Megapixel BS Update
The other day I laboured the point that more megapixels doesn’t necessarily mean better image quality, although the marketing department would have you believe that wasn’t the case.
So why the update? OK, when I was looking for a compact digital camera last year I decided on the Fuji Finepix F30. It turned out to be a classic, with unrivalled picture quality in its class.
Time has moved on and its successor is now on the market, the F31fd (fd stands for face detection). The good news is that very little has changed, but I thought I’d highlight some of the comments regarding megapixels/sensor size and image quality…
This is from the April 2007 Fuji Finepaix F31fd review on dpreview.com…
“In the fast-moving, ‘bigger better faster’ world of the digital compact the Fujifilm FinePix F30 will be one of the rare few that are remembered after they have gone (the nearest this throwaway business gets to a ‘classic’). The reason this unassuming, blocky little camera stands out from the scores of other cameras launched last year - and why it has a mantelpiece covered in industry awards - is simple; image quality, or more specifically, high ISO performance. The F30’s low light capabilities come from a combination of clever technology (Super CCD and Real Photo Processor) and a ’swimming against the tide’ attitude to specification, which means a bigger sensor with fewer pixels. The F30 also, against all the odds, actually sold pretty well, going against the conventional wisdom that consumers buy on pixel counts alone. Although it has its share of faults the F30 became the benchmark by which all compact cameras in the 6-8 megapixel sector were judged. The excellent battery life and high speed performance certainly helped too.”
“And so, to sum up; the F31fd is everything the F30 was, with a couple of tweaks here and there that - on balance - can be considered to offer a slight improvement over what was already a uniquely capable camera. I suspect (though I hope I’m wrong) that this is the last time we’ll see this sensor in a compact camera, as Fuji feels the pressure to keep up with the megapixel race ever more strongly. This would be a real tragedy; the F31fd hits the image quality ’sweet spot’ by using a large sensor, relatively low pixel count and some very clever processing, and I can’t see them repeating this with a more densely-packed sensor. It is the perfect illustration of the oft made point that more pixels do not mean better quality; we’ve compared the F31fd to a whole range of much more expensive compacts going right up to 10MP, and - aside from a little extra resolution at base ISO - it puts most of them to shame. Once you get to ISO 400 there simply isn’t a compact on the market that can hold a flame to it. ”
If you’re thinking about a new compact digital camera you might spare a thought for the F31fd - it may not have the pixel count of its competitors, but it still has them beaten on picture quality.