Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Where's the Camera rumours?

NT1440 said:
Yea, its way ahead of Apple, but at this point its really just continue the same path of bigger sensors allowing for more light and meager optical zoom.
Click to expand...
Well, that's physics for you! If you want better quality, those are the variables you can change to get an improvement.

Nokia is also using moving optics for image stabilisation... that, bigger sensors, better sensitivity all improve photo performance.

What I meant by exciting are technologies such as light field cameras (infinite post capture focus capabilities). Just so happens the first company going into this field head CEO had actually met with Jobs about a year ago and rumors were that he wanted to buy the company (but didn't). That to me says that what they have in the lab is some VERY exciting stuff.

https://www.lytro.com/science_inside
Click to expand...
Ugh. Lytro is a massive gimmick, and a big step backwards in camera quality.

It gives a 10x decrease in performance (because it wastes 10 pixels to sense light direction for every one image pixel) just to try and accomplish a gimmick (after-the-fact focussing) that no-one needs anyway. It doesn't even work properly with a tiny sensor and slow lens, because that's a combination with a naturally great depth of field.

Thank goodness Steve Jobs didn't fall for this snake-oil.
 
0dev said:
It is in my experience anyway. I had a Canon point and shoot and the quality of the images it produced was the same as, if not inferior to, my smartphones.

Even if there is a tiny difference you can spot if you examine the image in detail, I don't see why that's worth owning a separate device. If you really care about your photos that much you should buy a DLSR anyway.
Click to expand...

Out of curiosity, how old was the Canon p&s that you had? Image quality has ramped up immeasurably over the last several years. I shoot Canon exclusively and while my 4S's images are quite good for a phone's camera, they don't hold a candle to my SX260 HS (that's the p&s I use most often, in concert situations. The 4S has also performed well in those situations when the stage is well-lit, but the lack of zoom is a killer.)
 
Blueline29 said:
Out of curiosity, how old was the Canon p&s that you had? Image quality has ramped up immeasurably over the last several years. I shoot Canon exclusively and while my 4S's images are quite good for a phone's camera, they don't hold a candle to my SX260 HS (let alone my SX40 HS or t3i, which is a DSLR).
Click to expand...

This was about the time I just got my iPhone 4, so just under two years ago. The camera in question cost me about £160. It did produce very good images, I just didn't think they were significantly better than my iPhone.
 
0dev said:
This was about the time I just got my iPhone 4, so just under two years ago. The camera in question cost me about £160. It did produce very good images, I just didn't think they were significantly better than my iPhone.
Click to expand...

OK, that makes sense. I don't know how well some of the other Canon point & shoots, well, shoot...I tend to upgrade cameras just about yearly because I'm a touch OCD about my photos & have gone with the highest-end compact superzooms the last several purchases. Their output's really quite good, significantly better than my iPhone's, but obviously everybody's mileage may vary. :)
 
Blueline29 said:
OK, that makes sense. I don't know how well some of the other Canon point & shoots, well, shoot...I tend to upgrade cameras just about yearly because I'm a touch OCD about my photos & have gone with the highest-end compact superzooms the last several purchases. Their output's really quite good, significantly better than my iPhone's, but obviously everybody's mileage may vary. :)
Click to expand...

I just looked up the model you mentioned and it costs over £200 so that does make sense :p

It sounds like photography is a hobby of yours and you know exactly what to look for, whereas I just take casual photos when I'm out and about like the majority of smartphone customers. So we're coming at it from different angles really :)
 
0dev said:
This was about the time I just got my iPhone 4, so just under two years ago. The camera in question cost me about £160. It did produce very good images, I just didn't think they were significantly better than my iPhone.
Click to expand...

Depends where you use that sort of camera. The latest larger sensor models from the likes of Sony will be an order of magnitude lower noise and higher sensitivity than your iPhone. Under outdoors/bright sunlight usage you probably won't notice the difference - but the proper camera will win indoors under low light where you can get much much better noise and shake free photos without resorting to flash.
 
0dev said:
It is in my experience anyway. I had a Canon point and shoot and the quality of the images it produced was the same as, if not inferior to, my smartphones.

Even if there is a tiny difference you can spot if you examine the image in detail, I don't see why that's worth owning a separate device. If you really care about your photos that much you should buy a DLSR anyway.
Click to expand...

NT1440 said:
I feel we've gotten to the point where most smartphone cameras easily, with convenience factored in, pass the "good enough" threshold from this point out.

The low end point and shoot industry is going to have to radically change, or phase itself out.
Click to expand...

My iPhone has replaced my camera for everything. But there are 2 key areas where point ad shots have the advantage. Optical zoom, and flash. For the most part cell phones suck at night, and suck on anything beyond 5-10'.
 
applefanDrew said:
They may not lead in specs but the 4S is still regarded as the best mobile phone camera...even a year later. The 5 will be even better.
Click to expand...

Nokia > iPhone all day long and even on the previous generations. Nothing new.
 
NT1440 said:
Nothing revolutionary has happened on the mobile camera industry yet (well...gotten to market yet anyway), this is an area where apple partners or purchases, but does not lead.
Click to expand...

This. There was a product that was new camera tech, not mobile that could make anything into focus after the pic was taken, idk if it's out yet or if its still going to be released. But in 5 years from now, I'd love to have it in a phone.
 
mattkilla420 said:
This. There was a product that was new camera tech, not mobile that could make anything into focus after the pic was taken, idk if it's out yet or if its still going to be released. But in 5 years from now, I'd love to have it in a phone.
Click to expand...


The camera you mean is the lytro light field camera. Afaik it's out in the US. And it's the same camera that has been mentioned in this thread a few times.
 
Id love to see a xenon flash on an iPhone at some stage

My world would be complete :D
 
According to @chronic on Twitter, the new iPhone will support panoramic mode in the camera app. He swiftly deleted the tweet, but the guy is usually very reliable, for example, provided images of the redesigned Maps app before it was debut.
 
cameljockey said:
Pretty sure the 808 PureView is by far the best.

and the Lumia 920 is nearly on the same level.
Click to expand...

Not quite. And seeing as how the 808 pureview is massive, I'll stick with my iPhone camera. The 920 is nice, but ultimately it wasn't something I found spectacular enough to switch off my iPhone. Also doesn't come out til November.
 
For me, the camera is one of the biggest selling points. It's one of the areas where things can advance and surprise me (I'm not talking about Apple, just the tech as a whole).

I'm not a pro photographer, I just love taking pictures and capturing memories. The 4S camera is great. If they can wow me with a much improved camera (software or hardware) then I become more interested in buying. The 4S is already better than my point and shoot assuming the subject is mostly still.

We know certain things will pretty much always get a bump in each new phone, but the camera on the 4 was a huge bump and the camera on the 4S was even better. I hope that trend continues.

I am interested in seeing how the new Nokia 920 performs on this front in a real life setting.
 
A new sensor would be really helpful. Low light iphone photos are pretty bad. If they can up optic quality and sensors it will be a big feature. Megapixel increase is borderline pointless at this point. If you need more pixels than it currently has in a photo you need to pull out a "real" camera.
 
NT1440 said:
Nothing revolutionary has happened on the mobile camera industry yet (well...gotten to market yet anyway), this is an area where apple partners or purchases, but does not lead.
Click to expand...

Actually, Sony has developed a new sensor for use in phones, they released it earlier this year. 12.25 mpxls, if I remember correctly. Apple uses 'other' manufacturer cameras in their phone...and I believe a couple of them have come from Sony

http://www.photographyblog.com/news/sony_12_megapixel_cameraphone_sensor/

0dev said:
Any high end smartphone will be just as good as a point and shoot these days anyway. Point and shoots are a bit pointless IMHO.
Click to expand...

It's been addressed already, but decent P&S cameras still better those of even the best smart phone cameras for everything over 100 ISO (bright, sunny days) without the need for zoom or select focus, manual aperture settings, shutter speed, bracketing, et al. I shoot Canon exclusively. Currently, my s100 goes with me everywhere, even when I'm carrying my 5dIII.

lilo777 said:
If anything, it is more likely that the new camera will be worse than the one in iPhone 4S. The phone will be thinner thus creating more challenges for lens design.
Click to expand...

No. Chance!

0dev said:
It is in my experience anyway. I had a Canon point and shoot and the quality of the images it produced was the same as, if not inferior to, my smartphones.

Even if there is a tiny difference you can spot if you examine the image in detail, I don't see why that's worth owning a separate device. If you really care about your photos that much you should buy a DLSR anyway.
Click to expand...

There are crappy P&S cameras. There are excellent P&S cameras. Just as with any product in any category---ya get whatcha pay for:) Bigger sensors in smaller packages is becoming more and more ubiquitous. Nikon and Sony with the 'J' and 'Nex' series, as well as Canon now stepping up the 'G' series to significantly bigger sensors...yet still remaining kinda 'pocketable', produce incredible shots in comparison to the older P&S cams.

However, that said---the convenience factor is HUGE with Smart Phones. Most folks, less those photography enthusiasts and professionals...will typically forego carrying a P&S camera simply because we get decent to excellent 'snaps' with our phones. Just check any of the big photo sharing sites to see which cams/phones are being used for capture. By far and away the iPhones are in the lead...with 'other' smartphones in the 2-10 positions. Along with the cameras in phones, we have the ability to instantly share the pictures, post them to Facebook, sling on Twitter...email, edit, produce (Instagram, PS, iPhoto, et al), an all around photo 'system' compared to having to download from camera to computer...etc, etc...when it comes to using a real 'camera' for shooting these days.

It's going to be interesting to see how the new Android cameras from Samsung do. Depending on pricing, I think THIS will be the ONLY way the big camera makers will remain relevant in the P&S community. There are very VERY few photography enthusiasts left that will actually carry an extra camera these days simply because of the cell phone cam quality and convenience. The latter, IMO, the deciding factor for MOST of today's Snappers:)

J
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back