Hasta La Gadget!

One of the biggest improvements to the iPhone 4S looks to be the camera

Apple may have added three more megapixels to the iPhone’s camera, but that’s just about the least interesting, and certainly the least important part of the 4S camera upgrade.

The big news is threefold. Lens, sensor tech and processing hardware.

Lens

The iPhone’s lens now has a maximum aperture of f2.4, which not only lets in more light but also allows for a greater separation between subject and background. This shallower field of focus won’t rival an SLR because depth of field is also a function of sensor size. But one look at the sample photos shows that it is a big step up from most any other cellphone camera.

The lens also gets another element, bringing the total up to five. It might seem like putting in more glass would make it harder for the light to get through, but more elements usually equates to sharper, less distorted images.

Sensor

With pixels, its quality, not quantity. While more pixels means you can print bigger images (handy for Apple’s new Cards app), it also means bigger file sizes and often more noisy images as electrons bleed between the tiny, cramped photo sites.

But the 4S is using a new kind of chip, which has back-side illumination. This confusing name just means that all the electronics on the chip are on the back, out of the way. Non-back-side illuminated chips have all the junk on top, where it impedes the light. Thus equipped, Apple claims increased light sensitivity of 73 percent. Not bad.

Another surprisingly technical term mentioned on the product page is “full well capacity.” This is what it sounds like. Each pixel can only accept a certain amount of light before it fills up. When this happens, the light spills over into adjoining pixels. This is called “blooming,” and is a bad thing. A higher capacity means a higher dynamic range. One note: Most of the sample photos on Apple’s site are shot at ISO 64, making even the low-light images pretty noise-free. My guess is that a tripod was involved in some of them.

Processor

The A5 system-on-a-chip in the iPhone 4S turns out to contain dedicated image-processing hardware. This is similar to the “processing engines” found in regular cameras, such as Nikon’s EXPEED and Canon’s DIGIC. (All caps seems to be the rule here.)

This hardware makes the camera a lot faster. While we’ll have to wait to test it in real life, demos show that the camera performs at the speeds of a compact, not a phone. It snaps photos faster and gets them on-screen and ready to see a lot quicker.

It also lets the camera do some other fancy tricks. Face recognition is now possible (up to 10 of them), and I wouldn’t be surprised to see this tie in with iPhoto’s Faces feature to auto-tag people right there on the phone.

It also adds image stabilization — probably electronic, not sensor or lens-shifting — to video. And the video shot is now 1080p. That’s great news, especially as you should be able to edit them on the iPad’s bigger screen.

Editing

While not essential, it’s nice to be able to crop and edit photos right there in the app. You can also rearrange your pictures into albums in the photos app. These are iOS5 features, coming to all devices, and really make the iPhone and iPad independent from a PC or Mac. Of course, this also makes it easier to lose your photos, but that’s what Photo Stream is for.

I already use the truly awful camera in my iPad 2 more than my real cameras, just because I can share them easily. I have also never owned an iPhone. The 4S will probably be my first, thanks to what looks to be a fantastic little camera, and Photo Stream, which will put shots on my iPad, instantly, and ready to edit. I can’t wait.

iPhone 4S Camera [Apple]

I can fit more dials on here, dammit. Just you see if I can’t. Picture: Charlie Nghiem

If something is good, then more is surely better, right? That seems to be the thinking behind Charlie Nghiem’s Rotor Digital Camera.

Taking the popular (and excellent) resurgence of manual dials as his cue, Nghiem’s concept stacks eight (8!) dials on top of each other, nestled into a cylinder of control underneath the regular mode dial up top.

When you turn a dial, a strip appears on-screen right next to it, showing the results if your efforts. It thus combines the vagueness of a menu-driven interface — which requires you to always watch what you are doing — and the awkwardness of finding an individual button to do it.

I don’t see how this is any better than the button-and-dial method on most digicams, especially as those dials look almost impossible to turn (apart from the top one, and the one with the red nubbin).

I’m all for extra, dedicated manual controls. It just seems that, in this case at least, less might be more. Now, why do I suddenly feel like eating a Polo?

Charlie Nghiem: Rotor Digital Camera [Design Boom via Andrew Liszewski]

See Also:

• Canon G10: More Pixels, More Processor, More Dials
• Troika Retro Radio Has Knobs, Dials

It’s been a long time coming, but the patience has paid off with Sony’s A77 finally getting its first pro review. Sure, the $1,400 cost of entry (body only) will weigh heavily on even the most enthusiastic cameraman conscious. But, what’s a few hundred dollars when it comes to a camera that Popular Photography says has “radically changed the world of DSLRs”? It seems only the rival Canon 7D holds a candle to this would-be king, besting Sony’s latest when it comes to noise and performance at higher ISOs. However, the A77 wins on its all-around charm, with a 24.3 megapixel Exmor APS-C sensor, articulated LCD screen, world-first OLED EVF and impressive video-shooting chops. Video-wise, that top dollar gets you a high-end performance of 60fps at 1920 x 1080 with the fast phase-detection auto-focus we’ve also seen on its predecessors, the Sony A55 and A33.

Popular Photography does add a single caveat to the largely very positive conclusion: video enthusiasts should probably hold tight to see what Canon and Nikon counter with. Especially if you’re in possession of multiple lenses. Aside from that, what’s stopping you? Dig in to all the nitty-gritty details below, and we’d advise cutting down on those impulse eBay purchases — this magnesium-alloyed beauty will certainly make a financial dent when it lands, if not a physical one.

Sony A77 reviewed: A 24.3 megapixel game-changer? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Oct 2011 13:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Popular Photography  | Email this | Comments

Do you like to play rough? Good, then this Kodak’s for you. Up for pre-order on the imaging company’s website, is an update to the Playfull we got eyes-on with at CES earlier this year — except this handheld camera’s waterproof, as well as dustproof and drop-proof (although, only “onto plywood”). The slim 720p shooter weighs in at about 85 grams and sports a 2-inch LCD display, HDMI out, pop-out USB 2.0 and an SD card slot expandable up to 32GB. Kodak’s offering this pocket and pool-friendly portable in mid to late October with a premium $120 price tag set for the black version, and the white at a lesser $100. If your high-end smartphone’s just not cutting the HD-recording mustard, go ahead and hit up that source link below.

Kodak’s Waterproof Playfull records your pool parties in 720p, lets you relive that belly flop originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 01 Oct 2011 07:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Electronista  |  Kodak  | Email this | Comments

It’s not pretty, but it’ll get the job done

One thing I love about Micro Four Thirds cameras is that you can mount all kinds of lenses on them using simple, cheap adapters. In fact, I’m just about to sell my Nikon D700 because I almost never use it, but I’m keeping my lenses to use on a Panasonic GF1.

But until now, Canon users had to without aperture control when using lenses on other bodies. Canon EF mount lenses need power to activate their aperture leaves, and passive adapters simply leave the lenses stuck wide open. RedRock Micro solves this with the LiveLens Active Mount, a powered converter that lets you use your lens as it was supposed to be.

Aperture is controlled by a panel on the adapter itself, not by the camera. You do lose autofocus functions, but as the adapter is primarily meant for people shooting video, you’ll be focusing manually anyway.

The LiveLens is pretty expensive, at $488. This compares to sub-$50 passive adapters. Given that Canon owners looking to shoot pro-level video will likely opt for a Canon body, the market for this seems small. If you’re starting from scratch, it would be much smarter to choose a cheaper Nikon adapter and pick from the larger range of second-hand Nikon glass which still have manual aperture rings.

Still, it’s kinda neat, and perhaps signals the day where old SLR lenses can sit on Micro Four Thirds bodies with all electronic functions intact.

LiveLens MFT Active Lens Mount [RedRock Micro via Derrick Story]

See Also:

• Nano' Mounts Turn SLRs into Movie-Cameras on the Cheap …
• Leaked Sony Lens Adapter Has Mirror and Speed-Boosting AF …
• Lens Adapters Put Leica, Nikon, Canon Lenses on Sony NEX …