How important is sensor size?

Bigger is better, in two unrelated ways, when it comes to picture quality.

First, a bigger sensor can have bigger pixels, or photosites, compared to a smaller one of the same resolution. This means that manufacturing defects are less noticeable, and the larger photosites can gather more photons during an exposure, so a camera with a larger sensor usually has better-quality images and does better in low light (and high-contrast scenes) than a camera with a smaller, otherwise identical sensor.

The second difference applies to digital and film cameras. Spreading the image out over a larger area allows tighter subject isolation and better-quality images when you compare two lenses of comparable quality. A so-so medium format lens will outperform most premium 35mm lenses. View cameras, with negatives of 8x10" or even larger, have remarkably simple lenses on them, because the larger the negative, the less complicated the lens has to be to produce a good-quality picture. The bigger you make the picture, the smaller the defects will be in relation.

Smaller sensors also have trouble with wide-angle shots, because it's not easy to make a lens that can spread a 100-plus-degree field of view over a tiny area.

Today's DSLRs with APS or "crop" sensors are outperforming many full-frame DSLRs in every aspect of quality. The Pentax K-5 and Nikon D7000 are two of the best DSLRs you can buy in any class right now, strictly comparing sensors. But in compact cameras the differences become more apparent.

10-12 megapixels is more than enough, unless you routinely want to shoot poster-size images at very high resolutions. For the occasional shot, even a cheap point-and-shoot can be used to stitch together composites of many exposures.

Very and None

As in you can get great pictures with a compact camera. And in some situations you rather not drag the big *** camera bag with you. The best camera is the camera you have with you.

But yes image quality wise a big sensor has its things to say. It also means bigger body, bigger lenses, heavier and more expensive. But it means shallower Dept of Field.that give portraits such a nice effect.

Also bigger sensors/bigger pixels have it easier when the light goes down and barry white goes.. erm wrong point. I mean when it gets darker the smaller sensors begin to choke on to little light. ISO raises up like a hyperactive child and that degrades image quality. The bigger sensor though will shrug and still get good results.

This because it has bigger "buckets" gathering light. And it can handle the situation better. Also it can offer more Dynamic Range due to the bigger buckets of light as they say.

Don't get me wrong sensor technology has made some very very good compact camera sensors.And you find them [many made by Sony] in many compacts. For normal day use the Compact can offer fine quality.

It is when things get though that the DSLR simply wins out... it is better equipped to deal with low light. Can offer better dynamic range and keep the ISO under check.

What ought to matter to you is.. is an SLR right for me. See they are big, heavy and.. no not wood. They need big lenses, expensive lenses... sure an SLR or even an ILC with a big sensor will simply need a bit more investment in it.

Where a compact its done you buy it you are limited by what it can do. As long as you know those limits all be fine!

So yes DSLR's and ILC's can offer better image quality. But at a price.. are you willing to pay that price. By now [5 years in photography with DSLR's]I must have spend $2500 ... oh yes. I own an SLR! Things are not cheap on this side of the road. You don't HAVE to spend that much money.. if you are willing to go with only 2 decent lenses and a flash.. you might have to invest total $1200

... ooops still allot.

Oh by the way it isn't the camera that makes better pictures it is the person behind it. The difference between compacts [at least many] and ICL's and DSLR"s is that you get CONTROL

You can set up the scene as you like it. You can decide how wide open the aperture has to be [how much is sharp or not] and so on.

With compact cameras you depend on automatic calculations.

Sensor size is the most important factor when considering a camera, in my mind anyways. The megapixel count is basically a money grab nowadays. People think that the more megapixels the better. Well it's a yes and no answer. I know a guy who has a 12 megapixel DSLR and I have a 16 megapixel DSLR and his images are way better because his sensor is a lot bigger. But I can 'technically' print larger images due to more megapixels. It's all relative to the camera as well and how well it's processes the images. Take for instance the Sony rx100. It has something like 20.1 megapixels 1 inch sensor but low light capability isn't as good as my 16 megapixel DSLR with an apsc sized sensor which is a lot bigger.

The sensor size is more important to a camera than anything else. The resolution is only useful for printing large images, but sensor size is what determines image quality. A big sensor gives you the following advantages:

- Larger photosites, and more spaced out pixels mean less interference from neighbouring pixels.

- Larger sensors take advantage of larger lenses means larger aperture which means more control over depth of field.

- The larger a sensor is, the simpler the lens can be, because individual photosites are further aparts, a simple lens design can provide ample resolution. Wheras it's common for cameras that have a lot of megapixels on a small sensor to outresolve the lens, resulting in fringing.

- The simpler lens is also less likely to distort, vignette or show signs of abberations.

Therefore a 6MP SLR is still better than a 14MP compact. That said the E-410 has the smallest sensor on any DSLR.

Sensor size is the main reason the dSLRs totally destroy compacts and cell phone cameras, regardless of resolution. The camera you are looking at is a micro four thirds camera, sporting a sensor that's smaller than traditional dSLRs, but much, much larger than any compact.

So no, your question isn't stupid, a camera like this will mop the floor with any compact, small image sensor camera whether it has 12 MP or 18 MP.

Now changing the subject, the camera you are looking at isn't the best choice. I understand that we all have personal budgets to work with but image sensors are getting better every year, so look for a better model, and don't worry you won't have to break the bank to do it. Here's a link, the 410 is there, a newer four thirds that has made a lot of progress in the image sensor dept, and Sony which has made a huge leap, with double the performance in low light.

http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/Cameras/Compare-C...

Avoid at all costs the Canon SX210. I know all the large image sensor Canons, so that must be a small image sensor camera, don't waste your time with it. If you want dSLR quality in a more compact form, large image sensors can be found in smaller cameras like any of the newer model Sony NEX, Samsung NX1000 or 210, or Panasonic GF5. if you want a dSLR, better image sensors are found in any entry level Canon, Nikon, Sony Alpha or Pentax.

Another thing to know since this is your first dSLR, get used to the idea of not having super 'zoom' abilities. Compacts and megazooms have huge zoom factors of 10x to 30x because they can cheat with that small image sensor. To get the same reach, a large image sensor camera needs a larger lens, it's a one of those laws of physics thing, so no getting around it.

the amount of mega-pixels determines the number of detail in the photo and the photos size and improves the overall quality BUT Image sensors size is much more important, a typically DSLR has a sensors size of 16x24mm (370mm2) and 24x36mm (864mm2) sensors size and the bigger the sensor the more quality in a photo, the sensor in you're camera is probably 5.7x4.2 (25mm2). So the sensor in your cam is much smaller than a DSLRs so when u have 10MP ina big sensor the pixels size will be bigger and when the pixels size is bigger the better the image quality but you're cam has more MP and a smaller sensor so the pixels size very small and the photos wil be worser and also it will have a lower dynamic range and worser auto-focus and ISO and ISO low-light performance so the SIZE OF THE PIXELS IS MUCH MUCH SMALLER than in a DSLR, the more pixels u try to put in a small sensor the worser the quality

there are tons and tons and tons of spec why will the dslt take better photos but i don't want to spend a whole day writing about it so go on google and type there, there are a lot of usefull websites on that subject but basically DSLR will take better photos