"Best" DSLR cameras?

[burdock87]

I currently have a Nikon Coolpix L110, which is a great little camera, but I'm looking for something with a little....more. I'm currently in love with the Canon EOS Rebel and the Nikon D3100 models.

I'm curious to know which cameras are decent. My Nikon has 14 megapixels, and the Nikon D3000 I found online has 10.2. Is there really that much of a difference in image quality between the two?

 

[o hey tyler]

I currently have a Nikon Coolpix L110, which is a great little camera, but I'm looking for something with a little....more. I'm currently in love with the Canon EOS Rebel and the Nikon D3100 models.

I'm curious to know which cameras are decent. My Nikon has 14 megapixels, and the Nikon D3000 I found online has 10.2. Is there really that much of a difference in image quality between the two?

MP =/= Image quality.

 

[djacobox372]

More mp isn't always better, I'd rather shoot a 12mp d3s then a 24mp d3x.

When they increase the mp they also shrink the size of the light sensing pixels, which makes them less sensitive to light and more prone to noise when shooting in low light.

 

[reedshots]

Even an 8 meg camera will give you very nice quality images / it’s when you crop and print large is where you will notice the difference. If you are doing small prints with little cropping 8, 10, 12 megp will be plenty. If you want to go big or crop way down you will need more pixels, but as mentioned more is not always better. Ether camera on your list will be fine for the general use camera and 8x10 to 11x14 prints even a bit bigger if shot right.

Keep in mind censer size has a lot to do with it as well. A 14 megp P&S camera will not give you the image size as a 14 megp DSLR will there for your IQ will not be the same ether.

 

[Village Idiot]

More mp isn't always better, I'd rather shoot a 12mp d3s then a 24mp d3x.

When they increase the mp they also shrink the size of the light sensing pixels, which makes them less sensitive to light and more prone to noise when shooting in low light.

So why does a 16MP D7000 have better high ISO noise handling than a 6MP D50?

 

[analog.universe]

Circuit design. The analog amplifier has evolved over the years.... that amplifier on the D50's sensor would likely have even more impressive noise characteristics.

 

[KmH]

So why does a 16MP D7000 have better high ISO noise handling than a 6MP D50?

Several factors apply. The main factor is the D7000 benefits from more recent technological advancements.

The D50 has a CCD type image sensor, the D7000 has a CMOS type sensor. CMOS uses less power and thus runs cooler, so there is less thermal noise.

The low-pass filter in front of the image sensor in each camera is substantially different.

The D50 doesn't have Nikon's EXPEED image processor, the D7000 had EXPEED 2.

 

[Village Idiot]

So why does a 16MP D7000 have better high ISO noise handling than a 6MP D50?

Several factors apply. The main factor is the D7000 benefits from more recent technological advancements.

The D50 has a CCD type image sensor, the D7000 has a CMOS type sensor. CMOS uses less power and thus runs cooler, so there is less thermal noise.

The low-pass filter in front of the image sensor in each camera is substantially different.

The D50 doesn't have Nikon's EXPEED image processor, the D7000 had EXPEED 2.

All important information to consider rather than just stating More MP = more noise.