Is the MegaPixel War Over?

I participated in an interesting survey yesterday. I was asked to choose which of four P&S cameras I would buy, with four differing variables, but all else being the same. I went through 25 or 30 sets of four cameras until survey was complete.

The variables were: hot shoe; grip; zoom; max aperture; how wide; brand; price; camera size; RAW capable; HD video specs; tilt LCD; LCD size; touch screen; manual controls; and maybe on or two more that I can't recall.

What was shockingly missing was MPs. Does that mean the escalation of MPs to market cameras is maybe over? Hopefully it at least means some kind of de-emphasis on it. Also missing, not shockingly, was sensor size.

The one variable that really surprised me was having the option of adding a grip. I've never seen a P&S with a grip, and I did not think that was something anyone has ever really wished for.

I think it's more a case that everybody is now receptive of greater resolution in cameras. More megapixels is not usually a bad thing, there have been very few cameras which have had more pixels but poorer image level performance compared to their predecessors

I think for P&S cameras it may be over until a new sensor technology comes out. I think 10-12MP should be the max for such a tiny sensor. For DSLRs I don't think it's over yet, especially for full-frame.

more and more people that know a little about cameras and come to me for advice on wich one to get are telling me they have read or heard or saw online that megapixels are currently "over the top". People are being told about the fact that 72 dpi is about the highest resolution discernable on a computer screen or digital frame, and higher resolutions are only necessary for "pros". Personally, I think that as long as I am carrying a big old lens that casts an image on the focal plane that requires a full frame sensor to fully utilize, I want that sensor to be full frame. And as long as the pixels are of improving quality as well as of smaller and denser size, I am not necessarily hoping to see an end to the effort to pack more of them into the space available.
I would rather see a "super sensor" that takes in the whole image cast on the focal plane, and lets me determine the crop later on a computer screen. Big old lenses with big round sensors and a viewfinder that shows me everything the lens is projecting on the plane plus a little of whats just outside the image so I can decide if I want to recompose.
But I think you may be right, 80% of the buyers out there would probably buy cameras that were capable of using 20% of the available technology. And those cameras don't require any R+D to market, just market surveys like the one you participated in.

I was hoping, this stupidity ends at 14 Megapix - but then Sony releases the WX9. 16.2 MP on a tiny 1/2.3" sensor. I am sure, we don't have to wait very long for a Casio/Canon/Samsung P&S with the same sensor resolution. OMG - and the people will think, it makes better pics than the 50D with "only" 15 Megapix.

Cheers
flop

Yep. The name of the game is high ISO performance. The Canon S95 is a killer P&S for sure.

teraflop wrote in post #11884140
I was hoping, this stupidity ends at 14 Megapix - but then Sony releases the WX9. 16.2 MP on a tiny 1/2.3" sensor. I am sure, we don't have to wait very long for a Casio/Canon/Samsung P&S with the same sensor resolution. OMG - and the people will think, it makes better pics than the 50D with "only" 15 Megapix.

Cheers
flop

Sad to say, the stupidity never ends. As long as they can find suckers to buy their "new and improved" product, they'll continue to make them.

And then when marketing gets involved.... Well, let's just say you shouldn't believe anything said by marketing.

Remember, a salesman is a person who chooses, chooses, mind you, to lie for a living. But, if he lies too much and too well to be a salesman, he goes into marketing.

20droger wrote in post #11884853
Sad to say, the stupidity never ends. As long as they can find suckers to buy their "new and improved" product, they'll continue to make them.

And then when marketing gets involved.... Well, let's just say you shouldn't believe anything said by marketing.

Remember, a salesman is a person who chooses, chooses, mind you, to lie for a living. But, if he lies too much and too well to be a salesman, he goes into marketing.

? Better technology is stupidity? Satisfying the demands of a market is "finding suckers"? Selling anything is a deliberate choice to lie for a living?

Rodger, I respect you for alot of the posts you put up here, and thank you for the knowledge you have shared.

I have to say, with all respect and humility, that you have quite possibly gone 'round the bend this time.

Except for the part about marketing. The biggest contribution ever made to society in general by a member of any marketing team was the decision to ask me if I wanted fries with that. For that, I am grateful.

birdfromboat wrote in post #11886831
? Better technology is stupidity?

More megapixels on 1/2.3" sensors is not "better technology."

Creating a market specifically to sell inferior products is indeed "finding suckers."

Anyone with half a brain who knows a product and listened to a salesman pitching said product knows that the salesman is: a: a liar; b: grossly uneducated about the product at hand; c: really, really stupid; or d: some combination of the above. I vote for d:.

Thanks, I think.

Wrong! I went 'round the bend years ago. Proof? I'm here posting this twaddle.

Ah! Dealing with PhDs, I see. Probably the result of a liberal education.

Why blame marketing? Blame the design engineers who come up with this stuff

smorter wrote in post #11890865
Why blame marketing? Blame the design engineers who come up with this stuff

The design engineer design what they are told to design. Or, I should say, those things they are told to design that can be designed.

This is a marketing-driven industry. Ergo, an industry run by liars. It's not quite as bad as the automotive industry! Not yet, but they're catching up fast. It makes one feel so proud to be a part of it all.

20droger wrote in post #11891105
This is a marketing-driven industry. Ergo, an industry run by liars. It's not quite as bad as the automotive industry! Not yet, but they're catching up fast. It makes one feel so proud to be a part of it all.

I am in complete agreement. Just because the sensor technology is developing fast enough that per-pixel image quality remains constant or a bit better as the density increases it doesn't mean that we still wouldn't have better quality with larger pixels. The first question most new photographers ask when buying a new camera is still how many MP it has. Why do they ask that? Is it because they know they will need 12MP? No, they ask that because they have been told by the marketing that it's an important parameter. It's not giving the people what they want - it's literally telling them what they should want even if it's not in their best interest.
I love the 10MP of my 1000d. If I upgrade, I'd want something with 7D sensor technology but also 10MP or even less. I would take a 6MP APS-C with a clean ISO3200 over any high-density sensor and I am not the only one.

The MP of a P/S camera is a good way to tell how new the technology is. So take it as that. If consumers want to buy the latest technology, so what? "Buying" is more for personal satisfaction than for utility for most people (even some of us on this forum, it just feels so damn GOOD to have a new toy, whether we need it or not). And if that personal satisfaction comes from the fact that it's the "latest" technology, or they at least THINK it's the latest and greatest technology, they will be happy. And we all know we need more happy people in this world

A woman walks into BestBuy demanding that her camera must have digital zoom. Logic dictates a digital camera have digital zoom, and the more MP's the better. Ifcourse today's 12MP camera reduced to 6mp is better than a 6mp one made 5 years ago. Will cameras go up to 24mp someday, requiring another trip back to Italy where I happily snapped away with a 4mp camera?