Need advice on a digital camera...

[Gewehr98]

So I'm goofing around with this Nikon Coolpix 5700, which is my first semi-serious digicam since my 35mm SLR days...

Question for Monkeyleg, Oleg, and all the other pros:

At what point does the resolution of a digital SLR meet or exceed that of a quality 35mm SLR?  I'm seeing 12 megapixel DSLR bodies now with what appear to be decent lens combinations readily available at damned near any store, be it Best Buy, American TV, Sears, you name it! 

I'm quite partial to film just from my old darkroom days in school, much like I'm partial to tubes more than transistors even though the former "color" the sound compared to the stark accuracy of the latter.  With a 12 megapixel or higher DSLR and good lens combination plus Adobe Creative Suite 4, what does one give up to film save for nostalgia?      

[Brad Johnson]

Depends on a lot of things (pixel density, enlargement sizes, etc) but the general consensus is around 18 Mp for true 1-to-1 equivalency.  For everyday snapshots 12 Mp is almost overkill unless you do severe crops or extreme enlargements.  I still run a 6 Mp first gen Canon D-Reb and have done enlargements up to 8x10 with no problems.

Brad

[Gewehr98]

I probably mis-spoke in my question above.

I meant "image quality" instead of "resolution", because the latter term probably cannot be applied evenly across the two types of media, right?  Different ISO film types have a certain quantity of graininess, etc.

[Harold Tuttle]

kind of a moot point as film is no longer an input for print making.

In most cases someone is scanning developed negatives for output on a digital noritzu printer

A buddy runs the studio cam in NGS's photostudio

It's a leaf back at 24 megapixel and a head shot will let you count the hairs growing on someones nose from 10 feet away.

[Brad Johnson]

I meant "image quality" instead of "resolution", because the latter term probably cannot be applied evenly across the two types of media, right?

In that respect the digitals have film beat hands down.  Film still has noticeable grain when you begin stepping past ISO 800.  Even a cheap digital today will shoot to 1600 without noticeable degredation until you really start cropping or enlarging.  The latest gen of prosumer offerings will shoot to 6400 before showing noticeable noise (the digital analogy of film grain).

Brad