Article Summary
Barely the size of a business card and around an inch thick, ultra-compact digital cameras seem like the perfect point-and-shoots, with their sleek lines, pocketability and, now, resolutions as high as eight megapixels. But can shots from these cameras match those taken by their bulkier brethren?
Maybe, but it's not as easy as just upping the megapixel count. To squeeze these cameras into such diminutive forms, manufacturers have to use small sensors and small lenses. In fact, most compacts use the same size sensor-about half an inch across-whether they're capturing five megapixels or eight. (Sensors in pro-level cameras are at least an inch across.) But when manufacturers cram more pixels into the same space, each pixel gets smaller. That means there's less surface area to capture light, and less light means less detail. So how many megapixels can you fit into a tiny camera before you're doing your photo more harm than good? We took a stab at finding the answer by testing the only three ultra-compacts to cross the five-megapixel mark. ....Read Complete Article
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