Dual Camera iPhone 7 Plus Could Offer 'DSLR-Like' Quality, 3D Depth Mapping

[derbladerunner]

What's interesting to me is that Apple apparently managed to pick up this company for a mere $20 million (!) last year...

https://www.macrumors.com/2015/04/14/apple-acquires-linx-imaging/

At the same time Google and other tech big companies squandered billions on start-up companies (like Nest) with little to no revenues and very questionable long-term value.

If we enter a recession in 2016 or 2017 and/or things get rough in Asia (especially China) it's good to see Apple spending its cash conservatively instead of wasting billions.

 

[BvizioN]

Why do I need to get a phone that's way too big for me in order to get the improved camera?

I totally agree, but maybe just maybe... currently it would be not possible to add this technology on a smaller 4.7" iPhone. Otherwise it wouldn't make any sense. 4.7" model is much more popular then the larger one.
[doublepost=1453967020][/doublepost]

Dude it's not that big. As a 6+ user I'm telling you it's not that big of a phone. I have regular size hands

Big enough to add the extra technology needed. On devices like that, few inches of free space would make a huge difference.

 

[plexdk]

This will probably hit Sony a bit?

 

[smirking]

Now if the laws of physics could enable us to have optical zoom the same as a 400mm lens on a phone, I'd be set.

Stupid pesky laws of physics! Standing in the way of progress for eons!
[doublepost=1453972522][/doublepost]

If I see the words "SLR[-like] quality" and "phone" in one sentence one more time...

Reminds me of a joke (by some comedian that I can't recall) about how everything that's bad for you gets compared to heroin and it's always several times more addictive than heroin, but in the end nothing is badder than heroin.

I'm all for improving the quality of a phone camera. Even if they get the sensors on par, there's a reason why I'm not giving up a DSLR: Speed. You just cannot grab, power on, and shoot at the blink of an eye with anything else.

 

[mazz0]

Right now, it's just battery and screen.

Not when it comes to the 4" phone, unfortunately

 

[Tech198]

the last thing i wanna see are nose hairs of someone up close.

 

[thelookingglass]

What's interesting to me is that Apple apparently managed to pick up this company for a mere $20 million (!) last year...

https://www.macrumors.com/2015/04/14/apple-acquires-linx-imaging/

At the same time Google and other tech big companies squandered billions on start-up companies (like Nest) with little to no revenues and very questionable long-term value.

If we enter a recession in 2016 or 2017 and/or things get rough in Asia (especially China) it's good to see Apple spending its cash conservatively instead of wasting billions.

Wasting billions? You mean like on the acquisition of Beats? I kid, I kid. Beats is actually a cash cow, as much as I dislike their stuff.

Was Nest a squandered acquisition though? Seems like that was a smart move too. Home automation is the next wave and Google has a nice foot in the door through Nest, which is still the leading brand in connected thermostats, even if it's not the best.

 

[mateytate]

"

...meaning the iPhone 7 Plus may lack a protruding camera lens and be able to take SLR-quality photos -- think Canon or Nikon.

That has to be the best joke I've heard all week!

 

[Michael Goff]

Not when it comes to the 4" phone, unfortunately

A 4" phone has very little internal space. Of course it will be lacking in things that take up any decent amount of space.

 

[doelcm82]

When lens and sensor are involved, you still can't win over physics ....

Not with a single lens and sensor. But if you have multiple lenses and sensors, and the computing ability to process the multiple images into a single final one, you can win. You also have the ability to do things that a SINGLE lens camera, such as a DSLR can't do.

Professional and prosumer dedicated cameras will continue to be more flexible and produce better results for those who know how to use them (and can afford them). But to stay in front they'll have to adopt multiple lens systems as well. Which means they won't be DSLR cameras.

My first digital camera was the size and approximate shape of a pair of binoculars. It had no removable storage, an optical viewfinder, and could hold five pictures in memory at the highest quality, which was VGA. I remember when camera snobs insisted that real photographers would never use digital cameras. The quality would never be good enough.

I'm waiting to see if dual-lens cameras on the iPhone 7 or 7S really live up to the promise of multiple lens camera systems, or if I'll have to wait longer. But I have no doubt that multiple lens cameras on mobile phones will someday surpass the quality of today's dedicated single-lens cameras.

 

[winston1236]

Sounds more like a 7S update than 7 to me, they need to boost/maintain sales so I think their roadmap is going to be a bit more spread out.

 

[uwbadger]

Here's a crop from an EOS M3 (not a DSLR, but equivalent image quality) with a 200mm lens. The (heavy!) crop is from the processed jpg, not the original RAW file, yet you can still read the name of a ship more than FIVE MILES away. Good luck doing that with any lens/sensor that fits in a smartphone.

The iPhone 6 is a great everyday camera, and I love having it in my pocket, but there's no way it will ever compare to a decent lens/DSLR combo.

 

[koruki]

Here's a crop from an EOS M3 (not a DSLR, but equivalent image quality) with a 200mm lens. The (heavy!) crop is from the processed jpg, not the original RAW file, yet you can still read the name of a ship more than FIVE MILES away. Good luck doing that with any lens/sensor that fits in a smartphone.

The iPhone 6 is a great everyday camera, and I love having it in my pocket, but there's no way it will ever compare to a decent lens/DSLR combo.

over exposed but then again the M3 is not the best camera. The Samsung S6 that's been on the market for a while now could easily take this and also apply software filters to merge multiple exposures to prevent the over exposing areas without losing light in the dark areas. I think this is where the strength comes in with smart phones, its software. There is already software that can correct images taken with really cheap quality lenses as well.

 

[uwbadger]

over exposed but then again the M3 is not the best camera. The Samsung S6 that's been on the market for a while now could easily take this and also apply software filters to merge multiple exposures to prevent the over exposing areas without losing light in the dark areas. I think this is where the strength comes in with smart phones, its software. There is already software that can correct images taken with really cheap quality lenses as well.

Maybe you missed that this is a *tiny* part of a larger image (which was properly exposed, BTW), and the ship is five miles away? A Samsung S6 can't do that, and no amount of software correction will help.

 

[doelcm82]

Sounds more like a 7S update than 7 to me, they need to boost/maintain sales so I think their roadmap is going to be a bit more spread out.

I think if the tech is ready and the implementation seems practical (to them), they will include it in the 7. If it's not ready yet, they'll save it for the 7S.

I don't think Apple regularly holds tech back for 12 months if they have it ready. They aren't that generous to their competitors.

 

[koruki]

Maybe you missed that this is a *tiny* part of a larger image (which was properly exposed, BTW), and the ship is five miles away? A Samsung S6 can't do that, and no amount of software correction will help.

Well if you put a 200mm then even my dslr wouldn't be able to do it without a 200mm, 200mm isn't the standard zoom length. If you take the same shot closer so the distance is the same on both cameras then the smartphone can do some pretty amazing stuff. I'm a big camera fan, but I have been pretty impressed with some of the stuff the smartphones are turning out, esp the S6. The lowlight performance on that is right up there with the RX100 which has the same sensor size of some entry level dslr's. The Sony Xperia is supposed to be even better.

http://www.hardwarezone.com.my/feat...ut-samsung-galaxy-s6-vs-lg-g4/image-quality-0

 

[uwbadger]

Well if you put a 200mm then even my dslr wouldn't be able to do it without a 200mm, 200mm isn't the standard zoom length. If you take the same shot closer so the distance is the same on both cameras then the smartphone can do some pretty amazing stuff. I'm a big camera fan, but I have been pretty impressed with some of the stuff the smartphones are turning out, esp the S6. The lowlight performance on that is right up there with the RX100 which has the same sensor size of some entry level dslr's. The Sony Xperia is supposed to be even better.

http://www.hardwarezone.com.my/feat...ut-samsung-galaxy-s6-vs-lg-g4/image-quality-0

I don't think we disagree. I think smartphone cameras are great. But they can't do what a DSLR can do.

 

[ghost187]

As crazy as this sounds, I would happily sacrifice a slice of the internal battery to have OIS & Dual Camera setup on all of the new iPhones (because there is no way Apple will do something sensible like making the phone slightly thicker).

 

[thermodynamic]

"could"?

No thanks. DSLR sensors are far bigger and don't need to do the detail-easing tricks that are being hyped. It's amazing how far micro technology has come but the larger sensor still delivers more sharpness and detail, especially in RAW mode.

It's nice to see the gimmicks as they can be of use on the smaller phone cameras, but the application is still important. I wouldn't call it wasted effort, but it does smell like teen marketing.

 

[DevNull0]

If we enter a recession in 2016 or 2017 and/or things get rough in Asia (especially China) it's good to see Apple spending its cash conservatively instead of wasting billions.

Yes, it's good that Apple is spending it's acquisition money wisely and not spending $3 billion on a second-rate headphone company run by a person who brags that he abuses women.

 

[lk400]

Well if you put a 200mm then even my dslr wouldn't be able to do it without a 200mm, 200mm isn't the standard zoom length. If you take the same shot closer so the distance is the same on both cameras then the smartphone can do some pretty amazing stuff. I'm a big camera fan, but I have been pretty impressed with some of the stuff the smartphones are turning out, esp the S6. The lowlight performance on that is right up there with the RX100 which has the same sensor size of some entry level dslr's. The Sony Xperia is supposed to be even better.

http://www.hardwarezone.com.my/feat...ut-samsung-galaxy-s6-vs-lg-g4/image-quality-0

200mm isnt any zoom length.

 

[jerwin]

The lowlight performance on that is right up there with the RX100 which has the same sensor size of some entry level dslr's. The Sony Xperia is supposed to be even better.

f 1.9, 1/10s, ISO 500 is low light?

It's true, a fast prime on a APS-C or 135 format camera is rarely image stabilized.There are exceptions. Sony has a few E mount lenses, and third party manufacturers might make some for Canon or Nikon. Pentax has inbody stabilization which might work. In the absence of really good IS, a shutter speed of 1/40 or so would be fast enough for handholding, which means that IS0 2000 would be needed (we'll assume that it's well metred, though DSLRs tend to have really good meters that would improve upon this).


So, my question to you is: are you going to be satisfied with an ISO 2000 exposure from a RX100 camera?

Personally, I think that the RX100's ISO 6400 shots are bit on the iffy side, but then, I have that same critical eye that would lead me to reject an ISO 500 cameraphone image.

 

[recoil80]

"could"?

No thanks. DSLR sensors are far bigger and don't need to do the detail-easing tricks that are being hyped. It's amazing how far micro technology has come but the larger sensor still delivers more sharpness and detail, especially in RAW mode.

It's nice to see the gimmicks as they can be of use on the smaller phone cameras, but the application is still important. I wouldn't call it wasted effort, but it does smell like teen marketing.

Yeah, there is no way a smartphone will reach a DSLR.
Even if the sensor technology evolves the DSLR will always have a bigger sensor and, most important, will have better lenses.
Smartphones can make good pictures nowadays and I'm sure we'll see some big improvements in the years to come, but DSLRs will always be a step ahead

 

[mazz0]

A 4" phone has very little internal space. Of course it will be lacking in things that take up any decent amount of space.

Such as CPU? Is the A9 significantly bigger than the A7? It's surprisingly hard to find an answer to that question on Google.

 

[Michael Goff]

Such as CPU? Is the A9 significantly bigger than the A7? It's surprisingly hard to find an answer to that question on Google.

Ah, the CPU thing. I doubt that's the space issue and more of the whole 'want to make sure we have enough for the bigger phones' issue. I mean, I doubt it is the thermal issue. I'm only guessing, though.