How can any good little camera consumer NOT know their Magic-Megapixel-Mojo-Measurement?
MP has been THE selling point for Camera manufacturers for the last 10 years. Nevermind that the cheap plastic box they sell you for $1000 has an unusable viewfinder, chicklets sized control keys, arcane menus, and fragile electronics that will crap out with little or no provocation. Nevermind that your 'latest must-have wondercam' will depreciate faster than a fully fueled Pinto stalled on the railroad tracks.
"Nevermind any of that, Mr. consumer! All you really need are MORE MEGAPIXELS!!
"
The viewfinder issue really bugs me. Megapixels are nice, fancy exposure modes occasionally useful, but a proper viewfinder is ESSENTIAL! How the heck is someone supposed to compose a halfway decent photograph while peering uncertainly at a dimly lit postage-stamp-sized snipped of frosted glass? Compare a typical low~medium end DSLR to
any 80's~90's film camera and you'll see what I mean. My old A-1's viewfinder is nearly 3x the size of the peep-hole found on my 350D. You want to use manual focus, or evaluate the subtle textures on that tree trunk? Good luck! I appreciate that Canon, Nikon, etc. need to design each model to meet a specific market-driven price point, but to neuter the most important feature of the camera in the name of saving $10 on a smaller prism is lunacy!
<End rant!>
