Dear colleagues,
as expected our 6 Megapixel campaign has produced predominant positive reactions as well as
a few negative ones.

Press colleagues and the visitors of our homepage are familiar with the matter or have been
convinced by the demonstrations. Also the developer of many manufacturers, who are visiting
us regularly agree to the comments and justify the increase of the number of pixel of new
camera generations with marketing requirements.

For the marketing it is always an easy procedure to promote cameras with more pixels,
because the customers buy these cameras more likely. To change this trend requires
enormous endeavors.

On the part of the sales offices we have received the venomously criticism up to reproaches we
would call out on boycott for particular products. Supposedly that causes from our choice for
camera examples.
Therefore I have high lightened on our sites that the cameras are chosen on a random basis
and more or less representative. We are not calling to boycott specific devices, but we would
merely like to call user’s attention to the image quality of digital cameras and that many pixel
do not go hand in hand with good picture quality.

Another reproach was that the 6 Megapixel are only aiming on the amount of the pixel and
that the problem should not be reduced to only this point. My comment: “That’s what I am
saying”! The demonstrations on the website according to the sensitivity, resolution, diffraction
and aberration should demonstrate this. The website’s intention is to show how complex the
system “digital camera” is and which problems appear, if the attention is only focused on the
pixel amount.

To arouse user’s and industry’s interest we are forced to use strong slogans like
“The more pixel the worse the image”, so that supposably everybody understands. Important
to me is that the message is received: “Pixel amount is not equal with image quality.”
I know that it will be an exhausting act to turn around the pixel phenomena. The first step is
the only thing I can initiate and that’s done now. The next one should come in form of a loud
scream for image quality from the specialized press and the users. The industry has also made
the first small step. In the middle of december there will be the first meeting with the German
photographic industry association.

Please accept that we are not able to publish results of camera tests or recommendations, you
will find them in every specialized German press journal and nearly all of them are using
adequate test procedures to measure the image quality. I understand that the press divides
the cameras into Mega Pixel classes (because it is so easy), but dear colleagues it is the time
to change this habit…
In this spirit I wish you many nice pictures, which help to keep wonderful events in mind!

Dietmar Wüller