What does this all mean to the photographer? As Nikon increases its cameras sensor pixel densities, you will reach limits beyond the sensora moment of diminishing returns. Does that matter to me, the home digital darkroom photographer? No, not really. As I noted before, my current setup fits my needs perfectly. I make great prints with the equipment I currently own. While I think it would be awesome to use all the capabilities of my lenses, I doubt Id ever really need to unless I want to make the same size print Ansel did way back when. Even though the idea of making 8x10 foot format images with a 35mm sized camera has tremendous appeal, do I really need that capability? If I dont all those extra pixels and camera capability is lost. Theres absolutely no reasons to have them.

Someday down the road, I intend to have a wide-format printer such as the Epson 7600. It's a 24 inch wide printer able to make 20x30 inch prints. In that case--four times larger than my 10x15 current capability--I'd need something like a 10-11 megapixel camera with a sensor sized like my D1h. Until such a camera becomes available, the Epson 7600 will be sitting on the sideline waiting since I can't take advantage of its larger format as it is. Oh well, the wait continues...

You see, Im prone to believe bigger is not always better. More capable sensors are not always needed. Sure, theyre great if theres a real need. But, if youre like me shooting digital instead of 35mm film, you should be more than happy with today's cameras since they easily fit in todays home digital darkrooms.

Cheers

Tom