Can changing lenses affect the megapixel count on a Nikon D40?
Asked 1/23/2012
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I have a Nikon D40 with a 6.1-megapixel sensor and I’m thinking about buying another lens. Can swapping lenses increase or decrease the camera’s megapixel count, or does that stay fixed?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
14y ago
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The number of megapixels of a camera is determined by the resolution of the camera's sensor, which is part of the camera body. It cannot be altered by a lens.
Originally by user89. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user89
14y ago
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Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
No. The megapixel count is determined by the camera’s sensor in the body, so changing lenses will not increase or decrease the Nikon D40’s 6.1MP resolution.
What a lens can affect is image sharpness. A better lens may help you get closer to the sensor’s full potential, while a very poor lens can reduce the effective detail captured. But the file size in megapixels stays the same.
A special case exists on some full-frame cameras when using a smaller APS-C/DX lens: the camera may crop the image area, which reduces usable resolution. That exception does not apply to the Nikon D40, since it is already a DX-format camera.
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