Panasonic: Megapixels are "just a number"

Panasonic GF5
Panasonic says it's not the amount of pixels that matters, it's what you do with them

A spokesperson for Panasonic says that it's not all about the number of pixels on a camera.

Speaking to TechRadar about other cameras, such as the Samsung NX series, which feature high resolution sensors, Barney Sykes from Panasonic UK said "It's just a number isn't it? It's a number. It's relative to the sensor, it's pixel density."

The highest resolution sensor currently produced by Panasonic is the 16.6-million pixel device found on the G3.

Meanwhile, the new GF5, announced earlier this year, features a 12-million pixel sensor which the company claims is capable of producing the same image quality as the highest resolution sensors in its range.

Sykes continued, "In interchangeable lens cameras, consumers are a bit wiser. I think the megapixel bubble has somewhat burst now.

"It's not about the number of megapixels you have, it's about the quality of the image you can get, and that's what we're focusing on.

Sales

"The GF5 has 12 megapixels, some people might think that's quite mediocre, yet it's selling really well. Samsung had a 20-million pixel camera last year, yet they're registering at less than 1% of market share in the weekly GFK data.

"The ultimate goal is image quality, and other things such as usability, filter effects, intelligent auto, things like that, it's not just the number of pixels."

It's been rumoured that Panasonic will be introducing more compact system cameras this year - it will be interesting to see what resolution sensor the company decides to adopt if, or when, such products emerge.

Amy Davies

Amy has been writing about cameras, photography and associated tech since 2009. Amy was once part of the photography testing team for Future Publishing working across TechRadar, Digital Camera, PhotoPlus, N Photo and Photography Week. For her photography, she has won awards and has been exhibited. She often partakes in unusual projects - including one intense year where she used a different camera every single day. Amy is currently the Features Editor at Amateur Photographer magazine, and in her increasingly little spare time works across a number of high-profile publications including Wired, Stuff, Digital Camera World, Expert Reviews, and just a little off-tangent, PetsRadar.