Sensor size

[eccs19]

I was talking with a friend of mine at work, and he's really into photography. He's got a 6 MP Canon DSLR, and I've got my 6MP Pentax. He mentioned that because of the sensor size in the DSLR's, that our 6MP camera's are comparable to a 10MP point and shoot camera. Is this fact or fiction, or somewhere in between?

 

[tsaraleksi]

It's all very dependent on a huge number of factors, but generally speaking, yes, a 10mp point and shoot sensor will out-resolve the camera's lens to the point that it's merely wasting pixels and more pixels do not give you any kind of step up in image quality.

 

[ksmattfish]

It's too simplistic of a comparison to be useful. It's like evaluating the carrying capacity of a truck by measuring it's length; the longer truck might carry more, but what if it's a flatbed and you're hauling milk?

I can think of a few situations where a 10mp point-n-shoot might out perform a 6mp DSLR, but in general I'd rather be shooting with the 6mp DSLR.

The term megapixel is just the count of photoreceptors. All photoreceptors are not created equal, and quantity increases do not always result in quality increases.