Myths vs Truths

I want to clear up a couple myths for you beginners. First, more megapixels DOES NOT mean better image quality. The current maximum resolution that digital cameras are capable of is 300 dots per inch. Most standard inkjet printers are unable to print on paper bigger than 8.5 by 11 inches, and only in very rare cases will you find photography customers ordering prints bigger than 8 inches by 10 inches. In either case, the best way to know how many megapixels you actually NEED is to take 300 and multiply it by both the horizontal and vertical dimensions of the paper size you will be using for the prints. For example, let's use 8 by 10 photo paper, since that is the largest that most photography customers generally order. 300 times 8 is 2400, or 2400 dots per inch on the horizontal resolution. 300 times 10 is 3000, or 3000 dots per inch on the vertical resolution. Now, take 2400 and multiply it by 3000 and you get 7.2 million. This means that for an 8x10 sheet of photo paper, you only need a camera with 7.2 megapixels to produce the best quality image on that size paper. Any camera with more megapixels is not going to produce a better quality image on that size paper. There would be no difference in picture quality on an 8x10 sheet of photo paper between an 8 megapixel Canon EOS 20D and the 18 megapixel Canon EOS Rebel T5i.

The second myth I want to dispel is the claim that f/stop matters. It only really matters in low-light situations if you are unable to use the flash. Many professional photographers will try to tell you that the thousand-dollar lenses produce better quality pictures than a $300 lens. They aren't telling you the full truth. The quality of the image a lens is capable of producing depends on many factors. Cost has nothing to do with it. The glass a lens uses has very little to do with it. Glass is glass. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. The ONLY time you would need a lens capable of f/stops as low as 2.8 or lower is if you are doing night-time photography with very low existing ambient light and you are in a place where you cannot use a flash. In the vast majority of cases, if you are going to be doing portraiture or weddings or other kinds of events, you would not need a lens capable of those low f/stops.

The third myth I want to dispel is the "cheap or good" myth. Many professional photographers will tell their customers that they cannot have both good and cheap. Yes, actually, they can. The reason many professional photographers think otherwise is because they trade up to new cameras every time a newer one comes out instead of keeping the ones that are tried and tested. A Canon EOS 20D will not be any worse than a Canon Rebel T5i for shooting portraits or weddings, and a used Canon EOS 20D in Very Good or Like New condition is a fraction of the cost of a brand new Canon Rebel T5i, so you get both cheap and good with a used camera and used lenses.

The final myth I want to dispel is the mentality among photographers that you have to "Take 100 pictures just to get 10 good ones". Many of those same photographers have never made a profit off shooting film, and many will tell you its not possible to make a profit off shooting film. I am here to tell you it is possible and if you grew up back in the days of the Canon EOS Rebel G 35mm film SLR, you would know many professionals made a living off the Rebel G quite easily. If you want to "stand out from the crowd", get used to making each shot count. A professional photographer who began his career shooting film will know how to make a profit by shooting 10 shots and having no less than 8 of them come out worthy of their profile. You can tell who understands this and who doesn't by listening to how many times they release the shutter during a single moment in the event. If they have the camera in rapid-fire mode and you hear the shutter release 10 times in 5 seconds and all they are doing is taking a portrait of a person, that photographer has either never shot film or has never learned how to make a profit off shooting film.

Remember, megapixels sell cameras.  Skill is what wins you customers.