Since their inception over two decades ago, a digital camera’s worth has often been judged by its sensor specs. Among the fanfare of a launch, the resolution size is usually touted by manufacturers as a benchmark of progress and is heralded as evidence of evolution between the different generations of cameras.
After all, when we’re upgrading we like to know we’re getting more for our money and with it the chance to improve our pictures. But lately, sensor specs haven’t been rocketing and other features – such as ISO performance, AF points or Image Stabilisation systems – have had more prominence when it comes to camera developments. Does this mean the manufacturers who have been slugging it out are finally reaching a stalemate when it comes to image resolution?
Are we nearing the end of the road for the resolution race?
Over the past 19 years, the sensor sizes on offer approximately doubled every five years and over two generations of releases. It all began back in 1999 with the Nikon D1, the world’s first DSLR, and it featured a 2. 7MP resolution. It was replaced in 2003 with the D2H and an improved 4. 1MP sensor, but two years down the line Nikon launched the D200 with a 10MP image size. This rate of resolution expanded over the next few releases; in 2007 the D300 offered 12MP, in 2010 the D7000 featured 16MP and in 2012 the D7100 boasted a 24MP sensor.
2012 also saw the release of the Nikon D800, a 36MP full frame beast and was the first of a new breed of high resolution DSLRs, which could almost rival the detail of a Medium Format camera. In just 13 years the pixel count of cameras had grown by over 13 times the initial offering of the D1, but after the D800, Nikon’s next few releases saw a decrease in the megapixel count. The D750 – which was announced in 2014 – came with a 24MP sensor, and the D5 and D500 – launched together in 2016 – offered a 20MP resolution. This was the first time that subsequent generations had decreased their pixel offering, but did so in order to boost the performance speed and ISO capabilities. After all, not every camera is targeted at the same end user, and it’s very much horses for courses.
In 2015, Canon, who had been going toe-to-toe with Nikon in the resolution race, upped the ante with the 5DS and 5DR and their 50. 6MP sensor. In the same year, Sony brought out the A7R Mark II mirrorless camera with its own super high resolution of 42MP. We need to fast forward to 2017 for Nikon’s first megapixel increase since 2012, with the 45MP D850.
The megapixel count of every major Nikon DSLR to date
While the resolution race does perhaps seem to be stalling – if not reaching a stalemate – we need to see what gets released before 2020. If the trend of the last two decades continues, then in the next few years can we expect to see cameras with a 60, 80 or a 100MP resolution? Canon has recently demonstrated a 250MP sensor and a 120MP sensor it has in development, but it’s likely that even the latter is some way from appearing in a consumer DSLR.
But do we need to keep on pushing the limits of resolution? While there are benefits of a bigger pixel count, such as enhanced detail and clarity, there can be plenty of drawbacks too. Increasing the number of photosites on a sensor means other areas of performance are compromised, especially when it comes to low light capabilities. Many photographers – myself included – would prefer to have cleaner images at higher ISOs than more pixels. This is because to increase the megapixel count the photosites themselves become smaller to fit on the chip: this amplifies the signal to noise ratio in the camera, making for grainier pictures and the image quality suffers. And besides, most of us are already shooting with more pixels than we actually need. After all it’s rare these days that an image is printed, and even if it were to be displayed at A3 size then 17MP would still be ample.
Extra pixels also brings about bigger file sizes, which slows down your camera’s handling, fills up your memory card quicker and requires extra investment for more external hard drives to store your images. Working on bigger files also slows down processing software like Lightroom and Photoshop, and at the end of the edit many of us throw away pixels by saving the image as a smaller file, rendering the high resolution sensor unnecessary. Shooting bigger resolution images also increases the risk of pronounced camera shake, and cheaper optics don’t perform as well as they have a lower ‘resolving power’, so detail is less clear.
Shooting with a more modest resolution will increase the ISO performance, enhance the Dynamic Range, speed up the file handling and take up less space on your memory cards and hard drives. But many of us are drawn to bigger resolution cameras – I know I am – and there’s something really satisfying about being able to zoom deep into an image and reveal hidden detail.
The Milky Way captured by a Nikon D750 at ISO 5000
But most manufacturers seem to have settled on a sweet spot when it comes to balancing the resolution and the performance of the sensor, and that’s around 24MP. The freshly announced Fujifilm X-H1 has a 24. 3MP resolution, and the new Sony A7iii offers 24. 2MP. Plenty of the Canon and Nikon DSLR lineups feature models with the same sensor size, such as the Canon 80D and the Nikon D750. This number of pixels is perfectly ample for making impressive sized prints, and means for now any developments in technology can enhance the high ISO performance and Dynamic Range capabilities, while keeping file handling speeds rapid.
However, while this moment might seem like a brief respite, it’s likely the resolution race will continue if not pick up pace over the next few generations, as new developments are made with the sensor technology. Although it’s impossible to predict the future, Moore’s Law of computer processing power has held true, so it’s very likely that image resolution will carry on increasing at a similar rate. A decade from now, the high resolution cameras could well be sporting 120MP sensors, and the sweet spot for the rest at around 60MP. We’ll just have to wait to find out!
. digitalrev.com2018-3-1 03:00
