Trying to make some sense out of digital cameras?

Question

I have been doing a lot or reading about the sensors used in digital cameras lately and my head is spinning! I found out that the main reason my point & shoot super zoom camera is so lousy in lower light is because the sensor packs 8MP into a 1/2 inch sensor. This means that less light hits each pixel and has much more "noise" when higher ISO is used.

Consumer DSLR's do have a larger sensor but they still pack too many pixels into too small an area and have noise problems with higher ISO.

I need to make some sense of all this. I know that higher speed film has a higher degree of grain but is great for shots in lower natural light. Is there somewhere on the net that makes a comparison between film and digital photo quality?

This is all research for my next camera. I do a lot of nature photography and wildlife are more active just before sunrise and just after sunset than in the times after sunset and sunrise. That is the lighting situation I would like to take advantage of and get good quality photos.

Answer 1

I just read an article about the new Canon 50D to be release in October 2008 for about $1400.00 and a capacity for ISO 12,300 (Canon 40D highest ISO is 3200).

Canon attributes the advance to "newly designed gapless microlenses over each pixel to reduce noise." Microlenses gather light for the light-sensitive part of the image sensor, compensating for surface area occupied by other electronics. Gapless microlenses presumably stretch across the entire pixel width.

I will wait for this camera before I buy a second body

Good luck!

Update: Did I mention that the 50D will sport a 15.1 megapixel sensor?