More pixels for Nikon's APS-C?

On Sun, 06 Sep 2009 11:42:52 -0700, R Halim wrote:

Interesting developments in 2009. Canon DSLR APS-C models have been
inching up from 10 MP in Canon 40D, 15 MP in Canon 50D and Tii, and now
the newly announced Canon 7D with 18 MP. Rival cameras appears to go on
the same direction. Sony came up with 14 MP in their A380 and A550
series. Pentax with 14.5 MP K-7. At the same time, in March 2009,
Olympus Exec indicated that 12 MP would be enough for digital camera. In
contrast, Nikon appears to lag behind in inching up their camera's
pixels. Nikon D3000 is still 10MP. Their D300s and D5000 models are only
12MP. Will they follow Canon's path? Or, will they insist that for an
APS-C camera, there is no need to go more than 12 MP? Thanks for the
discussion

More megapixels doesn't necessarily mean better images.

Many are of the opinion, and there is evidence to verify it, that for
sensor densities above about 3.5 million photosites per square
centimeter, noise becomes an exponentially increasing problem--increasing
faster than image quality is improved--requiring more aggressive noise
reduction to "clean" the image that by its very nature destroys fine
image detail, thereby reducing overall image quality. A major Catch 22
situation. For an APS-C size sensor, this density "sweet spot" equates
to around 12 megapixels.

Of course, noise is only one of many factors that affect digital image
quality, and it doesn't mean that this inherent electronics problem won't
successfully be overcome, but for now, it exists.

FWIW, Nikon has always been very conservative in its technological
development. I don't think Canon's (or anyone else's) product releases
or camera/lens specs affect Nikon all that much. Look at the history.
What's that old TV commercial tag line? "We will sell no wine before its
time." That's been Nikon's basic business philosophy since they began
making cameras and lenses.


--
Fotoguy
BestInClass.com
"Personalized digital camera recommendations"
http://www.bestinclass.com/digital-cameras