Image quality is not determined by megapixels alone, and here is a great new resource that. demonstrates it. I followed a link to a wonderful website on camera sensors yesterday, and wanted to share it;
It seems kind of ironic that my last post on feeling pressures to upgrade digital cameras would be followed by this one pointing to a site that may, well.. make you feel a bit insecure about how well your camera ranks compared to others. . But at the very least, a site like this provides you with some interesting side by side comparisons to help you decide if that new camera really offers some substantial upgrades in image quality to your existing one in areas other than megapixels. . This new site, offered by DxO labs just launched as of November 17, and is likely to become a nice reference for many photographers. The folks there did a very nice job at presenting some complex data in a nice, educational, user-friendly format.
The charts are quite interactive. When exploring the data for your particular camera (or one you are lusting after), hover your mouse along the color gradient on the right side of the tonal or dynamic range charts and watch how the sample image changes. If you are like me, sometimes it is difficult to translate all of these numbers to actual image quality, and this tool helps you to do just that.
Even if you aren’t someone who tends to fuss over all of this data (like me!) – these charts offer some practical advice you can use while in the field, like how much dynamic range you might loose by raising the ISO on your camera. I don’t imagine small fractional differences are significant enough to point someone in one direction or the other in camera choice. However, out of curiosity I compared my two DSLRs and saw some significant differences. . . I somewhat regret that I did that – because all it did was place a psychological whammy on me about a camera that I thought performed pretty good over the years. (I mentioned the problem of rising standards in my last post didn’t I? 
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The site also offers some interesting information on ISO’s. . I noticed how the D2X is pretty accurate when comparing the ISO setting on the camera vs. the ISO measured by this standard test. However, when it comes to some of these sky high ISOs we see in the newer cameras, the ISO setting on the camera may be fibbing a little. It also appears that some manufacturer’s noses may be longer than others – or more liberal in their rounding methods as allowed by the ISO standards. (Do you smell marketing influence?). This is really important to know because in so many pixel peeper comparisons on the net of one ISO on one camera versus another – they are not really comparing apples to apples most of the time.
There is a lot of data provided to explore, contemplate, just look away when it becomes too much. . There is a lot to be said for trying to use your older camera for as long as possible. . In the end, all that really matters is that YOU are happy with the image, not where its numbers show up on a chart. . However, it can’t be denied that there are some genuine advantages to newer technology. . Tools like this DxO site can help decide when you are ready to make the leap. . Remember the day when getting better image quality was simply a matter of spending your five bucks on a different film canister.
Wow! Of particular interest to me was the dynamic range. I had no idea that ISO played such an important part. I’m happy that, for the most part, I shoot at about ISO 200 on my D300 as well as the D2x. The articles really did show how much technology has changed in a few years!
As you said, what is important is that you are happy with the image that comes out of the camera. No manner of great technology is going to get you want.
I was quite surprised at the impact myself Paul. Considering slide film had at best around 5 stops, and now we are getting 12 in some of the better cameras – it is even more amazing we are still craving more (aka. HDR)!
Thanks for posting this, I heard about this site this weekend but then promptly forgot about it… It reminds me a lot of the SLRGear site which I wrote about last year. The problem is that you can get all tied up in analysis paralysis on these details if you let yourself.
I think the real value of these sites is to better understand where the boundaries of your gear are; these sites make it much faster to figure that out than trial and error. Now, I can’t wait to see the details on the 5DM2…hoping Santa found me good this year…
Thanks for the info! That graphic tool looks VERY helpful! I just purchased my first, good, digital SLR today. To be honest, at present I’m not even sure what brand it is, but the price was so good (considering the camera’s only 2 years old,) I couldn’t say no! I’m sure I’ll be getting much more from your blog in the coming days.
Great site Mark. Dynamic range IMO is the most important factor when it comes to evaluating the usefulness of a camera.
I wasn’t even aware that increasing the ISO will decrease your dynamic range.
Thanks for the link Mark. I’ve been considering upgrading myself studying the different options realizing pixels are not everything.
You know, I basically wanted to upgrade to a D300 from a D200 to get the 100% viewfinder accuracy, but now that I can see graphs of what I’m really missing, fuggettaboutit! I want a DX sensor that does what the D700′s does.
(And I still want 100% viewfinder accuracy!)
Thank you Mark for the link.
John, you may be waiting awhile. If you look around the site a bit under Insights – they have an interesting graph about sensor evolution vs. the signal to noise ratios. It shows how FF sensors have evolved much quicker than cropped sensors over many years. I found that quite fascinating. I used to question some of the advantages of FF, but am learning more every day!
You can get 100% viewfinder using the LiveView functions. Unfortunately I think the sensor cleaning function interferes with having a 100% viewfinder in the latest Nikon bodies. (or they just don’t give sensor cleaning, so you have to choose at the moment).
For all – you are welcome!
Mark, can you give me a little explaining or link sbout noise ratio? My english skill is bad now.
Hi Meshif, thanks for taking time to comment. Unfortunately I don’t think I can offer anything more than what the linked site has for explanation. Perhaps try Google Translator on the website?
Thanx Mark, I will try it!
Truly say, this is one of my point – learn english on the web, may be one day I will try to create blog in English =)