Overhyped Camera Features

The camera market is extremely competitive and every year as new models come out, they need some kind of a stand out feature to convince you to part with your cash. In some cases these features are totally worth it but sometimes not so much. This is not to say that these features are bad or that no one will ever use them. Also this doesn’t mean don’t buy a camera just because it has those features. I just wouldn’t base a purchasing decision solely on that feature.

First are crazy burst rates. Obviously there is a tiny percentage of wildlife and sports photographers to whom this feature is everything. However 99.9% of photographers don’t need 100 fps bursts. Almost all modern cameras have a high burst rate of up to 15 fps which for most photography scenarios is more than enough. My camera goes up to 30 fps and the most I’ve ever used is 10.

To go hand in hand with high burst rates are high focus point counts. All cameras will have a certain number of focus points across the sensor. The more focus points the more precise you can be with where you focus. However once you get past 100 or so, for most applications more focus point won’t make a huge difference. Like the previous example if you’re in the 0.01% of photographers that need it, then you know you need it. However if you have to ask yourself do you really need 425 autofocus points? Chances are you don’t.

This specific feature might change with time however as it stands today I would avoid anything being marketed as AI. If AI is heavily used in the marketing for any feature, chances are it’s more there to help sell the product. In 10 years this might be different but right now it seems to be more about marketing than anything else.

This final feature is probability the most contentious one here because it does have legitimate use cases. I’m talking about high megapixel cameras of 40 or more. For most people reading this, the ability to crop is why they might want to get a high resolution camera however with editing software that can now easily upscale photos, you have to ask yourself, do you really need it? From my experience anything between 24 and 40 megapixels is the sweet spot. The moment you start going higher, you don’t see any benefit. If anything cameras with 60 megapixels or more will create more issues in terms of storage and processing of photos. There are many people who will benefit from huge resolutions however for most people anywhere between 24 and 40 is more than enough. Including me.