Putting this link here so many people see it

[Iron Flatline]

This made me laugh:

http://reviews.cnet.com/4531-10921_7-6447143.html?tag=ltst

As one manufacturer's rep said at PMA:

"It's the smallest 10-megapixel camera available!" I pointed out that few people need a 10-megapixel snapshot camera, to which he replied, "Yeah, but they don't know that."

 

[craig]

What is a snapshot camera and why should it not be 10 mp?

If snapshot camera means a small digi with lots of presets; I say go for 10 mp. The more info the better. Cameras take photographs. I think it is up to the photographer to decide between a snapshot or a photograph.

 

[Iron Flatline]

There are a lot of consumers who don't consider themselves photographers, they simply want a really good camera to document their own lives and special moments. The industry has managed to keep the price-point steady by continuously raising the pixel count. The large bulk of snapshot camera consumers could get the same results from an 8 megapixel camera (like 4x6 prints), especially if the price were 20% less than last year.

I'm actually all for it - I'd rather see an industry compete on innovation than on price, because as a gadget head I benefit from that.

But no, not every person with a snapshot camera is a budding artist waiting to discover the magic of large-format printing.

 

[OOID]

good one.

 

[craig]

Your point is correct. Photography (like any thing) can be taken on many different levels. Our views differ in that I do not look at numbers and know nothing of sales. I believe in the fact that snapping the shutter at a particular moment in time is art.

 

[Rob]

This made me laugh:

http://reviews.cnet.com/4531-10921_7-6447143.html?tag=ltst

As one manufacturer's rep said at PMA:

Yep, it's funny, but also sad. I have so many friends who ask me for camera advice and then go to the shop and get upsold because of megapixel count. They aren't ever going to use photoshop, don't consider what they're doing to be art and are completely happy with 6x4 prints of everything. It'd never occur to them to print it big as they print EVERYTHING, bloopers and all from a kiosk in the shopping centre. Therefore, all they "need" is a 3MP camera, but they get persuaded out of £500 by some Jessops monkey who only knows more than them because he read the box 5 minutes earlier.

Megapixels *sigh*

It's good for those of us who like to push things on though, innovation and technical improvements can only benefit us.

Rob