Winsor, I disagree with your statement about a 4-5 yr window for "will not be
significant bested image quality". As much as we want to say this, the makers
will surely find ways to make significantly lower noise, higher accuracy, or
larger images within the next 2-3 years. I do agree, however, that the pace of
MP proliferation will quickly slow to a crawl. The ancillary, supporting
systems will become increasingly more critical, just as they have in all
"horsepower driven" product cycles. Eventually the raw power catches up with
the infrastructure and you have to upgrade everything. How many people do you
see shoehorning a Porsche engine into a VW. Not many, as the engineering to
upgrade the whole chassis ovewhelms the cost of the initial, cheap car.
What most consumers don't realize are the hidden issues created by larger MP
sensors, especially if those cameras don't cost multiple $000's: like image
storage issues, in-camera write/read/processing times, inherently higher noise,
etc. It's like buying an SUV with a $4000 rebate only to realize that it costs
$60 fill up the tank every 4 days. Total cost of ownership isn't in the
typical consumer's vocabulary.
>>Winsor Crosby wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Development of DSLRs is already slowing down. In the space of
>>>about 5 years they went from 1.3MP up to 6MP. Ones that people
>>>can afford are just beginning to edge toward 8MP after being
>>>stuck at 6MP for almost 3 years. I think that the 20D, eVolt
>>>and the not yet introduced Nikon equivalent will not be
>>>significantly bested in image quality for at least 4 or 5 years.
>>>
I'm with Moose here. I'd rather have a great 5MP camera than a so-so 8MP
camera. That's why I stick with my E-1. Sure, it could have lower noise,
cheaper glass, faster frame rates, faster startup times, faster AF, more AF
sensors, and some ther things, but it's a real kick-ass camera and is fine up
to around 16x20. For the pixel peepers that want to quibble about specs and
megapixels as the best indication of a camera, I agree that you WILL see a
difference between an 8MP 20D and the E-1's 5MP, as the 8x10 cropped pixel
counts are 48% greater on the 20D:
At 8x10 print ratio
20D: 6.821 million effective pixels (a 17% cropping wastate)
E-1: 4.608 million effective pixels (a 6% cropping wastage)
But for my uses, the E-1 wins as a great picture machine and I'm very, very
happy not to follow the masses.
**** Confession: **** I am a non-conformist. I don't want to buy Nik*n or
Can*n. I like the quirkyness and buck-the-system attitude of the Olympus
products, all the way back to the 60's. I enjoy being picked on and paving the
way; that's why I bought an OM-1 in 1974 instead of something else and stayed
with it until 2003. The only way that a switch would happen was: 1) If I was a
pro and my company forced me into such a decision, or 2) The E-1 stopped being
reliable or capable.
Skip
>>
>Here I really agree. 6-8 mp is pretty much enough for the vast majority
>of actual uses and overkill for web images*. Beyond that, one is mostly
>capturing and storing data beyond what is likely to make a difference in
>use. There have however, been other usability changes of great value to
>users like start-up speed, focus speed, low light focus, shutter lag,
>frame rates, etc. etc. For example, even if it didn't add those couple
>of mps, I would consider the 20D to be a far better camera for me than
>the D60. It's smaller, lighter, faster and more capable in many ways.
>
>Does that mean I won't have a 12 mp camera some day? Nah, I probably
>will, but not for that reason alone. I was just looking at compact
>cameras to possibly replace my old 2 mp S110. Although 2 mp is enough
>for most things I would use it for*, I wouldn't mind an mp or 2 more.
>But guess what? They only put the other improvements together with more
>mps. You can't really buy a 3-4 mp camera with all the latest other
>performance improvements. For another example, the Can*n S70 has several
>improvements, including a better lens, over the S50, but you can only
>get them packaged together with a 7mp sensor. The good news is that you
>don't pay more for the newer camera than you would have for the old one.
>
>Moose
>
==============================================
List usage info: http://www.zuikoholic.com
List nannies: olympusadmin@xxxxxxxxxx
==============================================
|