It ain't about megapixels

The arms race for more megapixels in digital cameras is in full swing.

As an example, Canon has a newer DSLR that is now up to 16.7 megapixels. Sounds yummy but still a far cry from the human eye which is apparently closer to 576 megapixels.

A friend of mine recently asked me which digital camera she should buy. Lots of choices with a wide range of features. Consumers are drawn to the camera's with more megapixels.

But what we really need is better and faster autofocus in our digital cameras.

Here is a recent action shot I took of Ellie with my 7 megapixel Canon SD800is (point & shoot).

And here is a recent action shot I took of Ellie with my 8 megapixel Canon DSLR.

In both cases the lighting was pretty bad. But the focus is clearly better with the DSLR. No contest.

Some company is going to come out with a small digital camera with a lightning fast autofocus. Thats what we really need.

It ain't about more megapixels.

Comments

[AgentSully]

technically, what is the difference btwn a point/shoot and a dslr? What is the added functionality of the DSLR? I have a 5 megapixel casio that's easy to carry around, but I'm wondering if I should get a DSLR for better pictures? thx (came here via mybloglog)

[Amin]

A DSLR has a direct (via mirror) line of sight from an optical viewfinder through the lens. There is no lag such as that associated with an LCD/electronic viewfinder on a typical compact digital camera. Also, DSLRs typically have faster and more reliable autofocus than compact digital cameras, though the gap is closing. DSLRs have larger image sensors (digital film), so the quality of each pixel is better (less noise in low light, more dynamic range captured). DSLRs have the disadvantages of being larger, heavier, louder, more expensive, and generally unable to capture video. For more info, I suggest you ask in the various DPReview.com forums.