More Toys Or Less Noise

[CaptainPenguin]

Rumours are abounding here and elsewhere about a Canon 60D and even a 600D and no dought we will be hearing of the same from the other manufacturers.Well we seem to have settled on 12-15 meg for crop bodies and all these new cameras have lots of new toys such as live view and video but I wonder do we as Photographers want somehing different.

Maybe the camera companies should be putting their efforts into really cracking the noise problem and giving buyers of prosumer and amateur DSLR's the same clean files at 800 asa and above as the users of professional models get.

Back in the days of film I used the fabulous grain free Fuji 800 and it would be nice to have that sort of quality availible to all DSLR users however deep their pockets

 

[chris321]

Personally I'd much rather have better sharpness and noise handling than video mode, 100 megapixels etc, but it turns into a numbers war between the manufacturers. If one manufacturer brings out a model with video mode and another doesn't, the one that doesn't seems behind. One has 12MP, so must the other, or some consumers are going to think that one's better! And so it goes on...

 

[itsdavedotnet]

Olympus have said that they won't be making any cameras more than about 12MP in the near future, and will instead be working on dynamic range, less noise etc, and the slowdown in megapickel counts of leaked nikon cameras seems to point that this is where it's going - there will always be a need for very high resolution cameras, but not in DX format cameras...

 

[CyBeRkId2002]

Personally I'd much rather have better sharpness and noise handling than video mode, 100 megapixels etc, but it turns into a numbers war between the manufacturers. If one manufacturer brings out a model with video mode and another doesn't, the one that doesn't seems behind. One has 12MP, so must the other, or some consumers are going to think that one's better! And so it goes on...

Whilst I agree with this in the entry-level market, I would have thought this should be less of an issue in the Semi-Pro > Pro Market (D300/50D Upwards) where I would think individuals should know what they want and not be swayed by 'We've got video and they havent'-type sales tactics. This obviously isn't the case though.

 

[andrewc]

The new Canon G11 has less pixels than the camera it is replacing. The marketing team are probably a bit worried!

 

[david1701]

Olympus have said that they won't be making any cameras more than about 12MP in the near future, and will instead be working on dynamic range, less noise etc, and the slowdown in megapickel counts of leaked nikon cameras seems to point that this is where it's going - there will always be a need for very high resolution cameras, but not in DX format cameras...

12 MP on an oly is the same density as 48 MP full frame

 

[adsayer]

It's noise handling and ISO range for me (and presumably most people). It broadens the range of conditions you can shoot in and as result has got to be the most important feature for any person who enjoys their photography...

 

[CaptainPenguin]

It's noise handling and ISO range for me (and presumably most people). It broadens the range of conditions you can shoot in and as result has got to be the most important feature for any person who enjoys their photography...

Good reasoning but I think now that the DSLR market contains many people who used to have compacts and they are more swayed by extra toys or more pixels than improvements that give real benefits

 

[Arkady]

It's noise handling and ISO range for me (and presumably most people). It broadens the range of conditions you can shoot in and as result has got to be the most important feature for any person who enjoys their photography...

Absolutely - the D3x is great, but the D3 wins for me simply because of the noise reduction at extended ISO ranges...far more useful in my line of work - not that I'll be giving the D3x's back though!!!