More MP ???

[galleynews]

HI,
I am in the process of buying a new digital camera. This will be my first one and so you can imagine all the apprehension. I have narrowed down to two cameras. Surprisingly of the same brand...Sony!!! Not that I am dir hard sony fan or anything. But looks like they have what I need in the whole bundle. What I am looking for is....good picture quality, good video (640x480 at 30 fps seems great), definitely AA batteries.
The two cameras I am considering are Cybershot DSC S90 or the Cybershot W5. I have been waiting for Jeff's review on the S90 and I was happy to see that he liked it (atleast from what I understood). The point where I am confused is whether it is worth it to spend an extra 50-70 dollars to get 1 extra mega pixel resolution. If there is anyone out there who can answer my question, would be great. I also have noted that the S90 has a bigger CCD (1/2.7") and the W5 has a 1/1.8" CCD. I am not sure if the bigger one is better.
I plan to use the camera for daily purposes. Shooting both indoors and outdoors. I am trying to get into taking good pictures. Thats why I bought my Canon Rebel Ti couple of years ago, but I think I don't have so much patience to process the film only to realize that they came out not as I expected. Thats why I really respect photographers :) . Also, if anybody knows anything good or bad about these two cameras, please let me know. I also looked at the Samsung v70 and a7. Higher MP and lot more features. But did not find too many people reviewing it. So kinda afraid to go there. Hope to hear back soon.

[AlkaPhunk]

Beware, the bigger ccd size is 1/1.8" (not 1/2.7" like you seemed to think)
The result of a bigger ccd is less noise appearing in the picture in low light.
So the more pixel a camera has, the bigger ccd is better.
usually the rate is 4Mpx on 1/2.5" and 5Mpx on 1/1.8".

this was just to warn you cause i thought you were making a mistake about this thing ;)

[Geoff Chandler]

Alkaphunk is right - do the sum - 1/2.7 = 0.370 1/1.8 = 0.55

As far as MP's are concerned - the difference between 4 and 5mp is not huge so I would go for the one that most suits your needs. Having said that - I find 5mp to be the optimum for my general needs (probably over the top really) though I quite often go down to 2 or 3mp where high definition and magnification os not required.

[PhilR.]

I would agree w/the above and state that I would not make a purchase decision based on the presence or lack of just one megapixel.

What I would concentrate on are things like flash range, lcd size and whether or not it gains up in low light (especially important if there is no optical viewfinder), and ability to control exposure....

PhilR.

[galleynews]

Wow, thankyou so much. Yes I was mistaken. Should have done the math like suggested above. But I thought it meant more than that. But again, I am a junior member :) I think that explains a lot. I might go for the 5 MP. But anyone have any ideas about the Samsung digimax a7 or v70. It seems to be quite low priced with some really good features. I can't find any reviews on them.

[PhilR.]

Samsung is known as a big company, but not as a camera company. My personal feeling is to stick with the well-known camera companies, who have been doing this for many years/decades. Perhaps Samsung will one day in the future be known as a camera company, much like Sony came to be. They are after all coming out with some interesting - but unproven - cameras. For right now though, I would spend a lot of time looking at the alternatives before buying a Samsung.

PhilR.

[jeisner]

So the more pixel a camera has, the bigger ccd is better.

Be Careful of this it is not always true, I have seen camera magazines claiming this too, one review I read yesterday claimed the E300 had a larger sensor than the D70 or Ist DS, mistakingly believing more MP equates to bigger sensor...

So many times it may be true, but just be careful and don't assume it to be always true.

[AlkaPhunk]

I'm interested in your note, but i would like to be sure to understan what you said.
Maybe i wasn't clear, but i just wanted to say that for same number of megapix captor, the better camera will be the one with the biggest ccd size.
For exemple between two 5 MPX Dig.Cam., i'd rather chose the one with 1/1.8" ccd than 1/2.5".
I think it's true, as related to physical fact about pixel size on the ccd and so luminosity of each one of these pixels...

btw sorry for my english sometimes but it ain't my native language... :p

[jeisner]

I'm interested in your note, but i would like to be sure to understan what you said.
Maybe i wasn't clear, but i just wanted to say that for same number of megapix captor, the better camera will be the one with the biggest ccd size.
For exemple between two 5 MPX Dig.Cam., i'd rather chose the one with 1/1.8" ccd than 1/2.5".
I think it's true has related to physical fact about pixel size on the ccd and so luminosity of each one of these pixels...

btw sorry for my english sometimes but it ain't my native language... :p

OK maybe my misunderstanding then, sorry, I though you were saying that 5MP cameras had 1/1.8" and 4MP had 1/2.5", which obviously isn't the case...

[AlkaPhunk]

Ok Jeisner, I apologize for my english :p
I think we do agree about ccd SIZE, and not only Mpx number. :D
Ciao.

[galleynews]

Thanks everyone who replied. I just bought a Sony W5. I hope to get it next week. Hopefully it is the right decision. I will let you all know how that goes. In the mean time, if anyone knows anything about the W5, please do let me know.
Thanks again