JPG with more MP is smaller than one with less? Wth?

[Black Panther]

I dunno if I'm missing out something here...

So I got a 4 megapixel camera, and also a phone with a 5 MP camera.

They both take pics in jpg format.

4MP Canon - 2274x1704 - size of picture always over 1MB.

5MP Phone - 2560x1920 - size of picture always under 500KB

Why is the larger size picture smaller in storage size?

 

[Kreij]

JPeg allows for varied compression ratios. The Phone is probably doing more compression than the camera.

 

[Black Panther]

That makes sense...

Thing is my dad's insisting (prolly out of envy lol) that my camera phone is still of a lower quality than that of my older canon notwithstanding cam phone being 5MP and canon being 4MP...

Gotta know what to reply to his "I told you so: look your phone photo is 400MB and your cam photos used to be 1.4MB".....

 

[Darknova]

Megapixels doesn't mean image quality.

My 7MP digital camera is worse quality than my father's 5MP Nikon Digital Camera (I got mine free, so I'm not complaining).

 

[Black Panther]

Megapixels doesn't mean image quality.

So apparently my dad's got a point here...

He had given me his canon for free too lol... prolly that's why he insists on defending it!

So what should one consider in camera image quality if not megapixels?

 

[Kreij]

Best way to reply is to say, "Of course, Dad, you have a camera and this is just a phone. Your pictures always turn out better." Then give him a hug. A hug is much better than megapixels.

 

[Darknova]

So apparently my dad's got a point here...

He had given me his canon for free too lol... prolly that's why he insists on defending it!

So what should one consider in camera image quality if not megapixels?

Take a picture at full resolution on both and compare them, that's the only way to tell.

My dad's Nikon takes sharper, more vibrant pictures than my Medion 7MP one. Even my Nokia N95 takes better pics than the Medion

 

[Kreij]

Megapixels are not the end all in image quality. It completely depeds upon what you are going to do with the images. If you are simply putting stuff on the internet, then a 1MP images is fine. IT does not make a while lot of sense to have a 12MP image if you are going to end up reducing it to the point where it will be internet friendly (~2MB).

My Nikon D300 takes excellent pictures, but in the highest res they are saved as tif's to the tune of 36MB. Great for zooming in, not so great for posting on TPU.

What are you going to do with the images, BP?

 

[Black Panther]

What are you going to do with the images, BP?

Basically I save family photos and also like taking scenery photos.

I was however just curious whether the cam phone was 'gimicky' as my dad says... or not...

 

[mikek75]

Your dad is talking sense BlackPanther. Most camera phones have plastic lenses whereas the Canon almost certainly has a glass lens. That doesn't affect image size of course, but the overall picture (sharpness, saturation etc) should be much better on the dedicated camera.

 

[mrw1986]

If your phone is a Sony or Nokia with a Carl Zeiss lens you are in business. Chances are the photos will be better than your Canon.

 

[newtekie1]

It all comes down to JPEG's ability to have different quality options, which basically control how much each image is compressed. This is the same reason most digital cameras offer different quality settings for the same MP setting. For example, my Sony offers 7MP Fine and 7MP Standard. Both are 7MP images, but the Standard images are compressed more, and the artifacts from compression are noticeable.

Just as an extreme example here is the same image:

High Quality

Low Quality

Both were taken from the exact same image, with the exact same dimensions, the only difference is the amount of compression applied to each image.

 

[mikek75]

Look at the size of a camera phone lens, they are just too small to gather enough light to take a quality picture. Just because it says "Carl Zeiss" does not mean its a quality lens, thats just marketing.

 

[Polarman]

Don't forget that the pictures content (colors) can affect the size of the jpg also.

 

[mrw1986]

Look at the size of a camera phone lens, they are just too small to gather enough light to take a quality picture. Just because it says "Carl Zeiss" does not mean its a quality lens, thats just marketing.

Uhh...I realize that. Have you seen the lens on an N97 or similar phone? You probably haven't. Also, it isn't just marketing. Some brand lenses are better than others.

 

[lemonadesoda]

I was however just curious whether the cam phone was 'gimicky' as my dad says... or not...

Your dad is correct. A cam phone is gimicky. Use it only to get a snapshot of a moment when you dont have a proper camera. For any picture you PLAN to take, use the camera.

That's 1-0 to dad!

 

[mikek75]

Uhh...I realize that. Have you seen the lens on an N97 or similar phone? Also, it isn't just marketing. Some brand lenses are better than others.

I know VERY well that some brands of lens are better than others. But, the tiny lens you get on a camera phone is just too small to gather enough light to compete with a dedicated camera lens, I couldn't give a fudge who makes it.

 

[lemonadesoda]

osso buco at the TPU diner tonite!

Seriously, go to A&E and get it X-rayed and get a junior doctor to prescribe some pain killers, plint it, and put your mind at rest. OK, so maybe it's 50/50 he'll get the diagnosis wrong, but if there is a serious issue that really requires attention, he will spot it.

 

[erocker]

Your posts have been edited. Behave yourselves. If you cannot post in a polite, helpful and respectful manner, please don't bother posting. By calling each other names like children you are doing no help to the topic of this thread.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

It hasn't been mentioned here yet so it should be said: dots per inch (dpi) can also have an enormous effect on size/quality of an image. The higher the dpi, the larger the filesize and the clearer the picture.


JPEG compression is usually the number one culprit. Lossless photos are ideal for quality if your camera supports PNG or BMP formats. It will take more space on the storage medium but no quality of the image will be lost.