Interesting discussion.
I had dinner last night with a Professional Photographer friend of mine that runs/owns a high volume commercial photography studio. Nine Hasselblad H cameras, mostly H3D-II/39s and a few H2/39 Multi-Shots, and a bunch of Canon 5D-IIs ... big beautiful studio with multiple product sets going all day long ... more high-end Macs than the Apple store, and the most Profoto Pro-7A & Pro-8A 2400 boxes and Pro heads I've ever seen in one place ... LOL!
We got into a similar discussion, and his POV was that there is no comparison, and more megs in a 35mm format won't change that, any more than the 21meg 5D-II did compared to the H3D/22 they also once used. Their 5D-IIs are used for low demand projects and the occasional editorial or location people assignments for website applications.
The reason for this studio's raging success while other commercial studios are dying like May Flies, is that they are relentlessly focused on quality of end product to their clients ... meticulous attention to detail in every imaginable way, total control over subtile tonal separation, dynamic range and faithful color rendition in every respect. Anything less and their clients would take notice immediately ... because retouching cost would skyrocket ... which is as expensive, if not more, than the photography itself.
These aspects had less to do with final size of use, and everything to do with all of the above characteristics. However, he did say that the larger file also allowed his shooters to sometimes pull back to gain DOF rather than stopping down and introducing diffraction.
BTW, his opinion was that 40 meg is enough for their applications and quality standards ... in his words, "We're done". What he would prefer to see is increased operational speed, more usable features and accessories (like the HTS/1.5 which they also use), and in terms of the H lenses, a continued revamp like they've done with the recent upgrades of the HC50-II, 120-II and 150N ... namely, in his opinion, the HC35 needs re-done.
Personally, I took note of that relationship between MFD and 35mm years ago ... with a relatively similar meg count used in studio, the MFD won every time, and as things have advanced on both fronts, that relationship has not changed.
I think putting 36 meg into a prosumer body is a marketing ploy to snag bucks from enthusiasts that buy based on numbers. This will not only place a strain on the optics, the users experience will come under attack in terms of technique ... which seems odd from the standpoint of how these types of cameras are actually used. Besides, I could not imagine a prosumer body being used in a working studio like my friends, which is a hint as to who such marketing ploys are aimed at ... it sure isn't him.
I also think Canon has made a brillant move with the upcoming 1DX FF 18 meg. with improved performance specs rather than sheer meg count. Bravo to them :thumbs:
-Marc