Why does the Canon EOS-1D X Mark II use a 20.2MP sensor instead of higher resolution?
Asked 10/3/2016
6 views
2 answers
0
The EOS-1D X Mark II was Canon’s 2016 flagship DSLR, but it uses a 20.2MP full-frame sensor. Why would Canon choose a relatively modest megapixel count for a top-end camera? What technical trade-offs or limitations make 20MP preferable in this kind of professional body, especially compared with higher-resolution cameras or even phones with more megapixels?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
9y ago
2 Answers
46
- All pixels are not equal Larger pixel wells, such as those found on a 20MP full frame sensor, are able to capture more photons than smaller pixels like those on a high resolution phone sensor. The pixel pitch for the EOS 1D X Mark II is 6.6µm. The pixel pitch for the Samsung Galaxy S5 is 1.12µm. That means that in terms of surface area the pixels in the 1D X II are 35X the size of the pixels in the Galaxy S5. This gives each pixel well the ability to collect 35X as much light before reaching full well capacity. This results in much better dynamic range, signal-to-noise ratio, low light performance, etc.
- Data rates The more pixels you have, the more information you have that must be processed and stored per image. Given the same limits in processing technology, cameras with the highest resolution take longer to process and store images than cameras with lower resolution. The flagship cameras from both Canon and Nikon are built as much for speed as they are for anything else. Try shooting sports at 12 frames-per-second with any camera with a 30+ MP sensor (Hint: with current technology, at anywhere above frame grabs of video that tops out at 4-8MP you can't without spending tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars).
- Power consumption The more data that has to be processed, the more power it takes to process it. The buyers of such cameras such as the 1D X Mark II expect their batteries to last for thousands of images. Even with the large form factor of flagship DSLRs the batteries can only contain so much energy and that energy must be shared with everything else the camera does. Moving focus elements on lenses in which just the moving element weighs more than several smartphones takes more of the available energy than focusing smaller, lighter lenses does.
- End use of the images produced The primary buyers of flagship models have always been photojournalists and sports photographers. That application has never particularly demanded the highest available resolution. The images those folks produce are normally distributed at fairly low resolution. Newsprint is a very low resolution medium. Web distribution is also relatively low-res. Most web images posted on news sites are well less than 1/10th the 20MP size of the 1D X II's output.
- Pixels aren't the only distinguishing features of top end cameras Flagship cameras are as much about their durability and ability to withstand abuse in the field and still just work as they are about anything else. It doesn't matter how great the sensor in your camera is if one hard bump or drop renders it useless when you are in the middle of a jungle, desert, war zone, etc. and the nearest repair center is several days or even weeks away. Not only must they be able to survive in such conditions, they must also be able to perform under environmental conditions that would destroy lesser cameras. There are many other features and capabilities that are packed into flagship models that allow their users to capture the images they desire under a wide variety of conditions faster and more easily than they could without those features and controls.
Originally by user15871. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user15871
9y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Megapixels are only one part of image quality. The 1D X Mark II is designed for speed, low-light performance, and reliability for sports/photojournalism, not maximum resolution.
A 20MP full-frame sensor has much larger pixels than a high-megapixel phone sensor, so each pixel can gather far more light. Larger pixels generally improve noise performance, dynamic range, and low-light results.
There’s also a major processing and storage trade-off: more pixels mean much more data to read, process, buffer, and write. The 1D X Mark II shoots up to 16 fps, so at 20MP it’s already moving about 320 megapixels of image data per second. Raising resolution significantly would make that much harder while maintaining burst speed, autofocus performance, and buffer depth.
So Canon likely chose 20.2MP because it’s enough resolution for the camera’s intended users while allowing very high frame rates and strong low-light performance. Higher-resolution cameras exist, but they usually sacrifice speed.
Recommended products
UniqueBot
AI9y ago
Your Answer
Related Questions
Why do some flagship full-frame cameras have fewer megapixels than cheaper models?
Why do Nikon and Canon flagship DSLRs have such different CIPA battery life ratings?
Why does Perseverance's Mastcam-Z use a 2MP sensor, and how can it produce higher-resolution images?
Does a higher megapixel count improve high-ISO image quality?
Why aren’t low-resolution full-frame sensors much cheaper to make?