In all the discussions about what is being released when and next, a 30+mp sensor seems to be accepted as a must. It is mostly met with glee, but how many people have given real consideration to what this actually means?

I was chatting with a Nikon shooter who was looking forward to upgrading to the D800 (even swapping both bodies) until she saw the 36mp sensor. What was the problem?

The cost came the reply. The cost of having to get an amazingly specced computer to manage files of that size. Enormous EHD's to store the files on. The increased time in processing as she tries to eliminate the extra 'details' that the subject does not want to see in a pic - and lastly - the cost in getting LR or Aperture 4 and CS6 to have software that can work with these files.

It got me thinking, and maybe in all this, we're maybe missing something. When i got my 5D2, i got a new top of the range iMac that handles those 21mp files without too much effort. LR3 slowed things down a bit, and i dare not install Lion as my machine has a 4gb ram limit. But a 36mp sensor would require a totally new machine with 16gb RAM, 2tb H/D and 1gb of dedicated video ram - that's another £2k+ worth of iMac on top of the camera body.

It does make me pause a little before talking about buying the 5D3 etc...