Why? Canon have chosen to put a 18 Megapixel Cropped APS-C sized sensor into this latest rebel. But wait, I hear you say, that’s brilliant. Already some over enthusiastic Canon fans are calling it a “Very Powerful Entry Level” camera. And, I suppose in some ways it would appear so, or at least it would if resolution was everything. But it isn’t. The 550D is an entry level camera. At the level of customer this is aimed at, 18 megapixels is completely and utterly pointless. No consumer level lens is ever going to be able to resolve the detail of that amount of pixels in such a small space. The only way to ever get sharp Images from this is to go out an buy L series lenses from Canon, the majority of which cost more than the price of this Camera. I’m sure people will tell me that the extra resolution will be great for cropping and zooming, but that’s bull, because you can’t crop in if the Image isn’t sharp to begin with. The other excuse you frequently hear is that the extra resolution will make up for lack of pixel level sharpness. But this is also bull. If your image is soft at 18 megapixels it’s still soft. It’s just soft in extra detail.

Instead of improving the quality of a lower resolution sensor, instead of creating cameras that suit its target market Canon, has chosen to compete on paper, on spec lists, and that’s a real shame. What’s even more of a shame is that it will probably work for them. People will think that they’re getting a bargain because they’re getting such a high resolution sensor for such a low price, but they’re going to have to spend far more to actually make use of it. In the end, people who are entering the world of Photography and want to learn are being done a great disservice by cameras like this. Already we’re starting to see bad habits and misinformation permeate the consciousness of the internet when it comes to Photography, perpetrated by fans of these high resolution cameras to make up for their gear’s shortcomings. Eager enthusiasts are being told that their pictures are supposed to be slightly soft, and that checking them at 100% for sharpness makes them a bad photographer. What’s next? Chromatic Aberration is a good thing? That unsightly purple fringing is “art”? Every time Canon crams more pixels into their sensors they lower the quality of the resulting image, and in the rush to embrace higher resolution, up and coming photographers are loosing out on the necessary skill to take technically critical images.

I know this sounds like a terrible rant, and it is. I know a lot of people will disagree with me, and that’s fair enough. Having said that DP Review already has sample images up and some look terrible. They look like the result you would expect from a digital compact. Shame on Canon for abandoning the principles of quality and perfection that many of us grew up respecting them for  in order to find the cheapest way to make sales. This camera will probably be a huge success, but that success will be a great disservice to the name of Photography.

[Updated to fix a few Typos]

(I know this is a touchy subject, and I appreciate a spirited discussion, but please keep it civil. Any rude, personally insulting comments etc will be deleted)

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