Is a 10 MP DSLR camera better than a 12 MP regular digital camera?

I already have a regular digital camera (NIkon s3000) and it has 12 MP. I want to invest in a DSLR but I'm not sure where to start. I found a Sony Alpha 230L that is 10 MP. Would I get better quality pictures from the DSLR or the regular nikon camera?

Megapixels do not determine quality at all. My Nikon D40, which is 6mp takes much better pictures than ANY point and shoot

if you like the sony, get it. I will advise you to look at Nikon and Canon, as they are a tad better, and have a much larger selection

Nikon has been making 35 mm SLR and dSLR's longer than Sony, so that may be what you want to consider rather than the pixel count, so choosing a dSLR made by Nikon might be a better choice.

The difference between a 12 mp P&S camera with their tiny sensors, vs a dSLR is huge. The dSLR wins every time, even a 6 mp dSLR will out perform a 14 mp P&S camera.

More on pixels

http://www.kenrockwell.com/...mpmyth.htm

A P&S camera is NOT an investment and really neither is a dSLR, since both are replaced within about 5 years. What is an investment are the lenses you buy for your dSLR and Nikon clearly has a larger array of lenses, both new and used that will work on their dSLR cameras

Truth be told, its much less about megapixels and more about sensor size. The sensor in the Nikon S3000 measures a minuscule 6.16mm x 4.62mm while the sensor in the Sony A230 measures a robust 23.6mm x 15.8mm - about 13 times bigger. Now consider that Nikon crammed 12, 000, 000 pixels into a tiny sensor while Sony had plenty of room for a mere 10, 000, 000 pixels and think how much bigger each individual pixel on the Sony sensor is - and bigger pixels means better image quality once the sensor size is taken into consideration.

The Sony A230L will be a much better choice. It can also use all the legacy Minolta Maxxum AF lenses dating back to 1985 and, because Sony has a focusing motor in the A230L body, those lenses will auto focus. Note that the Nikon D3000, D3100 and D5000 all require the more expensive Nikon AF-S lenses if you want auto focus. All those less expensive Nikon AF lenses can be used but only with manual focus.

Enjoy your new Sony A230L.

As everyone else already said, yes the slr will be better. There are limits to how many MegaPixels are good and how many is too much. 10MP is good amount for an slr. I think 12-15 is perfect. Any more than that is unnecessary. I have a 15MP DSLR which uses a crop sensor (like the Sony you are looking at) and a 12.8MP DSLR with a full frame sensor (much larger). The 12.8MP camera's photos are far better because the sensor is larger. They look sharper and cleaner.

Yes you will, as others have stated, mpix doesn't matter, it is the size of the sensor inside the camera that matters and dSLR's have a much larger sensor than compacts.

A couple of things to be aware of:

dSLRs come with a 18-55mm lens. You will not be able to zoom as much as you would with the S3000.To obtain the same/more zoom range you would need an additional lens, like a 55-200mm.

The A230L does have a rear LCD to show you the picture AFTER you have taken it, but not before you have taken it. You will be looking through the viewfinder when you take a picture. So it is not like a compact where you look at the rear LCD as you take a picture.

The A230L is in the A2xx series of cameras, they do not have this live-view feature, the Sony A3xx series (A300, A330, A350, A380, A390) do have "live-view", as does the A5xx series.

Yes, go for DSLR every time. The bigger sensor gives the image room to breathe. The SLR viewfinder is best, especially with a long zoom. For general use 6 or 8 MPs is fine, so 10 is more than you need.

It all depends upon your sensor size of the ccd or the cmos… So see the size online.
DSLR has aprrox 12 times bigger sensor… Google the sizes… But dslr is way better than a point to shoot.