Higher megapixels in digital cameras can be a bad thing
By Mike Ferro
One of the biggest misconceptions about digital cameras is the misleading connection between megapixels and camera quality. Digital cameras are often marketed with an emphasis on the megapixels rather than photo quality. As a result, a popular misconception many consumers have is that megapixels and quality go hand-in-hand, which is definitely not the case.
Somehow megapixels have become the standard for measuring the quality of a camera, similar to the way computer performance is linked to CPU speed. However, unlike computers, megapixels have very little to do with performance or actual picture quality. Higher megapixels actually contribute very little to characteristics such as color reproduction, lighting and focus.
Over the years manufacturers have upped the megapixels in the cameras while using it as a major selling point to the consumers. However, according to ZDNet one representative from Olympus is speaking out by stating that 12 megapixels is more than enough for most people. Akira Watanabe, manager of Olympus Imaging’s SLR planning department, stated, "Twelve megapixels is, I think, enough for covering most applications most customers need."
Printing super big pictures without pixelation is probably the main benefit in upping the megapixels in digital cameras. Unless you want a picture that is the size of a wall, you could print a perfect 8×10-inch picture with a 3 megapixel camera.
Having higher megapixels also means that each pixel is smaller, which often results in noise and specks. High megapixels can also contribute to issues in lighting and dynamic range. Another issue high megapixels pose is the reduction in storage capacity.
Olympus has indicated that the company will no longer focus so much on the megapixels and work on improving other characteristics such as color, dynamic range and better ISO range. It makes sense to focus on the features that will deliver a better picture quality rather than focus on needless things such as high megapixels. It really would be great if a manufacturer could develop a camera that takes perfect pictures regardless of user error.
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Read more entries by Mike Ferro.
Stumble It!
March 9th, 2009
I have been saying this for years. I recently picked up a little compact Samsung to complement my DSLR. Yet some bright spark thought it would be a good idea to stick a 14mp sensor into the little thing. The result is a large image size with mediocre image quality. I would have preferred a 7mp sensor of a better quality, but alas the marketing men are getting their own way at the moment. Although it looks like things might be changing. The latest Ricoh for example appears to be “sacrificing” resolution for a greater dynamic range and quality.
March 9th, 2009
The lens is everything.
If you have a sh*tty lens handling the image coming in then you can only end up with a sh*tty image being recorded.
The trouble is that quality lenses cost and being all about high-end optics are never going to come down in price in the same way that ‘10 megapixels!’ etc etc blah blah has done.