How Much Does Camera Quality Matter for Pics Imported to iMovie?

Question

Hello,
Always appreciate the responses and answers I get from the forum - thanks in advance!
I am considering upgrading my digital SLR to something 10 mp or better. But wondering whether or not at some point the original quality of digital pics no longer matters because of rendering or compression that might take place once imported to iMovie or when bounced to iDVD. Put another way, is it worth spending $1000.00 for a camera thats pictures will end up in iMovie? (Because I like the Ken Burns feature a whole better in iMovie than the ton of work and less than results I get in FCE).
Thanks again!

Answer 1

Kevin,
These are all the pixels you need for iDVD: if you are using NTSC - 720x540 for 4:3 and 854x480 for 16:9; if you are using PAL - 768x576 for 4:3 and 1024x576 for 16:9. If you really like to do high Ken Burns effects zooms, more pixels will be useful, but 10 megapixels is probably more than you really need.
HOWEVER, a $1,000 digital SLR will have a lot of additional features that will give you better pictures. But only you can decide if the extra features are worth it to you.
F Shippey