The September issue of Science magazine had a review on “Casting a genetic light on the evolution of eyes” that summarizes a lot of interesting facts like that light travels in straight lines, information is carried by wavelength (and produces hue) or intensity and polarization (produces contrast). Inevitably, the review starts by quoting Darwins view of the human eye as an “organ of extreme perfection”.
As a photographer with an own lab, a proud owner of Leicas and Rolleis, I have read of course the books of Anselm Adams and of Andreas Feininger. Feininger once compared the human eye with a camera lens. The human eye is probably more a video than a still camera, with a single wide angle lens of 22 mm focal length, an aperture of 7, a resolution 500 megapixels. The dark adapted eye has an equivalent of ISO 800. We all know that the optical quality isn’t so good, with much aspherical, chromatical and other optical aberrations. The apparent perspective is also not a wide angle but more like that of a 50mm or 120mm tele lens.
These are the reasons why I believe that brain matters (and not so much the “organ of extreme perfection”) – the realtime processing of a rather limited retina picture will allow pattern recognition in milliseconds. I would even go further to the reflections on photography and art by Alain Briot

… countless articles are written daily about the many scientific aspects of photography. From equipment reviews, to image processing techniques, to tips on how to be a more efficient photographer… However, learning about the artistic aspect of photography is just as important. Unfortunately, there is a much lesser amount of information on photography as art. Far fewer essays are being written, far fewer discussions are taking place, and far less information, help and tips are available. It is as if photographers, for the most part, discovered how much they have to learn about photographic science and, overwhelmed and enchanted by equipment and technique, stopped there and looked no further…

Finally, here is my bonus link to wonderful megapixel photos: the early Bryce Canyon National Park, Machu Picchu and the Gigapxl project.