Poll: Megapixels vs. camera sensitivity

LAS VEGAS--The camera companies keep telling me the megapixel race isn't over, but I'd like to see if you have a different opinion.

I'm one of those people who doesn't believe more megapixels necessarily makes for a better digital camera. Sure, at least theoretically having more megapixels permits larger prints and tighter cropping, but it also can impose penalties such as image noise, lousy low-light performance, smeary noise-reduction artifacts, and other drawbacks. There's a trade-off here.

NEWS.COM POLL

MEGAPIXELS VS. SENSITIVITY
It's hard for camera makers to resist increasing new models' megapixel count, but smaller pixels on the sensor can mean higher noise that worsens performance in dim conditions and lowers overall sensitivity. Which would you rather have, more megapixels or better sensitivity?

10 megapixels and ISO 3,200
12 megapixels and ISO 1,600

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So it's time to vote now for what you'd benefit from more in a camera: more megapixels or higher sensitivity. Click the button to register your opinion and explain yourself below in the TalkBack section if you want to make your case in more detail.

Camera makers seem unable to resist the temptation of higher megapixels in compact cameras right now, marching on past 10 megapixels to 12. But in the SLR domain, where buyers are more sophisticated and larger image sensors provide more leeway, there are some interesting trade-offs going on.