Why dynamic range is more important than megapixels

Do megapixels really matter? Well, of course they do, but they don’t take the first place when it comes to the importance. According to photographer Manny Ortiz, a good dynamic range is what you should look for in a camera. In his latest video, he shares why both are important – but also why dynamic range matters more.

You’ll see plenty of blog posts and articles stating that megapixels don’t matter. Well, they do, and there are certainly some advantages to the cameras with lots of megapixels. For example, you can reframe the photo and still have enough resolution. Or, you can turn a portrait photo into a landscape one, and vice versa. So, it’s not that megapixels don’t matter, but according to Manny – they don’t matter that much. What you should really look for is the high dynamic range.

Put simply, dynamic range is the range of brightness your camera sensor is capable of recording. The higher the dynamic range, the more details will be retained in the shadows and highlights. If you want to boost the shadows, you’ll be able to do it without getting the noise in dark areas. If you want to recover the blown out highlights, good dynamic range allows you to bring back a lot of details. In a word, good dynamic range gives you much more control over your images, and a lot more space to correct the mistakes without compromising the image quality.

To be honest, I didn’t think about the dynamic range when I was buying my first DSLR. But only when I compare it with the new one, I realize why dynamic range is so important. I didn’t even make a serious upgrade (from Nikon D3000 to D7000), yet the difference is obvious. So, if you’re looking into buying a new camera, just like Manny – I also suggest you give dynamic range the advantage over the megapixel count.

[THIS is more IMPORTANT than having all those MEGAPIXELS | Manny Ortiz]