Why do people believe the hype regarding mega-pixels with digital cameras?

Question

If I took 100 Photos with a 10 Mega-pixel camera and 100 Photos with a 13 Mega-pixel camera. Printed them with the same printer and mixed them up. I bet you could not put them back into the correct piles..
You can blow up a 10 megapixel photo the size of a poster before it starts to "Pixalate"
Sorry for the rant.. It is just ill informed people who "Believe the hype" drive me nuts.
Have a great day

Answer 1

Because that is what is plastered on the camera itself. Apart from the brand, the next visible thing you'll see is the megapixel count so that is what the uninformed identify cameras with.



I got a 12MP camera for free but since I abhor the steep prices of the original memory stick (which I had to buy), I shoot exclusively at 6MP to pack more pictures into the 4MP stick. Excellent quality just the same.

Answer 2

Great point.



It's a bit like cars, who needs 150mph top speeds? But the engine efficiencies required for a car to run at such a speed might just benefit the average user, the braking systems would be just as effective put to use on a family saloon.



Most folk don't need anything more than 6MP.



It is handy to have some more though, if you need to correct skews and crop for example.



There are some interesting by-products of the pixel race though...



In order to squeeze more pixels onto a sensor the enginneers are decreasing the gaps between pixels, increasing the amount of amplification that can be added before noise becomes a problem, and these technologies trickle down and will benefit the next generation of users.



If you could take a 10MP cropped sensor camera and redesign the chip with gapless sensors then each of the 10MP photosites could be physically larger, requiring less amplification, if you then couple that with technology that means even when you add amplification it is barely detected until very high settings, then you have many more practical applications for the cameras.



Because higher pixel counts require more processing then the cameras have to pack more power.



I would rather a well sorted 10MP camera than a noisy or soft 21Mp camera any day.



There are some who have a valid application for monsterously high resolutions, so be it, as long as I have a choice when my camera finally dies I'm not bothered.



I'm all for the top end cameras pushing the boundaries and the technology trickling down. The fact that the two most popular professional cameras are the Canon EOS 1D Mk3 and the Nikon D3 (10Mp and 12MP respectively) show that it isn't all about resolution, speed, low light and processing ability are as much of an issue.



To answer your question though, I think for most consumers who don;t know about physics or how cameras work, it becomes a game of top trumps. Biggest, fastest, shiniest, most expensive blah blah blah.

Answer 3

The more mega pixels the better the picture. The smallest unit of light is a pixel. Mega just means 1000. Thus, 7.2 MP means 7200 pixels. When buying a digital camera do the following: 1. Establish your price range 2. Find the cameras in your price range that have the most pixels. This will provide you your selection. 3. Determine what features you want. This will narrow it down to the top 10 or so cameras. 4. Buy the camera that is at the top of your list. Good luck

Answer 4

I was going ask this question the other day...but I stopped myself. I'm very glad to see that you have sense to make this statement.



Practical Photographer magazine did a group test to compare full frame vs. APS. They tested Canons, 10D, 40D, 50D and 5D mk1. 50D at 15MP on an A0 print showed increased detail, but no decrease in sharpness and fringing, the problem is the result of the lens reaching it's resolution limit. So you need the best lenses out there to make the most of mega APS-C sensors, but I don't see 50D owners out there jumping to buy a selection of L-series primes. On the full frame 5D it's a different story, the larger sensor gives space for pixels, at 12MP it's got more than average resolution, but demonstrates that a full framer hasn't even broken sweat. That's why we're seeing 20+ megapixels on FF these days, plus these guys usually use the best glass too. So that's the physics of it.



But if you look at the evidence, the only difference you're going to notice is on an A0 print (no normal person needs images that big), and even then we've demonstated it's better to give pixels space, than go for resolution.



There is one caveat for the megapixel race. If you're going to put the pixels to a clever use, Fujifilm has been doing this for years, and it's culminated in the EXR sensor. It has 12MP, but only produces a 6MP image, the sensor basically picks the pixels that are the best quality and then pieces the information together.



There is a difference between the worlds of pros' and the every day joe. Pros pay big money for cameras such as the D3x or the Hasseblads because they have the need for 50-60 megapixels. But for anyone else (including many pros) who only blow up or crop down extremely once in a blue moon, we don't need more than 10MP, in fact we can't afford to use more than 10MP.

Answer 5

Camera manufacturers all have the same goal: sell more cameras and make more profit. Marketing discovered that "megapixels" was a term that consumers could relate to. Years of exposure to advertising has caused consumers to believe that more or bigger is better (except for bikinis and models) so the megapixels war was on. If the XYZ-1 with 8mp is good then the XYZ-2 with 10mp just has to be "better" - it has more of them megapixel things. Right?



Its really no different than the cubic inches war in the late '60s. 427ci had to be better than 426ci or 390ci or 409ci. Right?



Take heart in Canon's new G11. This new model replacement for the G10 lost 4.7mp so obviously Canon is admitting that 14.7mp in a 7.6mm x 5.7mm sensor was just too much.



Leica was stingy with the megapixels in its new full-frame M9 at 18mp.



Be happy that Sony, Pentax, Nikon and Canon sell tons of their high megapixel point and shoot cameras. Those sales give them the money needed to develop real cameras.



I think you need to add a qualifier to your challenge. Will you use cameras with the same size sensors for it? It just might be possible to see a difference between a print from a 10mp DSLR compared to a print from a 13mp digicam.

Answer 6

At the beginning of the digital era (remember the 1.3MP?), more megapixels meant more quality. Today, with entry level cameras offering 10 to 12MP, it is no longer a big deal, however, the marketing department of the manufacturers keep pushing this megapixel hype.

Keeping customers focus on MP is easy. Meanwhile, they don't care about pixels density, shutter lag, autofocus speed and all other characteristics that make a good camera.

Answer 7

Most people will tell you megapixel are just a marketing trick to lure less knowledgeable photographers toward “newer camera models”. While this claim is true for Joe Average trying to buy a new camera, for the serious photographer, megapixels are important.



Expert will tell you also that more megapixel means smaller pixels which means more noise in low light. However, megapixels allow you to crop and zoom with better results. With full frame sensors, more megapixels is much more practical.

Answer 8

Let me take a contrarian view. The more MP, the higher the resolution . The higher the resolution, the greater the detail. More details means you can zoom in and still see detail.



Just because there is marketing hype doesn't mean that there isn't some value.

Answer 9

Calm down....have a cup of tea.