This is for all the people who buy cameras based on megapixels.

I was really surprised last night that a close friend who is involved in photography basically had an ass-backwards notion about megapixels... Here's what I know(- the profanity I used in my original explanation at the pub...):

First of all, more mega-pixels does not = better, and more data. When you buy a camera, you have to know that Digital SLR's have larger sensors inside of them than compact digital cameras... so the quality coming out of a 8 mega-pixel SLR kills the quality out of something like the G9 which boasts 12.whatever megapixels. (On a side note, the Canon G10 is rumored to have been bumped up to 14 mp, which will create more digital noise, and to be "lighter" which possibly means that they will be ditching the all metal body design. Go buy the G9! I'm getting mine this weekend, it is an excellent compact digital SLR...)

Mega pixels are like buckets, light information is like rain:

The bigger the bucket, the more rain each can hold. Take the same square area and cover it with smaller buckets, and they will over flow faster. This over flow causes digital noise. The more buckets, the more digital noise.

Don't get sold on mega-pixels, Find out the size of the sensor. And if the sales guy mentions megapixels, kick him in the junk... What a bunch of marketing crap.