How much of Megapixels should I look for in a digital camera?

A normal user,
I know the more the merrier. but I am not working for National geographic, its for personal / family / friends.Where do i draw a line for price Vs quality?
3MP /4MP/5MP/7 MP or 10 MP ?

Lot's of answers no good explanations. I personally use a 7.2 MP camera. The MP (or resolution) defines, in the most basic terms, how large you can blow up a picture. With my 7.2MP I can make a good 32x32" enlargement. The only drawback to buying a camera with more resolution is cost. However price is now somewhat a moot point. You can get a 7.2 MP cybershot for 299.99, which I feel is reasonable, however, I do not know your situation. These folks saying 3-5 is fine for everyday shooting are right (those equate to a nice 8x10 or a little more), on the other hand if I snap a shot and find out it is a great shot I would rather not be limited in what I could do with that shot. Also something with higher resolution will work better with these new home photo printers. Bottom line I guess is buy the most camera with what you can afford. Stick with the good brands (Sony, Nikon, Canon, maybe Fuji, avoid Kodak). The good brands will be more forgiving and offer superior optics like the Zeiss lens in the Sony brands. I hope this helped and was informative.

50

you dont want anything less than 3mp really because the picture quality isnt worth it, between 3 & 5 is the best bet for a decent quality picture theres no point getting a 10mp camera for personal use; anyways lol it'll cost so much you'll have to live in the street to buy one....

Get the Nikon D50 - it's as good a camera as you will ever need.

WEll its hard to really find any half way decent camera under 4 MP now adays. My parents bought a 120 dollar camera with a 5mp rez. Keep your eyes peeled at sears/best buy/circuit city and you will find a great deal on 5-6mp camera's for cheap.

If you are truly looking to find a digital to replace a good 35mm film camera you really should look for about 7 megapixel & above.
If you aren't that picky go with at least a 5 megapixel.

Stick with 5 or 6.

For family shots you will get distortion free prints at any size you might need.

I won't recommend any to you know because I don't know what is important to you and I don't have a price. But when you get a chance look though these reviews and pick your fav.

www.steves-digicams.com

If it just for your everyday picture taking 3-6 will suffice.

I'd go for about 5 megapixels or more. I have a Cannon PowerShot A530 & it has 5 megapixels & can take up to 6 mins of video. I got it at Wal-Mart for only $200 & that includes 2 cables: one to connect the camera to a computer to load pics/video & another to connect the camera to a tv so that you can view your pix & video on it. By the way, the pictures turn out extremely well too!

buy a cam with 7 or 10 MP

Look for a Camera with over 5 mega Pixs cause then you will have the best photos without spending to much money.

Picture quality is NOT about the megapixels.

Actually, number of megapixels is only one of the contributing factors, and capabilities of all modern cameras are by far exceeding the demands of regular 4" x 6" picture.
However, higher number of megapixels does correlate with overall technical level of the camera.
I agree with the others saying that cameras under 5 Mpix are sub-standard today, while getting a 7 Mpix or more would mean paying for features and not for the image quality.

5 or 6 MP is perfectly adequate for the shooting you describe. Get a good brand name camera, though, as Alex says, because the LENS counts for an awful lot fro image quality. Look to Nikon or Canon.