Walking into a camera store, many a photographer automatically assumes that if a camera has more megapixels, it takes a better picture and, therefore, is the better buy. Such an assumption doesn’t reveal the whole truth, however. The reality is that although higher megapixels promise bigger prints, pixel count doesn’t tell a photographer much about shutter lag, battery consumption or color accuracy. And as photographers go out and use their cameras, they soon discover that their high-resolution camera isn’t always translating into equally high performance.

Today, cameras are more than just the sum of their megapixels. With digital cameras offering resolutions of up to 8 megapixels for less than $1,000, the ability for photographers to produce quality enlargements is available to everyone, not just the pros. As a result, camera manufacturers are competing on a much broader battlefield, each trying to distinguish themselves.

To understand what’s happening, we spoke to several representatives from the leading manufacturers for their insight into where digital technology is now and where it’s going.

About Those Megapixels
Less than a decade ago, a 2-megapixel digital SLR cost more than $40,000. Now, digital SLRs with three times the resolution are available for less than $1,000. That’s a remarkable change in less than 10 years. The top-of-the-line cameras now offer resolutions of 12, 16 and even 22 megapixels (with the Mamiya ZD). Yet as these higher-resolution cameras become available, a photographer wonders how high will it go and how many megapixels does one actually need?

“There will be technology improvements that will increase resolution,” says John Knaur, senior marketing manager for digital SLRs for Olympus Imaging America. “But we’ll also meet a point of diminishing returns, the key point being how much resolution do you actually need to create a 4x6 print or an 8x10 print? In reality, I think we’ve gotten pretty close to that point with most people.”

Resolution is related primarily to the intended print size and not exclusively to overall image quality. Four- to 6-megapixel cameras provide more than adequate resolution to create excellent-quality 8x10 prints. For photographers who prefer making enlargements up to 16x20, digital cameras boasting up to 8 megapixels are both available and affordable. While resolution is important, consumers and manufacturers are focusing on the other attributes that lead to successful photography.

“Resolution will continue to climb as manufacturers innovate, but I have a feeling that the industry is starting to pay attention to other things,” comments Steve Heiner, Nikon’s general manager for digital SLR systems and Nikkor lenses. “For example, on the professional end of the business, there are a myriad of cameras that provide photographers with the resolution necessary to do the things that they need to do. Many can argue that they can do things now with digital that they couldn’t do with film.”

As photographers’ experiences with digital cameras have grown, so has their awareness of what ultimately makes a difference in a camera.

“Today’s consumers are becoming second- and third- rather than first-time digital camera buyers,” notes Andy LaGuardia, senior manager of corporate communications for Fujifilm. “When they bought their first digital camera, they wanted as many megapixels as they could get or afford. Now they’re coming to the camera store with experience that tells them to look into battery consumption, shutter lag and other performance issues.”

There’s a distinguishing line to be made between consumer and professional cameras, however. Although today’s compact and affordable digital SLRs offer more than ample resolutions for most photographers, professional cameras will likely still see further increases in resolution.

“In the digital SLR category, there’s room at the top of the market for professional cameras to exceed the 16.7-megapixel benchmark established by the Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II,” says Chuck Westfall, Canon USA’s director of technical marketing. “Speaking strictly about image sensors, there are no significant limits on sensor physical dimensions using CMOS technology, but the bulk of the market will continue to be in the 35mm size of the 24x36mm category and smaller because of other factors like lens selection and conventional 35mm-based SLR camera body design.”

Moving Beyond The Sensor
Issues such as signal noise, color accuracy, shutter lag and image processing are increasingly becoming key qualities to evaluate when considering any digital camera.

“I think now where you’ll see the technology pushes are in the ‘individual technologies’ that happen behind the scene,” says Nikon’s Heiner. “You’re going to start to see new noise-reduction algorithms employed and other things that improve image quality.”

Along with such features, the ease with which photographers can create good-quality images and see them to the final print has grown in desirability. This is especially the case with understanding the importance of in-camera image processing.

“Image processing plays a big role,” says Fujifilm’s LaGuardia. “Someone said that image processing is the ‘secret sauce’ for every manufacturer. It’s that image processing that helps produce the color and the effects that make each digital camera, each manufacturer unique to itself.”

Such processing allows the camera to take full advantage of the data recorded by the image sensor, as in the example given by LaGuardia of the Fujifilm FinePix S3 Pro, which utilizes its sensor’s expanded dynamic range to simulate the color and tones of negative and slide films.

Whether photographers want the camera to handle everything automatically or desire to maintain complete control, today’s cameras are designed to provide the best of both worlds.

“Photographers who don’t want to spend a lot of time in front of the computer influenced one of the design concepts behind the Nikon D70,” explains Heiner. “The D70 produces in-camera the kind of colors people expect in their photographs. In the case of the consumer camera, we want it to be as good as it can possibly be so the consumer can go directly to the printer and get the best results.

“If it’s a professional, we want to give them the most versatility possible by offering them the NEF file [Nikon’s version of RAW] that gives them all sorts of image-processing options, but maintains the integrity of the original file.”

The concept behind many of today’s digital cameras, particularly SLRs, is to make a camera that can automatically produce images with excellent color, tonality and exposure that lead to an efficient and speedy workflow. They’re also being designed with controls and features, including RAW, that offer photographers total control.

“It really depends on the photographer and the type of imaging that’s being done,” says Canon’s Westfall, explaining the choice between RAW and JPEG. “For example, photojournalism and sports photography is heavily based on a JPEG workflow for speed, whereas commercial studio photography relies on RAW files for quality.”

“The workflow is constantly changing” says Olympus’ Knaur. “It was once simply about downloading. Now RAW is like developing film and prints during the old darkroom days. RAW allows you to tweak your digital negative to a much higher level for a much greater use. It has made it all much faster and more reliable to produce a higher percentage of better pictures.”

Creating Distinctions
Understanding color and exposure always has been critical, but it’s now even more crucial for digital image creation. Today’s cameras can produce great results automatically, but they’re not foolproof. To create quality digital files, photographers have to understand what’s possible with their cameras.

“The current generation of EOS digital SLRs offers a great range of in-camera color adjustments for photographers,” says Westfall. “The cameras include custom tone curves, multiple white-balance settings, dual-axis white-balance compensation, white-balance bracketing and multiple color spaces. As we move forward, we’ll continue to improve our products based on customer feedback and advancements in technology.”

One must consider color space, believes Knaur, who explains that the complete digital workflow from camera to printer to final print involves photographers having a greater understanding of computers and, specifically, a color-managed workflow. As a result, camera manufacturers have had to become software engineers, too. Says Knaur, “It creates more of a challenge because we have to build more into the camera. Adobe Photoshop provides us the control that was once only available at your corner film lab. Now we have the ability to help photographers not only take their pictures, but edit, enhance and output their photographs.”

While requiring new skills, this development has given photographers greater control over their creativity.

“One of the most important aspects of digital photography is that it completes the entire creative circle,” offers Heiner. “Before, if you imagined an image in your mind, you had to hand that film to somebody else. With digital photography and understanding all the steps in the process, you now can imagine an image in your mind and carry it all the way through to matting it, framing it and hanging it on your wall.”

The fierce competition of the megapixel war has inspired innovation. Along with that progress, much of what consumers have wanted—larger LCD screens, reduced shutter lag, easier-to-use software—has found its way into each new generation of cameras.