Is there a lot of difference in the quality of a 5.1 megapixel and a 7.1 megapixel digital camera?

I'm looking to buy a digital camera, can anyone explain?And whats the best brand for me at a reasonable price. Thanks!!!

Yes, there is a considerable difference. The 7.1 megapixel is the best quality available at the moment. But if you are looking for a reasonably priced camera then you should go for a 5.1 megapixel camera from Sony, i bought one recently, it is very good..Very sleek and the screen is large. The picture quality is excellent.7.1 megapixel camera from Canon is very costly, if you can wait for some time, then you can expect it to become cheaper. Hope this helps

Average Joe isn't going to be able to tell you difference in a 4x6 print from a 5.1 or 7.1. In fact, Average Joe couldn't tell you the difference in a 4x6 from a 2.0 to 5.1. Report It

I would say the difference is around 2 megapixels Report It

In digital cameras the more pixels the better quality of the picture is.

The more the better.

Yes 7.1 is better than 5.1, more pixels better detail. 7.1 might be overkill for starters.

Larger number of pixels just means you can print the photo out bigger. It doesn't have anything to do with quality. Ask yourself how big you want to print your pics, because 7.1 will make nice size posters, but do you really need poster size prints? 5.1 is a good size, but you must check other things in a digital camera, like shutter speed and optical zoom etc. If you can, test drive a few cameras. I found there's a lot of decent priced cameras out there, but when I tried them out, some shutter speeds were so slow that the whole make-up of the picture changed significantly from pressing the button to image capture.

You'll never notice the difference unless your printing pictures larger than 7X10 inches in my opinion. Also, most pictures you take with the camera's standard resolution settings will only use about 2 Mega Bytes of memory for the typical 4X6 inch snapshot that you want prints made of. If the 7 megapixel camera is only $30 more and comes with more features that you want etc. then it may be worth the extra money.

Yes, there is a noticable difference when you enlarge the print size from 7x5 (normal snapshot print size to 10x8) or jsut enlarging a part of the photograph

Although I must say 7.1 mp is in unusal, are you certain that this is not a 3.6 mega pixel camera than digitally enhanced to give you the 7.1. Often with these type of cameras you will have reduced shadow area definition and at times a moire effect.

Although features can be fun, but most of them are pretty superfluous adn at times gimmicky. Rather look for less gimmicks adn more pixels

There's a big difference in the number of pixels, but depending on how you're going to use the camera the pixels matter less than the quality of the sensor. If you're going more towards the pro-side of things, then both cameras are a little light on the pixels. If you're going to do 4x6 or 5x7 with an occasional 8x10 then either camera should be fine.

I always recommend Canon or Nikon.

The quality change is insignificant, except if you're planning to print poster sized picture

a 5MP camera is able to print a picture in A4 size with good quality. For most people this is more than enough, unless you're buying the camera to print out a poster, you won't need the extra pixels, it'd just make the camera's memory filled much faster, while you might not get any significant quality improvement.

It is true that more megapixels means better picture, but unless you're printing a very large sized picture, you won't notice the difference. And what's more, more megapixels means the camera eats more memory, this is very undesireable, you won't possibly survive a high pixel camera with a small memory

It is wise not to only judge camera quality by it's megapixels, It is possible that a camera that have lower mega pixels capture picture better than one with higher megapixels.

Never follow the reccomendation to only sees the megapixels, it's the quality of the light sensors that plays more important role than the mega pixels. It's the same as when choosing processors for your PC, higher Hz rating doesn't always mean that the processors is faster, AMD is known to have processors that is faster than Intel's processors with the same Hz rating

look for anti shake feature between 5-7 megapixels only one who has anti shake will take better photo.

To directly answer your question, lets assume that two cameras are identical in every way except the number of megapixels.

The sensor size is the same. The onbaord software is the same. The ergonomics. The focal length of the lens. The clarity and sharpness of the lens. The software processing the picture. The feature set. The noise implicit with the sensor. The AA fliter on the sensor. etc. etc.

Given all of that, it would be fair to say that the 7.1 is "better" than the 5.1. That said, it is not anything you would notice until your prints were larger (certainly at 4x6 you would notice zero difference). Also, doubling the quailty in terms of megapixels means quadrupling the number of megapixels. So, a 20mp is twice as good as a 5mp camera.

Of course, all other things are rarely ever equal. And most of those other factors that I mentioned do matter a great deal. And matter much more than a 7 vs a 5 megapixel. (Also, there are cameras that are way above a 7mp -- mine is 10 megapixels and I think the Leaf digital backs are well above 20 megapixels)

So, what to buy?

First, establish your budget. Remember you will need at least one spare memory card and probably some sort of simple case. And, depending on what you plan to do and what comes with the camera, perhaps some photo editing software. Depending on the camera and your use, a spare bettery is a good idea as well.

Next, decide what feature set is important. Pay particular attention to the following:
a) What form factor is right for you? (Is this something that needs to go into a shirt pocket or are we talking a Nikon D50 with a large lens)
b) What zoom range seems a better fit for you? More telephoto? More wide angle? It really depends on your style and subject choice.
c) Quality of the lens. I think Canon, Nikon, Panasonic (and of course Leica, et. al) have good lenses.
d) How does it feel in your hand? Do the controls seem intuitive?
e) Other features? This includes things like image stabilization, fill flash, etc. All useful.
f) What do the pictures look like?

A great place to start is http://www.dpreview.com/ . Look at their reviews. Sample photos. User forums. There are other resources as well but this one of the btter ones!

There is not much of a difference between 5.1 & 7.1 unless you are looking to print huge banners out of photos. You can settle for a 5.1 and look for other exciting features such as image stabilizer, sepia tone, movement capture and storage space
Canon is the best

As you are asking the question,you are new to the field.5.1 mp gives photo of good quality for use by everybody.Higher mp are required by professionals.