Megapixels and Lens Hood help!

Hello,

So I'm a beginner to photography and I was wondering does megapixel on a camera affect the IQ that much? For an example, I'm planning to purchase a bridge camera and the Canon sx40 hs has 12.1 mp, vs the Sony HV100x which has 16.2 mp. Does this mean the Sony HV100X will have much better IQ than the Canon?

Also do lens hood affect the lighting that much on cameras? On Canon's website you're able to purchase a lens hood (~$25) on the superzoom Canon sx40 hs, even though it's not a DSLR, will the lens hood be necessary for this camera or any other superzoom bridge?

Thanks!
-0ptics

Let me start by saying that you don't find many Bridge fans on this site. On paper a bridge looks attractive - lots of megapixels, huge zoom range, compared with the DSLR cameras that most active members on the site use.

The problem with bridge cameras is that the sensor is tiny. This means that the pixels on the sensor are very small, therefore they capture less light, they have more "noise" as you increase the ISO, highlights burn out more abruptly... The "super-zoom" lens is also a compromise with often lots of distortion, light fall-off, etc.

My sister has a Bridge because she likes photographing birds (long zoom) and it's handy to carry around. I've tried her camera and it's not bad at all - but then she never makes prints bigger than postcard size.

6Mpix is enough for most uses. I think that 12Mpix is more than enough and 16Mpix is overkill. I suspect that Canon have been smarter than Sony by limiting their design to 12Mpix (therefore bigger pixels). But I wouldn't buy either of these cameras.

Yes a lens hood is a good idea with any lens, especially a complex superzoom with lots of glass elements to create flare if the sun is coming from the side and hitting the lens.