cybershot dsc t10 or vivicam 8600s?

hi, im fairly new to digital cameras and i am looking to buy one mainly for taking pictures with friends and at car shows. i am either looking to buy the sony cybershot dsc t10 or the vivitar vivicam 8600s. i know the vivitar has 8.1 megapixels while the sony only has 7.2, does this mean that the vivitar is going to have better quality pictues or is there more to it?

vivitar- http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Vivit...oductDetail.do

sony- http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Sony-...oductDetail.do

thanks, jim

More resolution does not mean better image quality. In fact, it may mean lesser image quality. There are lots of variable involved. But one thing to keep in mind is that more pixels on the same size sensor generally degrades quality. As the pixels get smaller, the sensor generates more noise and other image quality problems. As cameras gain resolution the manufacturer have to solve these other problems in order to keep the image quality good. When compact digital cameras went from 4 to 5 megapixels, a lot of people thought the image quality actually got worse - even though resolution increased.

I would buy the Sony. While Vivitar's digital cameras may have nice specs, I haven't seen them in action and they are unproven. Sony has been making digital cameras for a long time now and they actually manufacture their own sensors. Lots of digital camera companies actually get the sensors for their cameras from Sony. Sony's 7-megapixel sensors have been about the best available in compact digital cameras. The percentage difference in resolution between the Sony and Vivitar is negligible and I'd be surprised if the Sony didn't have far better image quality. Do the safe thing and buy the Sony. I don't think you'll have any regrets.

photo-john thank you for explaining the details out for me. i wouldve never thought taht and might have made a bad decision. ill be picking up the sony and i will post what i think of it. thanks again, jim

Excellent! I'm happy I was able to help :)

The camera companies have spent a lot of money trying to convince us that resolution is everything. But it's just not true. Camera functionality is often much more important. The shutter-lag issue is a good example. I think most of us would have been a lot happier if manufacturers had of eliminated shutter-lag instead of increasing resolution. While it's cool to be able to claim my camera has X million pixels. It doesn't make much difference if I always miss the shot waiting for the camera to actually take the picture. And on top of that, more pixels doesn't even guarantee better image quality. We always have to be careful about buying what someone is trying to sell us.

I hope the Sony serves you well. And please do tell us what you think. You can post it here. But the best thing to do is post a review in the reviews section. That way it's searchable, stored with other reviews, and has a rating attached.

Happy shopping and Happy New Year!