Enough with the megapixels already
Oh will you look at that. How very Web 2.0!
I’m all for camera phones – for a photography nut such as myself, there’s nothing quite as awesome as always having a camera in my pocket – but things are getting a little bit silly now. Earlier this month, Sony Ericsson showed off a prototype of a 12 megapixel camera phone, and apparently the Swedes are planning to have 20 mpx crammed into phones in time for the 2012 olympic games.
So why am I being whiney? Well, just like horsepower isn’t everything on a car (a Mazda MX-5 would trash a 1000 horsepower drag racing car on a twisty race track) and clock frequency isn’t everything on computer processors (a 2 Ghz current-generation processor wipes the floor with a 4Ghz Pentium 4), Megapixels by themselves mean absolutely nothing.
The first prosumer-grade dSLR – the Canon EOS D30 – only has 3.1 megapixels, but the photos it was capable of taking is a world of difference from even the best current camera phones.
“Three megapixels”, I hear you cry, “That is laughable in a world where you are buried in a deluge of 5- and 6 megapixel chattersticks the second you step into a Carphone For You!”. And you’d be right. Nonetheless, the fact that the D30 takes high-quality glass means that the photos it delivers is sharper than any camera phone (and most compact cameras, for that matter).
What happened to the Old One? by Photocritic.org on Flickr
The point is that even though it’s possible to take some fantastic photos with a simple camera phone (I recently wrote about the amazing stuff people are doing with the comparatively inferior iPhone camera, for example), the phone manufacturers need to get their priorities straight: Megapixels only affect the size you can show (or print) a photograph. Most of us post our photos on Facebook, Flickr or send them to our mates, so size clearly doesn’t matter – but quality does.
Most photographers would much rather have a 2-megapixel camera with a good lens than a 20 megapixel camera with poor glass at the front.
So Sony Ericsson, LG, Apple, Nokia and the rest of the gang; if you are reading this: give us proper auto-focus, faster and higher-quality lenses, flashes, proper shutters, and the possibility to manually override the automatic exposure.
This article was originally published on FiveFWD.
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Insights, suggestions and comments
it’s not about the megapixels, it’s about glass. if you have 23megapixels and you are shooting through a cardboard tube, it isn’t much good, is it? cameraphones have super wide angle lenses that limit dof among other things, but at least you will have a huge file. really big crap that you can print both large and crappily
in daylight, maybe you will get a decent shot, but tiny lenses can’t gather a lot of light. sure you’ll get a flash, but it limits the kind of shots you can take
thing is, it’s a phone, not a “real camera”. i can’t guess that photogs will trade in their dslrs for phones in the near future
It’s not just camphones that boost(and boast) their megapixels. The first thing someone asks when I bring out my camera is how many megapixels it has (it has 10). And yes, there are other camera’s and even mp3-players that have more MPs, but I can assure you, my photos are better :D
Very timely! I’ve been working on an article which does the math behind megapixels, resolution, and print sizes… there’s some fun stuff that shows up. For example, in order to print a 24×36 poster at 300 dpi, you’d need a 77 MP camera. Do you have one? I sure don’t… :) There’s also very little difference in terms of maximum DPI/PPI between 6 and 12 MP, which probably will surprise most people.
Anyhow, good article. This is the thing that more first-time camera buyers need to see!
my mate with a 12mp compact used to parade on me when I first bring out my 6mp DSLR, but when you see the quality, everyone is dead silence.
btw, got this from somewhere:
P&S camera: a small 2 seater city car, get you from point A to B without a hassle
DSLR: for those adventurous gags
and cameraphone: a scooter that also get you from point-A and B with FREE dust and bad hair day :)
my 2 pennies/or cents…what ever you call it.
DC, feel like sending a mail to jessaius@gmail.com when you’ve finished it? Or perhaps get it featured here hehe
Danferno… let’s see if Haje notices, I wouldn’t mind getting it featured. :)
people with their toy cameras (and that’s what a minicam/phone is) are always amazed with the idea of “bokeh” and depth of field (and images that have them). no matter how many megapixels they have, they will never get them. their lenses only open up to f5.6 and their camera will kick up the iso and turn the shot to mush anyway
don’t get me wrong, toy cameras have their place too, but a real camera makes it so much easier to get the shot you want
Hey DC – I did notice – Drop me a line and we’ll have a look!
I’m really glad to see this brought up somewhere (it’s the first time I’ve seen it anywhere, granted I don’t visit photography sites much). I completely agree, and actually used this topic as a ‘debate topic’ in one of my high school english classes a few years ago – most other topics were big issues like abortion or racism but this is a big issue to me. :p
http://6mpixel.org/en/
Eloquently put. I have similar issues concerning the over-importance many people attach to megapixels. A conversation about megapixels can quickly tell you how serious a photographer is.
http://www.thedecisivemoment.co.uk/2009/02/17/how-many-megapixels-is-enough-in-my-camera/
nice… it’s all about the glass.
i love my iphone = quick, easy, descreet, creative etc
i also love my canon 1ds = awesome quality
I purchased a quality Canon (G8? or similar) 4 megapixel camera years ago. We have a sizeable enlarged photo (about 3 ft. by 4 ft.) hanging in our living room taken with it. I seem no degradation and no tiny little boxes anywhere. How was this so at 4 megs?
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