to 5 MP camera is more than good enough, so don’t waste your money on a camera only because it has a ton of mega pixels.

Now, if you are looking to print big print like 8×10 or bigger, or use your photos professionally on the web, then you will need more megapixels to capture the image as crisp and clear in such a big format so look for a camera with 8 or more megapixels. This way when the image is blown up there are enough pixels that they are still invisible.

Remember the number of pixels does not guarantee good image quality. Other factors like lens quality, image processing and the photographer themselves all play a part.

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Elissa (aka Punk Rock Mom) is a blogger, wife, mother, knitter, photographer, a Scorpio and all around cool person. You can follow the adventures of Punk Rock Dad, Punk Rock Mom and The Phi at Punk Rock Parents