On Sat, 06 Oct 2007 01:00:13 -0000, stu7seven DeleteThis @gmail.com wrote:
>+ While I love the pictures in Annika's 40d galleries,
>Ive noticed in comments about these cameras, their 10mp limit...
>so... this being roughly what the newer P&S cameras offer,
>Im wondering if there really is a substantial quality difference
>between pictures taken with 40Ds and 8-10mp P&S ?
>
> What this seems to boil down to is the question - does a
>big piece of glass up front make for a "better picture" or not.
>
> Any volunteers with hi-res P&S galleries online here ?
>
>thanks
A big piece of glass in front very often makes for a worse picture. Lenses for
dslr only have to be configured well enough to define one of the sensor areas
(some call it a sensel) for each pixel made of 4 sensels, on that larger sensor.
Larger sensor = larger sensels = more room for imaging error. Few if any dslr
lens components are polished and ground to diffraction limited specs. Meaning,
no matter what f/stop you use, the image can't get sharper than the limits of
the diffraction of light, the same as caused by a pinhole source. This is why
dslr lenses often reveal their glaring defects when used at wider or smaller
f/stops. Or when using zoom versions they are only sharp within a very narrow
range. That much glass area, not to mention the many multiple elements they must
match, can't be perfected as easily, inexpensively, or as quickly as it can in a
smaller lens. They will all scream and yell to the contrary in trying to justify
why they spent so much, but facts don't lie. This is the very same reason that
lens-grinding kits were often available in 3" and 4.25" sizes for the beginner
telescope builder, but 8" and 10" blanks were often not offered because the
beginning lens grinder would find nothing but failure when trying to properly
figure that larger piece of glass to a diffraction-limited parabola. Yes, lenses
today are done on machines. Does that make it any less difficult to get the
right figure in that larger glass? Not really. The temperature of the glass, the
hardness of that glass (changing from batch to batch), any fluctuations in the
electricity running that machine, any changes in grit sizes from source to
source, it all adds up to the same difficulty. Larger glass is harder to grind
to 1/4th to 1/10th wavelength specs (diffraction limited optics) than smaller
lenses. The difficulty is exponential in proportion to the lens area. A company
out to make money is not going to devote any more effort than what they can get
away with on the market. They only have to grind those dslr lenses to define one
sensel if possible and get that performance out of only one range of its
features at that. Any effort beyond that is a waste in their eyes. After all,
the end consumer will never notice it, all they are ever going to test that lens
with is their larger sensor in their shiny new camera that just cost them a
fortune. It won't show them that it's not ground to diffraction-limited specs,
the larger sensels in that larger sensor won't allow for them to see it. They'll
also be too distracted by all the other shiny things they just bought with their
money to notice.
The converse is true of the smaller sensor cameras. The manufacturer already
knows they are dealing with a sensel area that is going to push that glass to
reveal the least bit of defects, to the very limits of the laws of physics
itself. They MUST grind and design that lens to diffraction limited specs across
the full range of f/stops and zoomed focal-lengths. If not, the smaller sensor
is going to reveal any less-than-perfect defects the very first time it is used.
Since they are dealing with smaller lenses, more easy to configure economically,
this becomes an affordable and marketable option.
Can a P&S camera beat out the image quality of a dslr? Easily. My P&S cameras
do it consistently, I'm now seeing that the newer P&S cameras this year easily
beat my earlier P&S cameras--beating dslr performance even further.
The dslr fans can yell "you get what you pay for" until they are blue in the
face. In the end I'll choose a P&S camera over any dslr at any time. I've seen
too much proof, from my own cameras and others', to convince me of anything
different.
Will I post sample photos for comparison? Nope. I have much more fun watching
the dslr gang relentlessly trying to prove that their cameras were worth the
purchase, while I sit back and compare them to my own photos at home. It's all
quite amusing and entertaining. I feel that I too should get something out of
all that money they just spent. The CEOs of their favorite dslr camera company
shouldn't be the only ones getting a laugh out of what they managed to pull over
on them.
You might want to check out the resolution tests done on all the P&S cameras at
dpreview.com. If the resolution of a P&S camera is better than a comparable
megapixel dslr, then you'll have to make the decision if that 2 to 20 times more
cost (and weight, and drawbacks) of the dslr is worth it to you just for the
bragging rights of how much your camera cost. But don't expect to get bragging
rights by the photos it might create for all that money that you just threw
away. That seems to be the only reason they buy dslrs these days. To brag how
much it cost them. Surely it's not from the photography they are doing with
them. I've seen their dslr photos. They're also just dying to post more of them
to convince themselves their purchase was worth it. As I said, it's all quite
amusing.
It would be a shame if someone posted all their P&S photos to make the dslr fans
quit posting their less-than attempts to shut them up for once and for all.
There would go all the free laughs!
To the rest of you P&S people, I urge you to also not post your better than dslr
photos. It would only end the dslr joke that's been going on for many years now.
One P&S photo every other month or so is fine, just to get the dslr crowd riled
up again, but please no collections under a wide variety of shooting situations.
I keep the sharing of my "better than dslr" photos to a bare minimum, just
enough to let them know its possible, but not enough to make them stop.
>> Stay informed about: re 40D / request P&S galleries compare 
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