Camera Resolution Calculator.
Camera Resolution Calculator
Millimeters per pixel from your camera and framing, and a plain verdict on what that view can actually see.
How to read the result
The number that decides what a camera can tell you is not megapixels. It is how many millimeters of subject each pixel covers: the width the camera sees, divided by the pixels across the frame. Seeing an object reliably takes roughly 8 to 10 pixels across it, not 2 or 3, so the verdicts above use 8 pixels as the "clear" line and 4 as the edge of "maybe."
Two honest caveats. First, this is arithmetic, not a field test: it is the best your sensor can do at that framing. Second, real cameras usually deliver less than the arithmetic, because inexpensive lenses cannot feed the sensor's full pixel count and in-camera processing smooths away fine detail. Treat a "marginal" verdict as a "no" you occasionally get lucky on.
The cheap lever is framing, not shopping. Halve the distance and every verdict improves twofold, for free. A 2 MP camera a foot from a leaf sees more than a 12 MP camera across the room. The whole argument lives at Imaging in agriculture, and the card that lets you verify scale per frame is the Station Card.
How big the things you care about are
| Target | Approximate size | Pixels needed for ~0.3 mm/px |
|---|---|---|
| Spider mite | ~0.4 mm | 1 to 2 px: not detectable at bench framing; a close-up job |
| Thrips | 1 to 2 mm | ~5 px: marginal |
| Aphid | 2 to 3 mm | ~8 px: detectable |
| Early powdery mildew colony | 2 to 3 mm | ~8 px: detectable |
| Early leaf-spot lesion | 2 to 5 mm | ~10 px: detectable |
| Seedling emergence | ~5 mm and up | Comfortable |
| Canopy cover, color, growth | whole-plant scale | Any camera on this page |
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