When will point and shoot cameras hit the 30 megapixel barrier?

Question

Seems like the majority of p&s cameras these days are anywhere from 8 to 12 megapixels, and the new cameras being introduced are available at 14mp. What year will it be when most cameras hit 30mp? I say 3 years!

Answer 1

I would imagine it won't happen because there is only so much you can cram into that tiny sensor. If the camera became bigger to allow for a bigger sensor, then it would be possible.

Answer 2

i dont see that ever happening really because the P&S cameras are mainly used by everyday people and they usually save the pics onto the computer...and as we know the more megapixels the more memory it takes to save a picture so people wouldnt even be able to save all there pictures anymore and thats mainly what we like to dod with them...The 30 MP cameras are used by pros because after a while they delete those pics anyway...

Answer 3

Sigma already got its DP-1, which is in a way a P&S with an APS-C sensor. But even then, it has issues with noise and image quality.

Even DSLR makers are still at around 12-15 megapixels on APS-C.

So maybe P&S's will hit 30 MP within 3 years, but for good image quality with 30 mp... it might take several more years.

Answer 4

I think the camera companies made a mistake pushing megapixels as the big selling point for cameras. I would imagine that it's getting harder and harder to cram more megapixels into P&S cameras.

However, since all most people look at when buying a camera is the megapixels they do have a large incentive to continue increasing them. I would say your 3 year estimate for 30mp won't be too far off the mark.

Answer 5

i can't really say, 3 yrs? maybe. The rumored Canon G10 is suppose to be 14.7mp.

The G9 was released about a year ago and has 10mp. So maybe 3 is possible or maybe 4-5.