W350: which image size to choose?

[Ali1234]

Hiya!

Im not very knowledgeable and digital cameras but bought a cybershot w350 yesterday as i thought 14MP sounded pretty good. However am a bit confused when reading the handbook and section on Image Size.

I would be taking photos that i would want to develop in normal size and would perhaps email onto friends. But it recommends 5MP or VGA for these......which i thought was a far lesser quality photo? If i printed photos taken at 14MP in normal size would they come out unclear?

Perhaps i would have been better off buying a 5MP camera if i only wanted to print standard size photos??

Been googling a lot but cannot find an answer!!!

Thanks

[Blencogo]

I would always shoot pictures in the highest quality setting available - in your case the top choice of 4:3 @ 14M Pixels.  This will take up more space but memory cards and computer storage is quite cheap these days and you can always transfer your library to DVD very cheaply if you run out of space by having a massive library.

This means that you will have a 'master' copy in very high quality (just in case you take a masterpiece!) and you can then print the picture or send by email in High Definition or in any lesser quality you choose.  Most picture packages allow you to chose the quality in dots per inch and most email programs offer a conversion to a smaller file size for sending over the net.

I hope you enjoy your new camera.

[Ali1234]

Thank you so much for your help!! I had been driving everyone mad asking!