Do Megapixels Matter?
Lesson 7 from: Using Your Apple iPhone 7/7 Plus for Great PhotosJulia Kelleher
Do Megapixels Matter?
Lesson 7 from: Using Your Apple iPhone 7/7 Plus for Great PhotosJulia Kelleher
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Lesson Info
Do Megapixels Matter?
One thing that professional camera sellers always want to tell you, is things about megapixels. And that's always the new marketing language, "Oh, it's got this many megapixels" Or, "Oh, new, so many more megapixels" Okay? That is, in essence, true, it does mean better quality, but it's kind of misleading in a lot of ways. Megapixels, the question is, do they really matter? Yes, to a degree, but only in certain situations. So try not to get sucked in too much to that sales language of, "Oh, it's our 24-megapixel camera." Okay? So, if there's so much more that goes along with that, to really determine the quality of a camera, or it's lenses. Now, the Apple iPhone 7, and 7 plus, does have a few more megapixels. This time, it's got 12 in the rear, so on this side of the camera, and the other side, this is where the changes are, the front facing camera. For all those fun selfies, that is now a 7-megapixel camera, which, yes, that leads to improvement in the images that you take, and the im...
ages that you see in resolution on screens, whether be on a computer screen, or on a 4K television, or things like that. But, what's really important to understand is why megapixels matter, and when do they matter? They matter, especially when it comes to printing, and this is critical. The larger the megapixel of file, in other words, the larger amount of information that's stored in that file, the greater you're going to be able to blow up that image to a large size. Now, is that super important or critical for your snapshots? Maybe not. Chances are you just want to make a little 5 by 7 or by 10 to put on your wall, or on your desk, or next to your nightstand. But, that one image, that one that's just so beautiful with the landscape that you shot on vacation in the Grand Canyon, oh then it's going to become important. You want to put it over your sofa, you're going to need a powerful megapixel camera to be able to do that, and the Apple iPhone 7 will allow that. You know, it's especially going to be important if you crop in. Say, for example, you take a photo and you need to crop in real close because there's one little part of the image that you're just in love with, and the rest of it is like, "No." Okay, if you're going to crop in and then print, yes, you're shrinking down the size of the file when you crop. So the more file you have to begin with, the easier it's going to print when you crop it down. Does that make sense? So when it comes to cropping, having a large megapixel file is really important. And then finally, what about on screen? Well, this is where it's not so important. Honestly, a 2-megapixel file, will show brilliantly on any kind of screen. Now, it really only becomes important when you're looking at putting an image on a 4K TV. So, this high definition televisions that are coming out, that HDR technology, 4K video, and all that, yeah, that's when it's important to have a few more megapixels. You need about eight to really show up beautifully for that high resolution on today's future forward thinking technology-type screen that have a lot more resolution. So, it's not as important on your phone to have a large megapixel image to look at, but it will become important once you graduate to a better TV and you want to say AirPlay some images to that TV, but, your computer screen, your phone, your iPad, it's okay to have a smaller megapixel image. So, yes, do megapixels matter? They do, but not that critical. And here's a classic example. I shot this image just outside my window when we got dumped on with snow, and you can see, I took a 1-megapixel image, and I took a 12-megapixel image. Can you see the difference? I can't. And that's the whole point. What really matters is that when it comes to printing, when it comes to cropping, and when it comes to showing on screens that are advanced, like 4K technology, or HD technology, that's the newer TVs that have really been released only in the last year or so. So do megapixels matter? Yes they do, but it may not be as important as the sales guy who's trying to sell you that camera that has more megapixels. We're going to do a little bit of a tests, take a selfie, and show you what the front camera, and that higher megapixel image looks like. Okay. So now I'm on my phone, and I'm totally showing a picture of Chris, my camera operator here. Oh, and here's Gabe, two of them. First, we've got to switch the camera around, right? If we're actually going to take a selfie, we've got to instead turn the camera away from Chris, and on to me. So the way to do that, is to simply on the lower right hand corner of your iPhone screen, right here, is this little camera icon, with a whirly arrow going around. You just press on that, and, voila, now the camera is pointed on me. So to take a selfie, I mean, how often? It's not hard. It's really just showing the coolness of the camera, and the megapixels, and what it does to improve the image. Okay? So here we are on we call the Grid Wall, all these cameras will do, hey, the duck face. Now, that's when I recommend you don't do because you know everybody does that and... Yeah, not in my professional recommendation. Anyway, just take a selfie, one of the fun things and ways to do it, is to tilt your camera, and hold it up. Now, we've got…so you see that shadow falling over me, I see that…and that's being made from the house lights that are here videoing in the CreativeLive studio. If I just move slightly…and it's also my arm, there we go. Because sometimes you have to figure out where the shadow's coming from. You see how I'm casting a shadow from the phone myself? So I'll just go ahead and kind of turn it, and hold it up. And of course, never forget when you take your selfife, to actually look at the lens. I see so many people who are looking at the screen, and that like, casts your gaze off. So if you did want to take a selfie, just do it with… Let's try it with this way. Left-handed selfie, won't that be fun? Here we go, left-handed selfie. Like that. Let's get the cool background going on, there we go. See how I eliminate the shadows simply by switching hands? And note that you can take a picture, by actually pressing the volume buttons on your camera. You don't have to always press the little white screen button, you can press the camera, the volume button, and that will take an image as well. So there we go, one, two, selfie. Holding it up, of course, will slim the body, and it accentuates the face as the highlight of the image rather than your chest, or your shoulders, or whatever. So I always recommend holding it a little bit higher, taking that selfie, and voila, the 7-megapixel camera on the front, works not only for taking fun selfies and posting them, but also if you're going to do a video, like Facebook Live, or Periscope, or something like that, the 7-megapixel camera, works on video as well.
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Ratings and Reviews
user-456dfb
Julia Kelleher does a super great job in this class of relating to her audience. Her information doesn't presume prior knowledge. She breaks down technical information in a way that makes the viewers feel smart. She assumes an intelligent, artistically-minded viewer, which is a great, positive quality. Kelleher's review of the iPhone 7 and 7+ is in depth.. Every point is demonstrated on camera. I had my camera out in order to follow along and feel that I learned a lot, even though I thought I had all this down. This course offers a lot of value, and I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to take better photographs with their Apple iPhone 7 or 7+.
Angenise Rawls
This is awesome! Not only does Julia teach how to use the iPhone 7/7+ to take great pics, but also video (and even a live Facebook Live demo) which is applicable for personal and business! Talk about how to promote yourself! This class makes me feel more equipped to succeed in business! And get my pics off my phone and into my life! Thanks Julia! You've done it again!
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