How many Megapixels is required for a Digital Camera to be as good as Film?

As with most things, "it depends."

Film is an analog format, made of particles of various types. These particles are not of uniform size, so it's hard to get an exact "count" of how many are in a single 35mm frame.

In addition, the size of the particle varies depending on the speed of the film being used. Fast film (higher ASA number) has larger particles and slower film has smaller particles. These larger particles are what cause "grain" in high ASA film.

There are considerations to take into account on the digital camera side, also. When most digital cameras go above about 100 ASA, you will start to see a fair amount of noise (the digital equivalent to grain) because of the inherant electrical properties of the CCD chip. This can be mitigated by a CCD that has a smaller pixel density (ie larger CCD) - but you typically need to get a digital SLR for this.

So, in many cases the answer to your question is dependent more on the noisiness of the CCD rather than the true pixel count. A noisy 8MP image can look worse than a very clean 5MP picture.

Having said all of that, most of today's 6+ MP digital cameras can create an 8"x10" print that looks pretty close to a 35mm print, as long as it's taken at low ASA under the right conditions. If you want to make larger prints than this, then you need to look into a camera that has more resolution and low noise. In most circumstances, a digital SLR of 8-12MP will give you incredible performance and very low noise.

35mm color film is equivalent to roughly 8MP, so digital cameras are already there. The digital SLRs are, anyway. The sensors in digital compact cameras are so tiny that although they have the same resolution (quantity), they lack the quality of film.

Also, film still has a little more dynamic range - another quality aspect. What this means, is that digital cameras clip the highlights sooner. (Companies like Canon, Sony and Foveon are still working on this.)

On the plus side, digital cameras are already much better than film at low light photography. You can shoot digital SLRs at ISO ratings of 1600+ and still get crisp images. With film, those speeds would produce a grainy mush.

These days, film only has real advantages for black and white art photography and for poster size prints (with medium format/ large format negatives).

The prices of digital cameras have gone down quite a bit in the last year. For the average price of various camera brands/models and megapixels; I recommend at least a 5 megapixel camera with a minimum of 2.5 inch viewing screen (you'll find there are many that offer 3 inch screens); speaker/microphone built-in, flash, self-timer, red-eye reduction, lithium ion rechargeable battery, auto focus assist beam, macro setting, adjustable ISO, video mode, compact in size and weight.

5 megapixels is all you need for excellent enlargements up to 11 X 14.

I personally set my camera at about 2 megapixels. It conserves memory and my 8 X 10 enlargements are great. I have no need for more then that.

Sony's 12 megapixel camera

It is hard to tell, but according to a research by some people (i was told in the training - i work for the professional photographic store), you need at least 20 Million Effective pixels to get similar quality to a film.

If you have heard about these professional camera makers Bronica or Mamiya, they now sell Digital backs for their Medium format Cameras which costs almost 10,000 pounds and they are about 20 million pixels at least.

There is a difference between Effective pixels and Interpolated pixels. Fuji cameras when they say 12 million pixels (it is actually 6 million effective and 12 million interpolated). Interpolation is done in camera's processor. The image looses its sharpness.

no amt of megapixels can match the quality of film.. but if u need a decent photograph & wanna buy a cheap camera u can purchase any where from 4-6 MP.

The size of the sensor is more important than the pixels. A 6MP full size sensor has better quality than the 8MP P&S. Normally, the 6MP+ DSLR is as good as film camera.

In my opinion you need at least 16mp to match film but digital has other advantages over film such as color depth so it is well worth using at this point.

5 mega pixels will get you a good pic but to get as good as film you need 10 or 12 mega pixels.