Shutterbug has an interesting article today on just what increasing megapixel counts actually means when it comes to digital photography.
The article is largely in response to Canon's introduction of a full-frame camera boasting 50 megapixel resolution. That pixel count puts the full-frame camera in the same league as many medium format cameras, but Canon can offer their camera at a much lower price.
The Canon 5DS and 5DS R have price tags under $4,000. The cheapest medium format camera with at least 50 MP resolution costs just over twice that. As an additional bonus, the lenses should also have similar price differences. (The lenses for the smaller full-frame cameras need smaller lenses. Less glass usually equals lower price. Emphasis on "usually").
The 50 MP offerings from Canon do look like an attempt to compete with medium format cameras without actually creating a medium format camera. The move makes a certain amount of sense given all the Canon lenses currently available for Canon full-frame cameras.
There is a drawback here, though.
A 50 megapixel full-frame sensor requires smaller individual photoreceptors when compared to a 50 megapixel medium format camera. This impacts performance at higher ISO settings. Some photographers will find a camera with a lower pixel count more suitable for the images the capture.
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