Upgrading Cameras.

[Gerbosko]

Let me begin out by saying that I thought my cameras were amazing. I have a handheld camera, and I also have my Androids phone camera.

I love my handheld camera because it seems to always take better pictures. It beats out my Android phone at times because my phone automatically adjusts to the sunlight and it gets really frustrating when trying to take a beautiful picture. The problem I've been having is even when I can take good pictures of the mountains, or whatever I'm taking pictures of, the picture doesn't really "capture" all of the detail that I want.

My handheld camera is a 2.0 megapixel camera, I was shocked when I found this out because it does take good pictures (click to enlarge)



Now my cellphone can take good pictures as said above, but they about match what the above picture shows. My cellphone has a 3.0 - 3.2 megapixel camera.




Anyways, to make a long story short, I bought a 8.2 megapixel camera off of eBay. It was dirt cheap because it was "as is" and I believe I know how to fix it.. If nothing else, I can replace the lens. Now.. I'm REALLY looking at a 10.0 megapixel camera that has an easy fix, selling really cheap with free shipping.

Anyways, my question is this: Will I see a huge difference in my pictures or will they look almost like the above? I'm upgrading 6 megapixels from my camera I have now, and 5 megapixels from my Android.

Has anyone ever done this big of an upgrade and noticed a huge difference in quality?

[Impurrfect]

oooh, another photographer!!! Can't wait to see MORE pics! I have a point-and-shoot basic camera that a dear friend gave me, plus the android phone (which doesn't take as good pictures as I thought..the main reason I chose it), so my pics are pretty basic, but I loooooooooove my camera, and I love seeing pics that others post.

We used to have a thread where people posted pics. Not sure if it's still around, but if not, maybe you can start a new one? We've got some pretty darned talented photographers here.

Hugs and prayers,

Amy

[Gerbosko]

Hey Impurrfect!

I missed ya!

Anyways, I just love taking pictures of natures beauty. I didn't have nothing to photograph up north unless you wanted pictures of flat lands.. Since I moved I've been taking a lot of pictures and I really want details in my pictures. What my eyes see are not showing up in the photographs I take currently. I'll need to see if I can get the cameras working before starting a thread, but thanks for the idea!

PS: If I get the cameras working good, I'll take a near-the-same photo of the lake and we can compare the details . I'm sure 8.2 mp's are going to blow away the 2.0. I get the Camera Monday, but I'm thinking I'm going to buckle down and buy the 10.0 MP camera.

[eyemitalian0312]

Just wanted to clarify something. If you are looking at these pictures on a computer screen, most likely anything from 2 mp and up will look the same. Its when you print out the pictures to larger sizes is when you will notice a difference in sharpness and clarity with the higher mp cameras. With that being said, I have seen a lower mp camera blow away image results from higher mp. It all depends on the specs of cameras when this happens.

[Impurrfect]

(((Gerbosko))) - My dad is an expediter...delivers freight in a big van wherever it needs to go. I've taken several trips with him so he can sleep while I drive and vice versa. I have a gazillion pictures of sunrises and sunsets, some of the desert, some of mountains, etc. They don't always turn out the way I want, but I still like them.

Here's one of my sunrise pics. You can see the GPS in the picture, but I still love it



Hugs and prayers,

Amy

[Scolova]

Yes, my old Sony Cybershot 2mp camera takes much crisper images and with better color than my android (Samsung Exhibit II)...
As said above you'd need a very good display to notice difference between 8 and 10, I used to hear that at around 14mp was where digital would meet film quality (when printed), not sure though. I keep thinking of buying something new like the ones which do both photos and videos very well, with really good optical zoom.

[Gerbosko]

Originally Posted by Scolova

As said above you'd need a very good display to notice difference between 8 and 10

I know it'd be very little difference from 8 mp to 10 mp (on screen) but I'll be upgrading from 2.0 mp to 8.2 mp so I'm hoping that translates better, even on a computer screen. As eyemitalian0312 said though, it probably won't have a huge difference till I print it.

However, I'm thinking (with no experience in this field) that with a better camera, it's going to show more of the background. What I mean by this is in my first post you can see the mountain, but it's not very detailed. In real life, as I was looking at it, it exploded with details. This is what I'm hoping to capture, but it's not a make or break deal for me. I know I cannot expect it to turn out as I see it through my eyes, but at least show a bit more detail, damn it! haha.

PS: Guess I'm not the only one who experienced a phones camera with better megapixels to be beaten by a handheld 2.0 megapixel camera

[Gerbosko]

Quick post:

I got the camera today and I fell instantly in love. It looks brand new, except for the lens issue of course. The lens issue however may of been a simple fix! With a little bit of "loving force" I got the camera lens to snap back into place and it looks ready for a new life. I'm however waiting on a battery to come, I completely forgot to buy one when I bought the camera and I was too lazy today to go and buy one 30 minutes away. I tend to be a home-body and like being near home so eh, I can wait on it.

Here are the pictures of the love of my life. This camera is my new love.

https://picasaweb.google.com/1054818...6429318/Camera

You can see the before and after.

[Scolova]

Hopefully that does the trick for ya... Looks good.

[Gerbosko]

Hope so too, might just pick up a battery after work and use the one that's being mailed as a spare. I'll think it over.. which means I'll probably go buy it lol.

[BillyPilgrim]

Its much of a muchness, however , I have found that a "proper" camera will take better pictures than a phone camera most of the time. I have some excellent pictures from my 8mp android, but they lack a decent lens, low light capability and optical zoom.

[Gerbosko]

Originally Posted by Gerbosko

might just pick up a battery after work and use the one that's being mailed as a spare.

New battery in stores: $25

Battery bought on eBay: $4

I think I'll wait on the mail =).

[ThisIsDANIEL]

the number of megapixels in a camera does not determine its performance...

for a normal photo you post to the web it wont matter if its 2mp or 10mp... the picture is not large enough for the latter's pixel count to come into play

cell phones can pack all the MP they want on to a tiny sensor... but more megapixels can be BAD... packing more pixels onto a small sensor will result in electronic noise (kinda like film grain but worse).

There is much more to picking a camera than megapixels, such as autofocus, ergonomics, etc... The lense(s) that a particular system uses is going to have a much bigger impact on the overall picture quality than the # of megapixels