There's a finite limit of resolution that ANY lens can resolve, once you've hit that you can throw as many MP's you want at it all you do is show the limitations on the lens. Have a read of the Canon EOS 7D test:

http://www.photozone.de/dslr_reviews/478_canon_eos_7d?start=2

"The EOS 7D features the highest resolution APS-C sensor tested to date. For whatever reason Canon wants to be light-years ahead here compared to the competition which is currently using 12mp or max. 14mp sensors. It's surely a great marketing argument but, as always in the real life, there's something called "diminshing return upon investment" and this effect is also hitting the EOS 7D.

The next chart compares Canons' JPEG and RAW output to some other DSLRs tested here at PZ. The RAW results are based on RAW files, transformed to DNG and converted to JPG using the same Adobe Camera RAW version in order to get comparable results.

The results aren't really surprising - while the EOS 7D is capable of delivering a slightly higher effective resolution than the lower MP DSLRs it is actually not exceedingly better. The data represents the center resolution @ ISO 200 using our benchmark lens at its sweet spot (Zeiss ZS 50mm f/1.4 @ f/4). It may well be that the camera is able resolve more than that using better SLR lenses but you'll have a hard time finding those actually. There're probably no zoom lenses out there qualifying here".

Also this very informative article:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/resolution.shtml

Conclusions

"So, do sensors outresolve lenses? It depends on the lens you use, the properties of the light, the aperture and the format. Small format sensors may have surpassed the limit, this is, in most cases they are lens-limited in terms of resolution. It is easier to correct aberrations for a smaller light circle though, so you can approach diffraction-limited resolutions for lower f-numbers. The signal-to-noise ratio, however, imposes an inflexible limit to the effective resolution of the whole system, mostly due to photon shot noise.

Sensors for larger formats are approaching the diffraction limit of real lenses, and it is more difficult to get high levels of aberration suppression for them. The point is that you cannot fully exploit the resolution potential of high-resolution sensors with regular mass-produced lenses, particularly for larger formats".

John

Sony.

John

Too many pixels for APS-c, it's limited by the lens in use, Canon already discovered this with the 18MP 7D. In a recent review of the Sony A77:

Conclusion - Cons

* In-camera JPEGs don't show off the 24MP sensor to its best extent
* Comparatively strong noise reduction at medium and high ISO settings
* Very noisy raw files at high ISO settings
* Little control over high ISO noise reduction in JPEG mode ('auto' or 'weak')

John

Congratulations,lovely image.

John

No probably not BTW make that 36MP Sony sensor and 7 fps

John

Same here the K10D/K20D has perfect ergonomics for me, however I'd love a full frame version 36 x 24mm sensor 24MP+ or even the k-5 sensor in a K20D body.

John

The Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 LD Di macro will give 1:2

"f you want to take advantage of the "macro" mode you've to set the lens to a focal length longer than 180mm. By using the macro switch you can extend the focus range down to 0.95mm which gives you a max. object magnification of 1:2 @ 300mm"

John

I'm glad I kept my FA primes if the future is FF DSLr, not sure about the miirorless option though and the price, only time will tell.

John

http://www.pentaxforums.com/news/insight-into-future-pentax-products.html

john

Back to the finger trick then Thanks for the reply, I'm sure you'll enjoy the lens now it's sorted.

John