Megapixel question

[Jeff Saunders]

Hi All,

Do you think lower megapixel images on Alamy such FujiX 16mp are at a disadvantage to say a higher res Canon or Nikon file?

Just thinking about selling my Canon gear to completely switch to Fuji.

 

best regards

Jeff

[vpics]

No. I make my Canon files smaller so they're sharper. Most sales are for web or editorial. File sizes with 3600px length should be okay in most instances.

[John Mitchell]

Tough question to answer. I use 14MP and 16MP cameras (Sony) and have never been asked for a larger file. I also downsize fairly often. As vpics mentioned above, most editorial uses are small. Many of my best-selling images on Alamy were captured with a 10MP camera.

[Bryan]

While I agree with what has been said above, customers can, and very occasionally do, search by minimum filesize.

 

I've seen this a very few times in the analysis of customer data pertaining to my collection (FS). Clearly this search would not have appeared if my files were of an insufficient size, and consequently I am presumably missing some searches for which my images cannot compete. So a minority of potential sales do depend upon the megapixels. For editorial use this is normally of no consequence, while one of my best earning images was taken with an 8 megapixel camera, for calendar usage.

 

Those few scenes that do require more dots - maybe scenic views, townscapes etc, can be shot in portrait orientation as a panorama, and stitched using your favourite software. A mural on an office wall perhaps?

 

I can only imagine that big budget advertising photos are one of the few areas where size does matter, but I don't play in that league.

[Armstrong]

I agree with Bryan's comments.

 

I'd add what I said in another thread about file size....that monitor resolutions are getting ever higher. The new 27" iMac is 5120*2880.  Whilst most really large uses (billboards etc) are print based, potential buyers will still view on a screen first. Contributors regularly report sales of images from 8 years ago so perhaps the bigger file sizes are a way of future proofing your images a little?

[Allan Bell]

Hi All,

Do you think lower megapixel images on Alamy such FujiX 16mp are at a disadvantage to say a higher res Canon or Nikon file?

 

Just thinking about selling my Canon gear to completely switch to Fuji.

 

best regards

Jeff

 

For differing reasons I sold all my FujiX gear and migrated to full frame Nikon.

 

Allan

[Southpole]

I sold more image with my Fuji than my previous full frame Nikon D700

[Guest]

For commercial work, a 50MB file is on the money for stock work. I have to downsize from a 5D2 to supply some aggregators - they don't accept bigger files. For editorial, 16MP is fine. It's more important how good the sensor is, not how many pixels they have crammed on to it.

 

Whatever camera allows you to be your most creative has the right number of pixels....clients prefer that camera as well.

[John Mitchell]

I had a an image from a 10 MP camera lease for "billboard" use. Mind you, it might have been a very small billboard.

[Bill Brooks]

File size at minimum will not make a difference to most buyers.

 

If file size does make a difference, the file size is on the Alamy buyer page for the image. You may lose those few sales based on too small file size.

 

Billboards can be minimum file size because they are viewed from a long distance. In store, point of purchase images, have to be large file size because they are viewed from only a few feet away.