By Russ Juskalian
The New York Times
IT happens to all of us: the moment when one finds out that more megapixels and better photographs aren’t always the same thing. To be disabused of the Megapixel Myth — this decade’s analog of the Megahertz Myth — can lead to an existential buyer’s crisis in miniature. Disbelief, at first, gives way to a sort of embarrassing self-questioning: You mean, 15 megapixels isn’t three times better than 5 megapixels? This year’s model isn’t better
than last year’s? I spent all that money upgrading — for nothing?
The panicky consumer is then faced with the choice of dumping digital electronics and becoming a Luddite, or learning about camera technology and taking control of purchasing decisions.
Upon pursuing this latter path, one soon realizes that all is not lost. Newer generations of digital cameras and camcorders, which almost always have more megapixels or higher resolutions, still tend to produce great output.
But there is more to a digital camera’s sensor than resolution. Understanding some of the basics may just convince you that, at least this year, buying last year’s model is a smart move.
Focusing on the Right Numbers
In a sea of specifications, one of the most overlooked is the size, not the number, of pixels on a camera’s sensor. Bigger sensors usually mean bigger pixels, which provides some advantages when it