12 megapixels is enough for most folks

Olympus has declared an end to the megapixel race.

"Twelve megapixels is, I think, enough for covering most applications most customers need," said Akira Watanabe, manager of Olympus Imaging's SLR planning department, in an interview last week at the Photo Marketing Association (PMA) tradeshow. "We have no intention to compete in the megapixel wars for E-System, Olympus' line of dSLR cameras," he said.

Instead, the company will focus on other characteristics such as dynamic range, color reproduction, and a better ISO range for low-light shooting, he said.

Increasing the number of megapixels on shooters is an easy selling point for camera makers, in part because it's a simple concept for people to understand. Even though having more image resolution can enable larger prints and enlargement of subject matter through cropping, adding megapixels comes with some drawbacks.

READ MORE