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Nokia has recently made efforts to distinguish its smartphones with advanced photographic capabilities, introducing the PureView 808 with a 41MP rear camera. Now, Nokia’s long-time head of imaging and photography Damian Dinning, who has been with the company since 2004, is confirmed to be departing as of November 30. Dinning was also said to have been instrumental in the development of Windows Phone imaging software, through Nokia’s partnership with Microsoft.

Nokia also recently touted the Lumia 920′s low-light image capture prowess. And indeed, the 920 does take much brighter, better images in low-light situations thanks to optical image stabilization features built into the camera module. Camera quality and features have been promoted by Nokia as key differentiators for its Windows Phone 8 handsets versus competition from Apple and Android hardware OEMs.

Dinning’s background includes roles at Minolta and Eastman Kodak, and Nikon. In September he released a paper detailing Nokia’s plans regarding PureView technology and how it would be employed in the 920. In it, he described improved methods for making the most of the pixels available from that smartphone’s 8 megapixel shooter, rather than trying to cram more megapixels into a small form factor, as Nokia had done with the 808 PureView.

Amateur Photographer reports that Dinning’s departure “came as a blow” to Nokia higher ups, and indeed, losing the man responsible for one of their smartphone’s key features can’t be easy. We’ve reached out to Nokia for additional comment on this shift, and will update this story as needed.

Update: Nokia provided the following statement, which seems to be the same one they’re giving every outlet regarding this staffing change:

Following the relocation of key strategic roles to Finland,and with great reluctance, Damian Dinning has made a personal decision to leave the company effective November 30, 2012. During the past nine years, he has made many innovative and valuable contributions to Nokia, most recently as a lead program manager in our Smart Devices business. We thank him for his service to the company and certainly wish him the best.

A conversation with Nokia’s Stephen Elop, as we had earlier this week, is quite an experience. He’s kind, friendly, charming and obviously extremely passionate about everything Nokia — but his PR deflector shields are always full-forward. Ask him a challenging question and you’ll be greeted with a very gentle response that sounds like an answer but is actually just a deftly delivered retooling of some standard PR-friendly message you’ve probably already heard.

Interviewing Nokia SVP Kevin Shields is, as we’ve seen in the past, a somewhat more… direct experience. Why did Nokia go with a gloss finish on the 920 instead of the matte we loved on the 800 and 900? “Because it’s awesome.” How durable is the 920? “It’s like a missile.” How confident is he that wireless charging will take off? “We are all in.” Shields was kind enough to give us a few minutes of his time after Nokia’s event this week to talk Lumia and to explain just what “PureView” means now that it’s been applied to a second phone. Click on through to get educated.

Continue reading The Engadget Interview: Nokia’s Kevin Shields on PureView, floating sensors and the ‘missile’ that is the Lumia 920

Filed under: Cellphones, Cameras, Mobile

The Engadget Interview: Nokia’s Kevin Shields on PureView, floating sensors and the ‘missile’ that is the Lumia 920 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Sep 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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