[Leica] Compact Camera Cannundrum

[drodgers at casefarms.com (David Rodgers)]

Frank,

>> Sounds like the P5000 falls in the same trap as others in the pixel  
race, far too many pixels for the sensor area even needing built in  
noise reduction at the lowest iso levels.
The best digital P&S machines I have used tend to be <6 megapixels.<<

While I'm drawn to more pixels I keep thinking to myself; if more pixels
were that important all films would have given way to Technical Pan. 

I've been playing with files from different cameras, and it does seem
that each one is a little different. Hardware and software (i.e.
in-camera processing) both no doubt play a role. While I like the idea
of RAW images, I'm getting so that I'd like to keep post processing to a
minimum. So if I can get a decent JPEG I prefer that. 

Because I mainly print BW, and I like to shoot in less than ideal light,
I'd rather have less noise than more pixels. I can use various means to
remove noise in post processing, so the blacks look richer, but that can
lead to unwanted side effects elsewhere (i.e. in highlights or
mid-tones) 

I guess my biggest gripe is that while you can extract a lot from any
camera as long as you put the time and effort in to learning it's
quirks, once you do that (and it may take a while because optimization
for web presentation may differ from that for printing, and color may
differ from BW, etc., etc. etc.) something newer and better appears.
Then you have to go through it all again. And while it may not be so bad
the next time around, it can be a vicious cycle! It can distracts a
person from just taking good pictures. 

The old adage used to be "stick with one film" and learn to know it
well. Today it's "stick with one camera". 

DaveR