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Re: [OM] 12 is enough

Subject: Re: [OM] 12 is enough
From: "Wiliam Wagenaar" <wiliam@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2009 21:09:21 +0100
Donald,

You are right that megapixels sell. Last month when I took my E-1 with
me for a weekend of skiing with some colleagues, it was the first
question they asked, "how many magepixels?". Since I took photos
wherever and whenever I felt like it, even in a snow storm the second
question was something like "Are you sure your camera can take it?" I
could say "sure enough!"

Last night we had a little reunion and most people were quite surprised
to see that my lowly 5MP camera had made the most beautifull photos with
best sharpness, colors and contrast, despite op the other cameras having
7,8 or 10 MP. Only fair to say that all other cameras were compacts.
This only proves more that most people only think about MP's as a
quality indicator for camera's. Most people that photograph as a hobby
or profession know better.

Consumers are so fixed on megapixels because that has been used as the
biggest difference in marketing. We on the list have discussed
extensively about many other things that are at least eaqually
important. At a certain point adding more magepixels on the same sensor
size makes it very difficult to achieve the same image quality, simply
because of physics involved. That does not mean that cameras with larger
sensors could not have even more megapixels than they have now. 

As for the question "How much is enough?" I think it could be different
for many photographers depending on the use of the printed result. I
have seen perfect prints sized 100x120cm coming from the E-1 and E-3. I
haven't ever printed that large. The larges I once printed was 60x90cm
coming from film. So I gues for me 12 MP is more than enough. At a
certain point if you want to print larger and larger you would like to
have more megapixels. To keep up the image quality standards you should
not go over a certain pixel density. To acchieve that you will
ultimately need a bigger sensor.

I think we could continue to discuss this matter for weeks, but I am
personally very happy that there is a company that dares to say that
12MP is enough. That that company is Olympus is not surprising to me.
First of all because Olympus has proven many times not te be affraid to
leave the beaten tracks. Also because Olympus is one of the companies
using the smallest sensor in the market and thus the first to encounter
problems with pixel density. I am still very happy with my E-1 and E-3.

Just my 2 cents.

Wiliam

> -----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
> Van: Donald [mailto:d1956m198d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
> Verzonden: vrijdag 6 maart 2009 19:42
> Aan: Olympus Camera Discussion
> Onderwerp: Re: [OM] 12 is enough
> 
> Richard Lovison wrote:
> > I'm surprised no one has mentioned this article yet:
> >
> > http://news.cnet.com/8301-13580_3-10189546-
> 39.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5
> >
> > 12 megapixels sounds good enough to me for a semi-compact camera
system.
> >    Choosing to focus in the future on dynamic range, color
reproduction,
> > and better ISO  performance in low light conditions sounds good
also.
> >
> > Richard
> 
> Playing Devil's Advocate, Richard, they would say that, wouldn't they?
> The easy explanation for such a statement is that they can't compete
in
> magapixel terms, so admitting it costs them little.
> 
> However, it may cost them in marketing terms; like it or not,
megapixels
> sell, and as larger sensors increase in Mp count and decrease in
price,
> they may well suffer.
> 
> Just playing D's A, as I say.
> 
> D.
> 
> --
> I'm a Mac, but I'm happy with my PC.
> 
> --
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