Will.i.am to Launch 14 Megapixel Camera Add-on for iPhone

[HasanDaddy]

I'm excited

Especially if it has a real zoom on it, for in-and-out of focus-closeup pics.

If it's a good product, I'll be getting one.

 

[Menneisyys2]

Tell that to Hasselblad users

...and to Nokia 808 ones...

 

[Shorties]

Especially if it has a real zoom on it, for in-and-out of focus-closeup pics.

If it's a good product, I'll be getting one.

Yeah I am really surprised at all the instant hate this has gotten. Probably because of Will-I-Am, which I am not a fan of his more recent music, but the app he did with the gyroscopic 360º music video was actually pretty creative.

I love the iPhone 5, but lets be real, the camera on it isn't great, its good for a phone camera, but it's still not great. If this camera has some optical zoom, and does much better in low light conditions, and doesn't add too much bulk to the phone, I definitely will consider it, regardless of who is endorsing it.

Everyone is all jumping on how stupid this thing is because megapixles don't mean anything, and then knowing almost nothing else about the camera immediately say it sucks. If megapixles don't mean anything, then we really know nothing about this accessory now do we? Good shots in low light conditions, better video capture (Can it do 60FPS at 1080p?), these are things that the iPhone 5 camera really isn't capable or great at, and would be nice to have.

 

[Lancer]

I have no problems with the camera on my 3Gs, would love to have the one on the 5.

14Mpx might be on more use on the iPad Retina IMO, if at all.

 

[roadbloc]

Does it have built in autotune like everything else by Will.i.am?

 

[slammer0]

Yay! It's back!

(sony ericsson communicam mca-20, year 2002)

 

[Defender2010]

Lost me at "clip on" (Actually lost me at Will.i.am - what a waste of space)

 

[GoodWatch]

I don't get it......

and that's probably because I'm a photographically layman but: if you have to adorn your already costly smartphone with a lot of appendages (that are costly too) to turn it into a decent camera aren't you better off buy buying a decent camera in the first place? A Fuji X100 or something like that? I really, really don't get it. Or Apple could design a decent camera that runs on IOS.

 

[3282868]

Sadly for the general user, that's what sells cameras. People goto Best Buy and they look at cameras. They pick the one with the most megapixels because more is better in the minds of most. It doesn't matter that the one with less may have a better CCD or offer better features. Consumers buy based on bigger and better numbers.

But, but - McDonalds sells the most hamburgers, therefore McDonalds food has to be better than the highest rated fine dining establishments in NYC. Right?

 

[MacDarcy]

Will.I.Am? Will I buy it? No I won't.

 

[Mactendo]

Wondering why there're so many negative expressions here. If 50cent releases a 14 Megapixel camera add-on will it be better? If yes, why?

PS I'm not a fan of rap so I dont follow the creative path of those men, just curious why someone gets so much negative feedback without even seeing a final product.

 

[HurryKayne]

--Could be interesting if i can swap lenses like with mirrorless..and if it won't pricy as hell..or maybe just for the old 3gs
for now i'm totally satisfied wity 50X Canon Bridge Camera^^

 

[HiRez]

OK, this sounds ridiculous. Will, please go back to writing music. Who the heck is going to carry around some other device and a dock cable just to get a resolution boost? 8 MP is already enough for the phone, if you want better you'd be better off just getting a compact digital camera which is probably going to have superior optics and handling. The whole point of the cel phone camera is that it's part of the phone that's already in your pocket and doesn't add any bulk or fuss. Bad idea.

 

[middi]

this guy walks round like he invented oxygen. In reality he is an oxygen thief.

 

[davie18]

Image

Yay! It's back!

(sony ericsson communicam mca-20, year 2002)

Ha, I actually had one of those phones, back in the day.

The first colour screen phone I had also with a camera (albeit a plug in one).

 

[briwil]

What the hell is wrong with most of you?

Ok, you don't like the man, fine. But you know almost nothing about this product and you're bashing the hell out of it.

People keep saying, "why carry around some bulky add-on, just go get a point and shoot"- Carrying a iphone and a point and shoot would be a pain-in-the-ass. Having this product connected to your phone (much like a case which I'm sure is what its like), having the ability to swap out lenses, have good depth of field- basically turning your iphone into a mirrorless competitor, is an extremely attractive thought. A camera, a real camera, with apps, much like those Android cameras that are popping up theses days, is not a stupid idea. Plenty of apps can handle 14mp photos, I transfer 18mp photos from my Eye-fi card all the time and have no issue editing them.

All you guys bashing this and saying how ridiculous it is that someone would want to go from 8 to 14mp, thats fine. But for the rest of us who use our phones to take pictures, this is a really intriguing idea.

 

[iGrip]

Few details are offered, but it is described as interfacing to the iPhone through the dock-connector and has its own camera and flash hardware.

I hope Apple grants licenses liberally for dock-connected accessories.

The first version of the 30 pin connector had a lot of innovative stuff, like nice stereo mics that could accept a clipped-in iPhone to use as a display and controller. Apple seemed to kill all that stuff off with the second generation of the 30 pin, and I haven't seen much sine.

----------

So you have to carry this extra 'camera' with you, but it only works when attached to the iPhone?

Why not just a standalone camera then?

Because the iPhone already has lots of camera guts, like a nice CPU, a nice display and lots of memory and the ability to upload the pics instantly.

----------

Everything about Mr. Adams just disgusts me. First he considers himself a "musician", now he has the audacity to have a hardware line. It's just disgusting and insulting to real musicians and designers. My opinion? No, it's a fact.

Hopefully, he hired real engineers and designers. Likely, he is a Producer/CEO type guy for the project.

 

[komodrone]

i need a will.i.am blocker chrome extension.

 

[iGrip]

What's the point?

1. The iPhone already has a decent camera.
2. I don't need another bulky accessory.
3. Megapixels aren't everything.
4. I don't need something that's made by will dot i dot am plus.
5. It will probab--er--definitely cost a lot.

6. Likely, it has a better lens and a better sensor. The rest of the iDevice is just supporting hardware for the camera-specific bits.

----------

The only way this might sell is that it's small and has a xenon flash. No one cares about megapixels.

Everyone cares about megapixels. Nobody cares about lens and sensor quality. All they know is megapixels.

 

[enroh]

Does this mean we can start producing and selling over-processed and over-synthesized s*** music too?
Frankly from looking at his car company (look it up) I would not get your hopes up about a quality product.
..and finally will dot whatever dot...if I am going to lug about something to clip onto my camera because I think I will take some great photos I will carry my pro equipment with me, plus nobody calls me on my camera

 

[JoshBoy]

People are saying pixels don't count???? I just finished doing a shoot on a 40 MP camera and it makes a huge difference to my normal camera that shoots at 22 MP. on top of the quality it is the fact that you can start cropping the image to still deliver a shot that has enough in it to produce a huge print at no loss in quality.

 

[Gomff]

Don't understand all the hate over either the idea or the man....if you don't like his music then fine, but why all the vitriol? It's like a piranha feeding frenzy and I can't help but question where it all comes from. I think some folks here need to take a look at themselves.

Reserving my judgement until I see it but I applaud the effort.

 

[joedemax]

I think this is it...

Oh my

 

[kalsta]

Yeah, if there's one thing I never hear around here when a new iPhone is due, it's people hoping Apple increases the resolution of the camera.

Take out the '' (which I assume indicates sarcasm), and I'd have agreed. I don't remember hearing a huge outcry for more than 8 megapixels. I suppose there will always be that vocal minority asking for more of something, whether or not they even know why they want it. These people don't speak for the majority of iPhone users however.

People are saying pixels don't count???? I just finished doing a shoot on a 40 MP camera and it makes a huge difference to my normal camera that shoots at 22 MP. on top of the quality it is the fact that you can start cropping the image to still deliver a shot that has enough in it to produce a huge print at no loss in quality.

Doubling the number of pixels on a device that is so severely limited by the size of the optics and the image sensor is what people are saying doesn't count. You may as well take your 8 MP shot and interpolate it in software. All you'd be doing is giving consumers pixels they don't need, and filling up their phone's storage quicker.

If you're a professional photographer, you already have a professional camera, so I join with those who say, what's the point?

 

[Redbeard25]

Back when all we had were iPods, this would have made sense. I always wondered why someone didn't build a camcorder where you could snap in an iPod classic and use its hard drive to record video, then sync it back to your computer.