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The beginning of the end of the mega pixel race? (feat. Canon G11)

vln

vln

Shuns mooks. And MQA.
Canon introduces the G11, which has 'only' 10 megapixel, compared to the G10 with 14.7:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0908/09081908canong11.asp

(the tilt and swivel LCD is also a nice touch)

Seems like an interesting camera, I wonder how the handling in manual mode is.

Also I wonder how much truth there is to the implication of Canon at their press conference, that the G10 is/was a photojournalist's camera. I once held the G10 in my hands and it is quite a serious piece of kit, certainly makes my Ricoh GRD look like a bit of a toy (though a nice looking one). I remember though that handling in manual mode was quite cumbersome.
 
Sounds like photojournalists have had a big say in what they wanted, Still Alex Majoli and the brilliant Olympus C5050 were way ahead of the curve.
Good camera to use, everyone thinks your an amateur and no one cares if your taking pictures or not, they're silent too.
 
I've got a G9 myself, and it's a great little camera. My biggest complaints regarding it have been answered by the G11, and I would be entirely happy to have one.

BTW, the G9 has 12MP to the G10's 14MB, but my DSLR (a Canon XSi) has only 10MB. Back when I had the G3, 4MP was plenty, and I think that would probably still be enough for most purposes.
 
Using a Nikon D700 (£1800) and a Nikon D3X (£5k) it is pretty obvious that 12mp works better in low light conditions or even in reasonable indoor light. 25mp and above sensors seem to have big problems above ISO800. Given the size of most compact camera sensors, it seems to me they should be aiming to use a pixel density comparable to the Nikon D700/D3 sensor in order to maximize light retrieval before they try to up the number of pixels. The G9 has a pixel density of 28 MP/cm² and the D700 has 1.39 MP/cm²
 
Hi,
So what you are saying is that the larger pixels are better for low light like larger crystals in high ISO film.

Pete
 
Yes. The problem with small pixels is that they don't output much power. At low light the gain must be boosted significantly, which causes the noise (i.e. Signal-to-Noise-Ratio). With bigger sensors, the individual pixels are bigger, and produce a hotter signal naturally, requiring less amplification in low light situations.
 
I'd rather a 10Mp full frame dSLR than a 16Mp reduced frame dSLR, as Mike says, the pixels are going to be much bigger and (all else being equal) lower noise.

I'd reckon that, with today's tech, you could get much lower noise from a 10Mp full frame body than you could from a 16Mp+ body, and 10Mp is enough for 99% of people (myself included).
 
Has anyone been to the Canon site to look at the sample images? This one is stunning, the quality of skin tone is right up with the Fuji S5 Pro IMO.
 
The big question is when are they going to start putting sensors from DSLRs into compacts? I believe that Fuji did it, but I've not read of anyone else.
 
Agreed, we don't need more pixels. Still using a 8mp canon 1d mark ii DSLR and i'm never limited by the resolution. Saying that i'm rarely limited by it's high ISO performance but an extra stop or two is always nice ;-)

Cesare
 
Agree totally with JTC as to full frame DSLR's which is why I use D1's Mk3 and Mk2. I've got a G9 as a "back-up" and a carry with me when I go moutain biking. Would like try the G11 though.
 
I've got a G9 as a "back-up" and a carry with me when I go moutain biking. Would like try the G11 though.
Click to expand...

Also good for when mountain walking!

Agree though that the G9 is not great for low light conditions.

In the Mourne Mts yesterday:

IMG_1314.jpg


Mr Tibbs
 
What's the latency between clicking and the camera actually working on the G10 and G11? My wife has a G9, and while it's not as bad as some, I still find it unacceptably slow. Everything else works fine.
 
The G10 is definitely faster than the G9. I've not tried the G11. It really comes down to focus speed. If you pre-focus (depress the shutter release button half-way), then the shutter lag itself is minor, although still noticeably more than my XSi.
 
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