200MP vs 50MP Camera:- Walk into any phone shop and you’ll be told that it has 200MP, so it will have better quality pictures. Whilst this claim is true and it’s easy to compare the numbers on the box, it can often lead people into thinking that higher MP cameras will take better quality pictures. This is because the MP measurement doesn’t tell you the quality of the dots it uses, just how many there are. Many of the best pictures taken this year have been taken using a phone with only 50MP, and many 200MP phones have taken photos that are just as poor as those with fewer MP. So when would a higher MP help?
What do Megapixels mean?
A megapixel is one single small light-sensitive dot. The more dots you have on your sensor, the bigger your image file will be. This means you can zoom in more. This will be useful if you like to crop your photos and print larger pictures. The larger your sensor is, the more light each dot will capture.
Here’s however, when you increase your number of megapixels, you are cramming many more dots onto your sensor. This means they are smaller and therefore don’t capture as much light. The differences won’t matter much in bright sunlight but can cause more noise in darker environments.
How 200MP phones work around this issue.
Most 200MP phones will not actually save 200MP pictures. Instead they use pixel binning. This means they group together dots close together to give a smaller image. You may still get a 200MP sensor but only get a 50MP image in normal situations. This will only go up to 200MP if you select a particular mode or zoom in. Because of this, both the 200MP and 50MP phones will give you similar photos. The extra MP will only help you when you have lots of light.
When will it help?
The extra detail will help if you need to crop your photos. If you’ve taken a photo of a bird on a branch or a sign on the street from a distance, you will have more space to crop. It will also help if you want to zoom in. As the sensor is highly detailed, you’ll get a cleaner zoom. You can also get benefits if you take landscape photos in good light and print them out large.
When will 50MP be enough?
For most people a good 50 MP sensor will be more than enough. Social media, messaging and most prints will be a lot smaller than the detail given from a 200MP sensor. Often due to the larger sensor, a 50MP phone will take better photos in low light. Each pixel will be larger so it captures more light. The processing is also a big part of it. A well-processed 50MP phone will be much more natural-looking.
Sensor size, lens, stabilisation and processing
The main factors are sensor size. A larger sensor will capture more light. A good lens will ensure your photos are sharp and the colours are accurate. OIS will make sure your photos are stable. Processing will decide how your photos look. Two phones with the same number of megapixels can produce very different results. This is why reviewers will compare photos.
Conclusion
Just because you have more megapixels does not mean you will take better quality photos. A 200MP sensor can be useful to crop your photos, zoom in on bright lights and print large. However, often in normal situations it will give you a similar result to a 50 MP sensor. A well-processed 50MP phone with a large sensor, stable stabilisation, and good processing will take better quality photos than a 200MP phone with a small sensor. When choosing a phone, look past the megapixel number. Check the sensor size, look at real examples of photos and see how good the camera is in the light you usually take photos in. This will give you much more information than just the 200MP label.