The Megapixel wars aren't over

When the Nikon D2X Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera was launched in 2004 with a 12.4 megapixel sensor, the largest sensor till date, experts predicted the end of the megapixel wars. A megapixel basically means 1,000,000 pixels—which is the amount of pixels the sensor of a digital camera can capture. A camera with a sensor measuring 1024x768 pixels is a one megapixel sensor. But in late 2008, Nikon launched the D3X, a monster of a camera with a 24.8 megapixel resolution. At the same time, Nikon’s Compact Digital camera range wearing the Coolpix brand began to feature devices with 12 megapixel sensors.

So, do we really need more megapixels? Yes, says Makoto Kimura, Director, Nikon Corp. “I do not believe that DSLR’s have maxed out megapixels just yet. Just wait till later this year to see what we bring out.” However, when it comes to compact digital cameras, Kimura feels that more megapixels may not be the way forward. “While compact digital cameras are facing challenges from mobile phones, it will be the clarity and quality of the images that will distinguish them from mobile phones,” says Kimura. He does not believe that the mobile phone has dented sales of compact digital cameras. In fact, he thinks it has helped them. “In countries like India, where the penetration of digital cameras is low, mobile devices give people the taste of digital photography. Then they want the real thing, and buy a Coolpix or a similar device,” he says.

Kimura says that Nikon is fighting back against mobile phone companies. The latest Nikon cameras feature wireless printing and Global Positioning Sensors, which can record the location where a picture has been shot. They can also directly upload images from the camera onto photo sharing services on the Internet. “We are still working on our user interface, which could do with some tweaking, but that is in the future,” he says.

New in Camera Worried that mobile phones are stepping on to their turf, camera makers are putting more features in their devices. Global Positioning System (GPS) modules: to record the geographic location of images Wireless printing directly from the camera after editing the image on the camera itself Directly uploading images from the camera on to photo-sharing services on the Internet

 

— Kushan Mitra