Camera Pixel Rating

This question was sent in by EmmCee:

Thanks for a really great book and collection of photos. This has long been needed and I am looking forward to getting more involved with Photoshop over the next few weeks.

As I see what you teach to work with some of the photos on the CD, I am inspired to go out and start taking pictures of some of my favorite places where I paint, so I can continue to work on paintings in my studio, particularly when the weather is not too hospitable.

However, the various cameras I have checked have various pixel ratings - 3 megapixels, 4.1 megapixels, etc. If I am looking to capture images at no more than 300 ppi, what rating do I need to have to be sure I get the desired ppi image?

Thanks for your help.

And here is my reply:

I think you want at least a 3 mega-pixel camera. 4 mega-pixels is pretty common at an affordable price these days, and more expensive consumer cameras go up to 10 mega-pixels.

In the camera settings, be sure to set the resolution to 'Fine' or whatever the highest setting is - so that your photos will be at least 300 p.p.i.