newbie to photography

[Acke61]

well for one...i just bought a camera...i might be willing to return it and buy something different based on opinions i get.

2. i want to practice doing long exposure shots at night and doing panoramic shots. i did one panoramic already using photoshop to pan them together and it turned out ok.

I just purchased a Canon Powershot A590IS 8 mega pixel. I was thinking of going with a 12 mega pixel although this was a good deal in my opinion. It says it has full manual mode.

Will this camera suit my needs and is 8 mega pixel enough to do large prints like 11x14?

Will i be able to do nice shots at night like Pico23's fireworks shot at lake placid?

I'm sure i will have many more questions....thanks guys

by the way i'm new here...first post...

[Hobbitling]

the manual mode will help with the panoramas. if you use automatic modes the different shots will have different exposures and you will see lines between them.

[pico23]

well for one...i just bought a camera...i might be willing to return it and buy something different based on opinions i get.

2. i want to practice doing long exposure shots at night and doing panoramic shots. i did one panoramic already using photoshop to pan them together and it turned out ok.

I just purchased a Canon Powershot A590IS 8 mega pixel. I was thinking of going with a 12 mega pixel although this was a good deal in my opinion. It says it has full manual mode.

Will this camera suit my needs and is 8 mega pixel enough to do large prints like 11x14?

Will i be able to do nice shots at night like Pico23's fireworks shot at lake placid?

I'm sure i will have many more questions....thanks guys

by the way i'm new here...first post...

Thanks for the comments on the fireworks. the ability of the sensor to stay on for extended shots will be the main limitation of firework or any longer exposure type shots.

Pixels are the most misunderstood thing on earth. I firmly believe we have more understanding of the big bang theory or the garden of eden.

Simply put the amount of pixels in themselves NEVER EVER give you a certain print size as a constant.

That said, you could print flawless 8x10s from a 4MP and 6MP gives similar 16x18s...so yeah, 8MP will pump out 11x14s.

The general rule for digital files is 100-200 quality pixels per inch using a continuous tone printer. So 8x10 requires no more than 1600x2000 pixels, 11x14 requires 2200x2800 pixels. What is hard for most people to undestand is the larger the print size the less pixels per inch you need. So while a 5x7 might look best with 1000x1400 pixels. a 20x30 will look equally good at 2000x3000 pixels.

Of course the variabilities of sensor design (incudling photo size site and pixel pitch), ISO, noise, lines of resolution, printer used (inkjet vs continuous tone), and etc etc all add up to print size and quality. Then toss in lens quality, camera shake, and proper exposure on top of all that.

So really there is no magic # of pixels. Just a general rule of 150 pixels per inch.