How Big is That Camera's Engine?The first five years or so of the digital camera horserace was dominated by a competition by manufacturers over who had the most megapixels. It was therefore assumed by most photographers that a 2MP camera was better than a 1MP camera; that a 5MP camera was better than a 3MP camera, and so on.

This may have been true in those long-ago years of 1996 ‚2001 (he said facetiously), but today there are many other factors to be considered. Don't misunderstand; the number of megapixels is still important. But increasingly less-so as manufacturers start to address the needs of different segments of the marketplace.

Horsepower & MegapixelsIn the world of automobiles we are all familiar with the issue of horsepower. More is usually a good thing. But, unless we're planning on towing a huge house-trailer, or running the racetrack, horsepower is not the primary measure of automotive goodness. Unless we have specific needs horsepower must be considered ...