[janoskiss (Steve H)]

Well, the D3300 does not really qualify with 24MP. Binning the data from 2x2 pixels, thereby reducing the image size to 6MP, certainly helps reduce the noise. But I imagine a native 6MP sensor of the same size could be made less noisy still and for less cost. But the market keeps driving the pixel count up and up.

I still have and don't intend to upgrade my old 6MP Fujifilm F30 compact. The series reached a pinnacle for low-noise/low-light performance with that model. Subsequent models traded off low noise for more Mpixels. I blame the consumer more than the manufacturers (although some educational marketing to help keep a good thing would not go astray). For a compact the 10 y.o. F30 still does all right even today. I've got two of them. (The first one was $430 new, the second one $30 second hand off ebay.) Here is a 2007 McNaught shot I took with it, ISO 800, f2.8, 15s (no dark frame - I should have though, because it does help).