More Megapixels Ain’t Better, Olympus Head Says

If the megapixel wars rage on, Olympus will have no part of it. Akira Watanabe, manager of the company’s SLR planning department, said 12 megapixels is “enough for covering most applications most customers need.” Olympus’ E-System of SLR cameras will focus on potentially less-sexy selling points, such as dynamic range, ISO range and color reproduction. As ZDNet points out, a high pixel count can actually be detrimental to the picture, adding more noise, washing out brights and blackening darks. More pixels also results in bigger file sizes. For those who really want loads of pixels in their pictures, Watanabe suggests getting a full-frame camera instead of trying to pack it all into a smaller sensor. Kudos to Olympus for committing to withdrawal. [ZDNet via Wired]