How Many Megapixels Do You Really Need for Social Media?

[@deanrobertnoble138]

For me, these days, modern cameras are all so good it is much more important to find a camera/system that you like using. Ergonomics, ease of use, fit for long photo walks etc. i personally, like a camera to feel good in my hand,easy to grip and have a good EVF as my eyes are no longer the best! All dependent on if you are a pro making a living or an hobbyist. There areobvious constraints if workflow and specific genres are at play. I too, struggle to tell the difference, quality wise, between my m43, aps-c and full frame. Great video; thankyou.

[@lawrencelunsford6028]

Back in the "old days" I started my digital journey with a Nikon D1X, D100 and Fujifilm S-3 Pro. I was able to print 20x24 inch prints from those cameras for clients. I quit doing photography for about fifteen years, got back into it a few years ago for the love of it. My "current" cameras are between 10 to 24 MP (Nikon D200, D700, D7100, D7200, Fuji x-T2). Nothing very new for sure, but they do what I need for them to do and I'm very pleased with the image quality that I get from them. If I was still doing paid work then I may need something newer with more MP but for now I'm happy. :)

[@DavidFlowerOfficial]

I also started with Nikon and stuck with it until 2020 and until very recently, the highest resolution camera I ever owned was a D800, everything else was 24mpx or under and I have yet to have anyone complain about the resolution of the images. For most of what I do, the 20mpx in the Olympus EM1 mkii is more than sufficient. Thanks for watching 🖖

[@andystiller3793]

I actually guessed them correctly. I preferred what you did to the colours on the NEX-3 images. I've used a range of cameras and never had trouble when posting out printing the images. My current set-up is Olympus MFT, and old Pentax DSLR and a Sony full frame. No one notices and there only way i can tell are the aspect ratios, colours and Exif data.

[@DavidFlowerOfficial]

I tried to match them as closely as I could but that magenta shift from the Nex 3 files was tricky. My main system is M4/3 and once edited, they look great. Thanks for watching 🖖

[@thissidetowardscreen4553]

Awesome video! I agree with you on this megapixel discussion. My first camera was a Pentax K10d ( 10mpx) I used it for nearly 14 years. I eventually purchased a 24 mpx camera. I have not run into much that I needed more tbh. I find a comfortable sweet spot around 12- 16 mpx for day to day photography. It could be due to the smaller form factor of the cameras. Sharing on social media I shot as low as 5mpx and some of the photos I get better feed back. Old CCD sensors have that colour pop I like, IMO. Lens have everything to do with the quality of the images too. Thanks so much for sharing!

[@DavidFlowerOfficial]

Thank you🖖 I think you absolutely nailed it with the sweet spot for resolution. Some of my favourite cameras I own all fall into that bracket, 5D classic, Power shot G10, Olympus EM10 mkii etc. Thanks for watching 🖖

[@joecarey7123]

I got more than half, but there was an element of guessing! I switch between an e-m1 original and a mark iii, depending on what I want to do. Based almost entirely around the flippy screen or not. I'm used to the tired old arguments of dof/ low light IQ, having shot mft for the last 8 years. A couple of megapixels and a few to spare is plenty for my needs. Great video btw

[@DavidFlowerOfficial]

I'm absolutely with you on that. I happily use the EM1 mkii at higher iso and while I know there are cameras that perform better in that situation, I aren't afraid of a little noise. In my experience, the cameras I own from M4/3 to apsc to FF are all comparable to a point at lower isos (even the original A7s is quite average before iso 6400). Thanks for watching 🖖

[@thatsamshow]

Good video! I luckily got them all right, but it was down to how each camera dealt with the darker parts of the images like the shadows and overall blacks. If I took my glasses off though, I wouldn't have had a clue! 😄 For social media, with Instagram's portrait size being 1,080 x 1,350 pixels, and Twitter (X) recommending 1,200 x 675 pixels, the average user can get away with a photo between 1MP and 5MP (I'd say the sweet spot is more like 8 or 10MP - enough for a bit of cropping and light editing). Higher resolutions might be useful for cropping, but beyond 12 MP, it's largely unnecessary - hence why social media is a great place to experiment with older cameras! 👍

[@DavidFlowerOfficial]

After staring at the images for a couple of days while I put this video together, I became blind to the differences and had to keep referring to the file numbers to make sure I labelled them correctly 😂 And yeah I've posted crops from 6mpx stills and they look no different to the 20 mpx + shots on my feed. Thanks for watching, Sam🖖

[@rltcovers1027]

Great video! I bought myself NEX 6 after a Canon 400D, I love this tiny camera)

[@DavidFlowerOfficial]

Oh I absolutely love my Canon 400D. Long overdue an outing with that beauty🖖

[@13DCR]

Great and interesting video and comparison. I also have the NEX 3 and it is so much fun.

[@DavidFlowerOfficial]

It's a wonderful camera that punches well above it's weight. I was truly surprised when I'd finished editing these pictures 🖖

[@clintonpudney2182]

Great video, I have just recently bought an old iPhone 5 ( 8 megapixel ) just for fun and got some great pics on a walk around Greenwich park. Coming from my Fuji xt5 of course there’s a difference but with good lighting and composition you can get some great photos 🙏

[@DavidFlowerOfficial]

Absolutely and it's a shame that these older cameras are often discarded simply because they're a few years old. I did a whole video about the iPhone 12 mini and while I'm not the biggest fan of shooting with a phone, there's no denying that the pictures are more than good enough for social media. Thanks for watching 🖖

[@burak9092]

nice video🎉

[@DavidFlowerOfficial]

Thanks very much 🖖

[@henrywilliam8506]

Great vlog David, it would be nice to have a comparison between the Sony and the Canon 6D.

[@DavidFlowerOfficial]

Ooh, that's a good one indeed. The 6D is a fantastic camera! I'll add it to the list🖖

[@wckoek]

I think it depends on the subject, for street or portrait 8MP is enough, for landscape or architecture you'll need more. Tree leaves or grasses looked better in say 18-20mp or more.

[@DavidFlowerOfficial]

Yeah of course in the real world there are reasons to have more resolution, but for the socials pretty much anything is good enough since the compression on the socials is out of control lol🖖

[@alexSpunkt.]

Great video! Thinking about to get the sony rx100ii for travel photography, pocket size but hopefully more detailed photos the phone 😂

[@DavidFlowerOfficial]

Thanks, Alex. I looked at the Rx models but like with all compacts at this point over here, the prices have gone crazy. I recently saw a mk 1 priced at almost the same as the original A7😂 Thanks for watching, mate🖖

[@alexSpunkt.]

@ wow! Its not too bad over here 🇨🇦

[@ChrisDN]

At 3:2, 1MP is enough; 1225x816. But if you'd like to fill your entire 4k monitor screen at 100%, 7MP; 3240x2160.

[@russellharris5072]

I tried a Nikon D70 just out of curiosity,six megapixels and was blown aeay by the results..........................................................

[@DavidFlowerOfficial]

I've owned the D70 3 times over the last 15 years and absolutely loved it. That ccd sensor produces some great results 🖖

[@kevindavis6442]

I only ever watch these videos on an iPhone sometimes not even full screen! Defo Instagram never shows me a full screen of the images. Only thing between the two for me and why I moved to the 24 mpixel a7 mk 3 from an olympus 20mpixel was the shallow dof and use of vintage glass .

[@DavidFlowerOfficial]

Yeah there's obviously a difference between M4/3 and full frame in the real world, but I totally agree with the vintage lenses thing. As for shallow depth of field it's not something that really matters to me because of what I shoot, but even on M4/3 if I want a shallow dof, I just use my 25mm t0.95 to get that full frame 50 1.8 look🖖

[@RealBesty]

I can vouch for the picture quality of the NEX3 - even pixel-peeping holds up to scrutiny, in my experience. I now have two 18MP Canons and that’s plenty for an amateur like me :)

[@DavidFlowerOfficial]

I must admit that even after a decade as a Nikon user, after using a lot of canon DSLRs over the last few years I really like them. The 400D is still one of my favourites despite it being pretty much as basic as they come. Which Canons are you using?

[@280bunny]

I seem to have "Guessed" correctly even when you switched A & B shots, but it was luck, there was very little difference. Perhaps the A7R2 gave more definition on the tower brickwork on one of the end shots, but when viewing on a phone, who really cares, we aren't looking at billboards or pixel peeping! Interesting video, I shoot 12mp Lumix and still haven't exhausted all their capabilities, remember 5mp point and shoot, and have great memories of that!😀

[@DavidFlowerOfficial]

It's much more apparent when you see them on a larger screen, but even then, I'd have no hesitation in printing A3 with the Nex 3 images. I think the biggest benefit of the high resolution is the cropping power as I mentioned, but some of my favourite cameras I've ever used have even fewer pixels than the Nex 3. Thanks for watching 🖖

[@MarkS-f7i]

I got 50% correct, so not any better than guessing. I mostly use Pentax K10d 10mp and a k20d 14mp one and don't really feel limited by the tech, or rather lack of it. I enjoy the simplicity and not having to dive into complex menu systems.

[@DavidFlowerOfficial]

I've never owned a digital Pentax and from what I see from other channels like @snappiness I feel like I might be missing out andI love how Pentax stuck to making DSLRs while every other company went mirrorless. Thanks for watching 🖖

[@Bigfarmer8]

HAHAHA! I had just three good. Why? I looked at micro contrast and yes, that is basically done by the lens. So, in my favour, I was perfectly able to detect the better lens! 😅 Good you mentioned the crappy compression on social media. I have posted photos with a 4MP Canon PowerShot A85 and they were just fine on Insta. That camera had quite a good lens compared to newer PowerShot cameras. I happily shoot with my 8MP Olympus Evolt E-300. It gives great photo's.

[@derrenleepoole]

One observation…. you’re presenting these photographic comparisons on a video at a possible maximum 4K viewing resoltion. 4K is approximately 8 megapixels, so the test/comparison is sort of rendered pointless, as you’re viewing the images the same resolution regardless. Having said that, I’m more that happy with my Canon 5D, a purchase I made in part due to watching this channel :)

[@DavidFlowerOfficial]

Yeah you're right, but the comparison was being made in relation to social media so you kinda reinforced that point. On social media pretty much every camera from the last 20 years has sufficient resolution and it's practically impossible to see the difference, yet there are folks who still think having all of the megapixels means something besides the ability to heavily crop and pixel peep if that's their thing. Hell, most billboards are printed at around the same resolution as Instagram because of viewing distance 😂 Thanks for watching 🖖

[@vin424242]

OM1 owner and i will say i regret selling the Pen f to buy it, I'm just a hobbyist photographer and take photographs for me, i do post on F book on photography pages and got many header photos on the weekly/ monthly themes, most of them were taken with my Olympus E3 and one with an holga wide pinhole camera, i love using the E3 and the Holga, to my mind you dont need full frame 50 megapixel camera if like me you are an amateur/ hobbyist to take a good photograph you also have to love the tool you are using unless you like looking at your photos at 100 percent on a screen to see how sharp they are, dont get me wrong the OM1 is a great camera which i do use bit not as much as the E3

[@DavidFlowerOfficial]

Absolutely. Even though I have the A7rii, I still reach for M4/3 for street and video, to me it just makes the most sense for how and what I shoot. Hype seems to win out when it comes to what people think they need for social media photos though😂 Thanks for watching 🖖