Apple Reportedly Looking to Purchase LED Camera Flash Components

[JMW3215]

Apple will find a way to make it sexy

We all have to remember that this is apple that we are talking about here... If they decide to put a flash on the back of the iPhone, they WILL find a way to make it look sexy....for example: hide the flash inside of the apple logo on the back, that way you won't be able to see it until you turn it on.

 

[VenusianSky]

Better cameras in cell phones are already here... and have been for a while.

Cell phones with a 12 megapixel camera and a xenon flash exist already.
Sony Ericsson Satio (12.1 megapixels) is one of them and has great reviews.
Granted it cost over $1k.

The Nokia N86 sports an 8 megapixel camera with a Carl Zeiss lens.

The LG Viewty Smart sports an 8 megapixel camera as well and also gets fantastic reviews for color quality.


Carl Zeiss has been making arguably the best lens for cellphones for a long time now.
Much better than the spec of glass used on the 3GS.

Couple that with a quality CMOS (like the one Sony uses) and you have a great camera phone.

So the fact that Apple may FINALLY be putting a flash (and a crappy LED one at that) is neither amazing or revolutionary.

That's cool that some companies are making cameras that have phone functionality. For those that are looking for that type of device, they should consider one of those. However, if Apple were to do the same with the iPhone at this time, it would most likely have a negative effect to the design and cost.

The lens doesn't necessarily make for a good photo when it comes to digital photography. If the sensor is cheap, a Carl Zeiss lens will help very little. In addition, just because a lens is branded Carl Zeiss doesn't necessarily mean it is a good lens, especially when you are talking about a Carl Zeiss lens for a camera phone. Sometimes it just makes it easier to sell.

I don't think anyone here thinks it is amazing or revolutionary that Apple may be adding a flash. It seems most people here are saying it's about time, considering how many other brands already do so.

 

[baryon]

I don't understand people actually caring much about the camera on a phone. It takes crap pictures, not matter how many megapixels it has, and no matter what kind of flash it has. Actually, if it had a good flash, it would drain lots of battery power. If it had more megapixels, the already bad signal-to-noise ratio would get much worse due to the fact that the individual pixels are smaller. It would only produce larger images that would take more time to save and would be of worse quality. It's useful to have a decent camera with you all the time in case you need to take a photo of something to show someone, it's also useful for augmented reality apps, but if you care a bit about actual photos, you have to buy a camera!

 

[ifonline]

Its a phone, damn it, not a camera!
Bring us multi tasking and better battery life!

Yep. You're right. It's a phone, damn it.

• Let's remove that calculator app, or that weather app, or that web browser, because it's a phone, damn it.
• Let's remove the ability to install those games, because it's a phone, damn it.
• Let's remove the iPod functionality, because it's a phone, damn it.
• Let's remove the touch screen and replace it with a keypad, because it's a phone, damn it.

Don't confuse your lack of interest in a flash as a shared opinion with everyone else. It makes you look like an idiot.

You're not an idiot, are you? Nah... I didn't think so.

 

[NokX]

"flash on a camera phone is stupid!!!"

then don't use it. i personally would like to see what i'm taking a picture of when there's not enough light.

and if you want to take an excellent picture....buy a camera. maybe cell phones will be able to take high quality photos in a couple of years, but don't worry about it right now.

now... i do wish the iphone had a message indicator light. that way i don't have to unlock my phone just to check for any new messages.

 

[rickster2k]

5mpx is a good move but they need to increase the size of the sensor. At present it's far too small. The biggest beef I have with the 3GS's camera be it 3.2mpx is the underexposure on the camera. In good light it's just about acceptable but anything other it's poor, it underexposes like anything and if you try to correct on the autofocus you just end up overexposing.

LED is nothing really, granted it's been around for years but Apple really should be moving towards Zenon.

Give me a decent sized sensor and a few more manual controls on the camera function (exposure, white-balance, etc) and it would sell it to me. My old Nokia N82 had a 5mpx camera and Zenon flash and it would knock the socks of the 3GS camera.

 

[anonymouz1828]

Great .. i cant wait for the next iphone .. flash will be good. There are some fake iphone with flash and some looks good. I would like a flash near the camera or the apple logo to be a flash. Anyway .. flash is good for pictures and for flashlight in dark places. I hope Apple use xenon flash as mentioned bcuz it looks much better as shown on the previous picture. Innovate Apple!!! Use xenon flash. I would like a more resistant phone using the 'gorilla glass' too.

 

[bigpics]

Most of what you said, but I would like to see Apple use an iPhone sized case to bring out a touch camera with all the rest of the capabilities of a touch - and use all the phone electronics space for a decent (better than cell phone quality) camera. this could be done without violating the laws of optical physics and there should be enough space to maximize lens/sensor quality plus processing hardware and software (which also matter at least as much as megapixels). In other words, not make all Touches "fat," but a separate touch model encroaching on the P&S market with features otherwise undreamed of there.

There's a convergence device that would grab me. A relatively simple Verizon smart phone (for PHONING and backup net access out of wi-fi range). No AT&T required.

Megapixels are often pure marketing gimmickry like the old MHz wars. IN fact, without great optics to back up those megapixels, a higher-MP sensor can actually make a WORSE picture because it’s more sensitive to noise: even with the 5MP image is scaled down. (Many examples are online—the difference is often striking.) I’m skeptical that cell phone is going to have optics to beat many 5MP full-size cameras. In which case, not only are you getting worse pictures, but your pictures are burning up extra storage space for all time!

That said, IF the optics in a cell phone can be good enough to not have 5MP noise problems, then I’d gladly have that feature, for the sake of cropping in if nothing else. Let’s hope Apple cares about noise more than me-too bullet points, and gives good-quality 5MP or none at all. Until we know what they release, all we can do is look at the noise problems with other 5MP+ cameras.

As for flash... well, taking a close-up in a dark room is a no brainer I wouldn’t use it much (and I don’t on my “real” camera either) but I WOULD like to have the option, it it didn’t contribute to a bulkier iPhone.

 

[rjohnstone]

That's cool that some companies are making cameras that have phone functionality. For those that are looking for that type of device, they should consider one of those. However, if Apple were to do the same with the iPhone at this time, it would most likely have a negative effect to the design and cost.

I was expecting an asinine response like that.

This my friend, is a phone with an awesome camera. Not a "camera with phone functionality" as you put it.

I don't care for SE's styling choice or their UI too much, but it is a smart phone first, not a camera.

http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/products/mobilephones/overview/satio?cc=gb&lc=en#view=specifications

I'm sure if it had an Apple logo slapped on it, Apple fans would be singing it's praises.

The lens doesn't necessarily make for a good photo when it comes to digital photography. If the sensor is cheap, a Carl Zeiss lens will help very little. In addition, just because a lens is branded Carl Zeiss doesn't necessarily mean it is a good lens, especially when you are talking about a Carl Zeiss lens for a camera phone. Sometimes it just makes it easier to sell.

True, but slapping a piece of low quality glass over any CMOS sensor will hurt it, not help.

Also, Carl Zeiss does not make "cheap/low quality/bad" lenses.
They have a reputation to uphold.
That's why people prefer them.

 

[Clown Boy]

Everyone knows Steve Jobbs is my uncle and that I am head of innovation at Apple.

We are going to use a 5mp censor and a flash from a SLR camera in the iPhone 4gb.

People will say "wow Apple, you are the best and your head of innovation is like Bill Gates".

People need to wait and see but will be surprised how great Apple are.

Stop the talk and believe me.

 

[MacFly123]

Sounds like the new iPhone is going to be a nice hardware upgrade all around! Especially for me since I still have the 3G! I am excited!

P.S. Apple? Can you add an option to the video camera to ONLY RECORD IN LANDSCAPE so when you hold the iPhone vertically (which is more comfortable) the image rotates to stay in landscape? I HATE when people shoot video in portrait, or that switches from widescreen to vertical and is moving all over like on the Flip cameras and such! There should be no such thing as portrait video PERIOD!

 

[ChazUK]

Steve Jobs is my uncle and I have a protoype 42" iMac with Blue-Ray

Blu-ray?

 

[ghostface147]

This year looks like it's gonna be a revolutionary one! What do
you guys think?!

What do you consider revolutionary? Hopefully 3rd party background apps and a better camera isn't what you consider revolutionary.

 

[ghostface147]

Hey clown boy.....what is blue-ray? Now I have heard of blu-ray..........

 

[ghostface147]

Everyone knows Steve Jobbs is my uncle and that I am head of innovation at Apple.

Jobbs? Never heard of him. He must work at Mapple. Your handle fits you well.

 

[pubwvj]

Bye-bye battery life...

 

[weing]

If they really wanted to improve the camera picture quality they would DROP the sensor to 2MP. That would give you good photos in almost any light conditions. And 2 MP is still plenty of resolution unless you are Ansel Adams.
I'm am so amazed how many people are so ignorant when it comes to quality digital photos and the near meaninglessness of a high pixel count to achieve it.

 

[Clown Boy]

Jobbs? Never heard of him. He must work at Mapple. Your handle fits you well.

I have problem with English because I am from Korea, sorry. You will see I am write though.

And Steve is my Uncle. His email is steve@apple.com only his head of innovator would no that.

 

[Skoal]

It sounded like you were here just to bash the iPhone.

Anyway, why not just take it back if you are so unsatisfied with it?

Actually I dont think thats bashing at all! I think those are all very valid questions. Seriously, why do you have to delet every number that calls yet you can delete individual VM's? And YES, the positioning of the camera button is horendous and I'm surprised this still hasn't been addressed by Apple. I love my iPhone a lot but there are things that could be improved easily instead of adding a flash to gloss over inadequacies.

 

[ifonline]

If they really wanted to improve the camera picture quality they would DROP the sensor to 2MP... I'm am so amazed how many people are so ignorant when it comes to quality digital photos and the near meaninglessness of a high pixel count to achieve it.

Lucky you aren't ignorant, huh?

I mean... your argument makes so much sense, that must explain why the Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III and the Nikon D3X have only 2MP sensors. Because 2MP sensors is all you need for outstanding quality. Any more would be stupid.

Please stop now. You look like a fool.

 

[koobcamuk]

Can someone show me clear proof that 5 megapix + LED flash makes a significantly better photograph than 3.2 on the iPhone 3GS?

It just is.

Having said that, my 3.2 MP camera is better because it's a CCD not a CMOS.

Most mobile phones (bar Japanese handsets) have **** cameras.

 

[AidenShaw]

Lucky you aren't ignorant, huh?

I mean... your argument makes so much sense, that must explain why the Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III and the Nikon D3X have only 2MP sensors. Because 2MP sensors is all you need for outstanding quality. Any more would be stupid.

Please stop now. You look like a fool.

It's foolish to compare the pixel count of a full frame sensor (36mm x 24mm) DSLR with the pixel count of a phone camera's sensor which is tiny by comparison.

Tiny sensor + lots of pixels = tiny pixels + lots of noise​

Note that Blu-ray/1080p video, which most people think is pretty good, is just a hair over 2Mpixel. So, if 2 Mpixel is good enough for my 52" XBR, I think that it's good enough for my phone camera.

Canon recently *upgraded* it's "pro point and shoot" cameras, and *reduced* the pixel count from 15M pixel to 10 Mpixel! Here's what one reviewer said:

Better resolution than 12MP cameras, meaning fewer pixels.

Compact cameras have way too many pixels today. This makes them noisy and chokes-out details. Fewer pixels is a better choice. I usually shoot my cameras set to around 6MP, so the fat 10MP sensors of the G11 and S90 are much better ideas than 12MP and 15MP sensors jammed into other compact cameras.

Finally, someone is getting serious in fixing the resolution problem.

http://www.kenrockwell.com/canon/s90.htm

Tiny pixels are just a bad idea - unless you have the optics and sensor size to match, go with fewer but higher quality pixels.

Full disclosure: I just purchased both a G11 and an S90.

 

[flopticalcube]

It's foolish to compare the pixel count of a full frame sensor (36mm x 24mm) DSLR with the pixel count of a phone camera's sensor which is tiny by comparison.

Tiny sensor + lots of pixels = tiny pixels + lots of noise​

Note that Blu-ray/1080p video, which most people think is pretty good, is just a hair over 2Mpixel. So, if 2 Mpixel is good enough for my 52" XBR, I think that it's good enough for my phone camera.

Canon recently *upgraded* it's "pro point and shoot" cameras, and *reduced* the pixel count from 15M pixel to 10 Mpixel! Here's what one reviewer said:



Tiny pixels are just a bad idea - unless you have the optics and sensor size to match, go with fewer but higher quality pixels.

Perfect. That is the issue in a nutshell.

 

[muskratboy]

I'm I the only one that doesn't really care about the camera?

Yes, you are. the camera phone is one of the best inventions EVER. get with it!

1. No zoom
2. can't even erase a single recieved call with deleting all of them
3. the camera button is very odly placed which makes it very hard to hold with one hand and and take pics. especially of yourself
4. no multitasking
5. was surprised at the lack of options in setting to custimize.

1) sweet, a crappy fake digital zoom. are you nuts? yes, a FEW have optical zooms... and they are all big and clunky (a requirement for optical zoom)

3) um, it really isn't. learn how to hold it. and maybe stop taking pictures of yourself and go make some real friends, hmmm?

4) still don't understand why this is a big deal. with enough speed, mutli-tasking is pointless. now, maybe the 3GS isn't QUITE fast enough... but soon enough, there will be no point in multi-tasking on a phone.

5) what options were you expecting? be fatter? run less smoothly? get on verizon network?

Note that Blu-ray/1080p video, which most people think is pretty good, is just a hair over 2Mpixel. So, if 2 Mpixel is good enough for my 52" XBR, I think that it's good enough for my phone camera.[/I]

uh... you realize video and still photos are in no way the same thing, right? i still watch 640x480 ... but that don't cut it for photos. motion changes everything.

 

[KnightWRX]

Bye-bye battery life...

LEDs are known for being very heavy on the battery use right ? Oh wait...

Seriously, my Sony Ericsson phone from 2006 had a LED flash. 2 things :

- You don't have to use it. Just enable or disable it.
- It really helped in darker conditions.

Why would people be opposed to this ? Seriously, LEDs don't eat through a battery and if you don't want it, just don't use it. It's there for other people that actually care about taking pictures where you see something rather than different shades of black.