Three Camera Specs Manufacturers Love to Sensationalize That You Should Actually Just Ignore

Another day, another new camera has been announced. Most of the time the latest and greatest doesn't actually solve any real world problems or improve the shooting experience for the average photographer in any way. That said, camera makers have become rather adept at writing specs sheets designed to make you think that the latest and greatest in camera tech will revolutionize your shooting experience and thus, in turn, your work. I call hogwash, especially in terms of some of their favorite specs that they use to hide the fact that you really don't need a new camera.

Resolution

Pretty much every DSLR on the market boasts about the resolution of their latest camera despite the fact that, with the exception of a few outliers, the vast majority of DSLR and mirrorless cameras fall in the range of about 16 to 24 megapixels. Certainly not revolutionary and also not something that is likely to have a meaningful impact on the quality of your work. Sure, you may notice a big difference between a 6-megapixel camera from a decade ago and a 36-megapixel modern beast, but a difference of 4 megapixels just isn't going to make a difference in your photography. A good photo will still be a good photo, regardless. And in case you were wondering, magazines looked just as good a decade ago as they look now with images that were half the resolution.

What really matters: Far more important, and meaningful, is dynamic range which is often something camera makers don't even bother mentioning. A camera with superior dynamic range can completely change the way you shoot as it turns creative directions that were previously impossible into opportunities. I remember when I upgraded from a D700 to a D800 years ago it was like redefining how I worked with my camera. Not because of the giant increase in resolution but because of how much I could push shadows and highlights in post.

ISO Range

Boosted ISO is now formidably jumping up into the millions. For the vast majority of photographers this is completely useless, but camera makers are sure excited about being able to put the word "million" in their brochure. It's just such an impressive number, especially for photographers who never go over ISO 400 or 800. I've got a secret for you: even when you buy that new camera you still probably won't be pushing your ISO much higher because the noise still sucks. Being able to boost to a million ISO is does nothing for the vast majority of photographers. 

What really matters: The true key to ISO that I look for is low noise at relatively low ISO values. I don't care if my sensor can boost to a trillion if the noise at 800 still is pretty bad. Camera makers never really talk about noise levels at usable ISO ranges, but personally that is what I look for in ISO. Using that same D800 above as an example, one major failing of that camera was its ISO performance in the lower range. The difference between a D800 and D810 at ISO 800 was formidable yet you never see that printed on any specs sheets.

Buffer Size

Fantastic, I can shoot dozens of photos in burst mode before the buffer fills and the camera slows down. For the vast majority of photographers this spec ranges from utterly useless to mostly useless yet it is often one that is near the top of spec sheets being used to market a camera. Being able to burst 50 or 100 images at once really isn't useful or helpful in the real world. Even action shooters aren't bursting long enough to need a buffer that size.

What really matters: The main reasons that many photographers burst is to capture an ideal moment in time or in order to increase the odds of capturing a sharp exposure. In both cases, better, faster, and more accurate autofocusing systems offer far more benefit than a massive buffer ever will be able to. 

Conclusion

As a whole, stop obsessing about specs sheets. Most of the time they are simply designed as marketing machines to build hype about features that don't actually deserve any hype. Instead, if you feel you need a new camera, evaluate why you think that your current camera is failing you. Define what it lacks then look for a camera model that fills those gaps with as few compromises as possible. This method will ensure that you are upgrading in a meaningful way rather than just letting some arbitrary specs sheet vacuum money from your wallet for no reason other than to own the latest in marketing jargon. Finally, if you ever need a reminder of how ultimately unimportant camera specs are, head over the 500px and search for images made with a camera that is several generations out of date only to be amazed by results that can stand up against work created with the latest R&D magic. It doesn't take a billion dollars in new R&D to make an amazing photo. All it takes is an amazi ng photographer with the dedication to create something special.

Source: Three Camera Specs Manufacturers Love to Sensationalize That You Should Actually Just Ignore