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The Megapixel Test
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Guys,
I’ve always been a firm believer in the “ultra clean” 6 megapixel sensors, But since my upgrade to 10 megapixel I decided to stay well away from the test charts and take my Pentax DL2 and Pentax K10D out to Donegal for a spin.
The test:
Pentax DL2 (6MP) vs Pentax K10D (10MP)
Pentax 50mm F1.7 Prime set F8
Tripod Mounted with 2 second mirror lockup
Identical RAW exposures
Identical default processing in Bibble, no sharpening
Printed out at A3 on my Epson R1800The results:
My wife couldn’t tell the difference in the prints
I needed a loupe to see the difference
Even at 100% pixel peeping the 10 megapixel was only marginally better than the interpolated 6 megapixel.My final conclusion is that the sensors are almost certainly lens limited beyond 6 megapixel. And if a pin sharp Pentax 50mm prime is limiting the system then 6 megapixel should be more than enough for anyone.
Just as well I didn’t buy the K10D for the extra megapixels. Those marketing guys are taking us for a ride guys.
Andy
Great to see someone doing a “real world” test of the difference. I’ve long held the belief that there probably isn’t much difference between the two. You win some, you lose some – so what you gain in extra resolution you lose in something like extra noise. I do believe that most right thinking photographers have now realised that there is much more to digital camera’s than sheer pixel count. If you increase the pixel count but the sensor size stays the same then that can only mean one thing – smaller pixels! And therein lies the problem as far as I’m concerned. A lot of the current crop of digital cameras have better resolution than the lenses being used on them.
I think the more established camera manufactureres have grasped this now as well. The only reason Canon brought out a 10MP 400D was to compete against the 10MP Sony Alpha and the Nikon in a market space dominated by consumers that easily won over by the Megapixel Myth! It will be interesting to see what sort of features the soon to be released 40D will sport. Doubtless it will use the same sensor as the 400D (sure they might as well use it now that they have it). Will it win over legions of 20D and 30D users? I don’t think so. A budget 5D full-frame (a 4D?) probably will however.
The 5D is a 12.8 MP camera, so not that far away in terms of pixel count from a 400D. But the very fact that the 5D is full frame means that images from it are significantly better than those from a 400D. Instead of increased pixel count, I’d much rather see improvements in things like dynamic range and noise.
6 to 10Mpx isn’t such a great leap in percentage terms, especially when you realise it’s not linear but area res that’s increased. Linear res only increases by a smaller amount.
On the other hand, the leap from 3 to 8Mpx (EOS D30 to 30D, nice symmetry Canon!) IS definitely noticeable, and I’m loving every minute of it! From 2160×1440 to 3504×2336 pixels is pretty significant (over 50% increase in linear res). A very good argument for skipping a couple of generations before ugpgrading (from the D30, I could, had I bought it new, have gone D60, 10D, 20D, 30D and spent a whole shitload of money in the process for only marginal increments of improvement along the way. As it was, I used a secondhand D30 that cost ?250 for over a year, honed my DSLR skills, and now feel pretty smug about having a 30D, all that res and speed, and both knowing how to use it in depth, and more importantly, being able to appreciate why I need it!)
Great thread Andy :D
I have a question, coming as I do from the novice angle. I’ve got the general impression, from various articles that I’ve read, that the main advantage from going from 6mp to 10mp is that you can crop a shot with less loss of detail. This makes sense to me on a basic level, the more pixels to start with..the more left to be spread out after you’ve cropped.
So is this just marketing hogwash?
Cheers
Robbie
8)Thanks Robbie,
I personally think that this is also somewhat of a myth. Even at 100% pixel peeping I was hard pushed to see a difference in the detail captured.
That will be my next test.
Andy
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