How big of a difference is 5 & 7 megapixels on a digital camera?

I'm trying to decide which camera to buy, they're almost the same except that one has 7 MP and the other has 5 MP. I don't really want to spend an extra $60 7 MP if 5 is all that I need

not a big difference at all.

5 MP is perfectly OK, unless you want to print the pics in large format like 12" or larger. But then who prints pics now a days? On the other hand, it is cool to show off a digital camera with higher MP.

frankly speaking you cannot detect the difference unless of course you count the pixels which is in millions which of course is absurd. anyway it still look the same in a 2.5 inches monitor. i think the only difference for me is the price

MP count is only half the equation. The sensors size is the other.

Since you did not tell us what cameras you were choosing between, we cannot give you much detailed information.

I have placed a link that will give you the necessary tools to determine which camera has the largest sensor. If one of the cameras has IS and the other one does not, then choose the camera with the IS feature.

In addition there is a way to compare the two cameras on the same site.

Just a note: Avoid any camera that does not use CF or SD cards. Cards like xD and Memory Stick are limited to the few cameras that use them

There are two reasons why you might want more megapixels on your camera, but you'll have to decide how important they are for you.

Firstly, a higher migapixel count (higher resolution) enables you to make prints of larger size at the same quality.

Secondly, a high resolution enables you to crop details from an image. THis helps you isolate details of interest and basically functions as an extra zoom. You get a smaller, high-res image of just the details you want, with no quality loss.

i would say get the 7 MP one because the more MP you have on your digital camera the better the pictures quality is soo spend 60 more bucks$ it's worth it!

In 99% of the prints and shooting situations you will see no difference between the two. The only time you might see a difference is cropping a VERY small portion of the pic and blowing it up to > 8x10.

There are other factors that affect image quality more than the MP. Consider too that the more MP the greater the image size on disk so you will need a larger storage card, bigger hard drive to store all of them. They will also take longer to upload if you use an online service.

Instead, look at-lense quality, color and clarity of the image (this is not relater to MP) amount of noise in the image, how fast it focuses, how fast it processes and is ready for the next shot. How easy is it to use.

You could even buy a memory card go to the store and shoot pics with each camera (assuming they use the same type of media) print them and see which produces better pics.

It is 2 million pixels but only matters if you arre going to blow the photo up or zoom in on a porition of the photo.