Comment Re:Canon or Nikon (Score 1) 569
This is a simplification that is not always true. What you want is a sensor size that is properly matched to the lens. In SLRs, cheaper bodies have sensors that are smaller than the total image projected onto the focal plane, so that light through the lens is wasted. If the sensor size is properly matched to the lens, you will get the best quality.
Or you could say that with the sensor smaller than the projected image you get the benefit of some extra optical zoom. You're not going to see significant degradation just because some of the light coming in is not used, there are plenty of photons coming in to get a nice sharp image from a 1:1.6 sensor. Such a sensor is still large enough that it doesn't suffer from the signal to noise issues in the very small and very high density sensors that are in many point and shoot cameras, so you are probably going to get a less noisy image in a partial frame sensor in a DSLR than you might get in a 15MP point and shoot.