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Posts Tagged ‘Details’

OnePlus announces 3-year partnership with Hasselblad, reveals 9 Series smartphone launch details

08 Mar

Smartphone manufacturer OnePlus has announced it’s partnering with Swedish camera manufacturer Hasselblad to ‘co-develop the next generation of smartphone camera systems’ inside OnePlus’ mobile devices, including the new OnePlus 9 Series, which will launch on March 23.

The partnership is a three-year deal that will see Hasselblad work alongside OnePlus to improve the camera technology inside its flagship smartphones. OnePlus says the partnership will start ‘with software improvements including color tuning and sensor calibration, and extending to more dimensions in the future.’

OnePlus says the first fruits of the partnership is a new color science technology it calls ‘Natural Color Calibration with Hasselblad.’ OnePlus says it’s worked for months with Hasselblad to fine-tune the color science of its smartphone images to deliver more perceptually-accurate and natural-looking colors to images taken with flagship OnePlus devices.

Another improvement already in the works is a revamp of the camera interface in OnePlus devices. New OnePlus smartphones will eschew the previous first-party camera app design for a new experience called ‘Hasselblad Camera for Mobile,’ which ‘allows for an unprecedented amount of control for professional photographers to fine-tune their photos, with the ability to adjust ISO, focus, exposure times, white balance, and more,’ according to OnePlus.

Within the new Hasselblad Camera for Mobil will be ‘Hasselblad Pro Mode, which is effectively a 12-bit Raw capture mode. It’s unknown at this time whether this will be a standard Raw capture or a more AI-powered approach akin to Apple’s ProRAW technology.

OnePlus isn’t the first smartphone manufacturer Hasselblad has teamed up with over the years. Unfortunately though, despite Hasselblad’s impressive legacy as a camera manufacturer, its mobile partnerships haven’t resulted in any ground-breaking technology — although its True Zoom Moto Mod was a unique offering.

OnePlus hasn’t revealed all the specifications of its forthcoming 9 Series devices, but has confirmed it will use a customized variant of Sony’s IMX789 sensor, which OnePlus calls ‘the largest and most advanced main camera sensor ever on a OnePlus device.’ The first 9 Series devices will be announced on March 23 at 10am ET on OnePlus’ launch website.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Texas report details the harsh realities, risks of being a wedding photographer during the COVID-19 pandemic

17 Dec

A recent report of out South Texas reveals the harsh reality of being a wedding photographer in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. In an article titled ‘Texas Wedding Photographers Have Seen Some $ #!+’ shared by Texas Monthly, reporter Emily McCullar tells the story of a wedding photographer who was diagnosed with COVID-19 after it was revealed the groom of the party had tested positive for COVID-19 and didn’t inform the wedding photographer.

The photographer, who remains unnamed throughout the article, was informed of the groom’s positive diagnosis by a bridesmaid in the party. But not before the photographer had spent ‘an hour or two inside the unmasked wedding party’ taking photographs. The photographer said ‘[the bridesmaid] was looking for me to be like, “Oh, that’s crazy,” like I was going to agree with her that it was fine.’

That wasn’t the case though. The photographer suffers from asthma, a serious comorbidity factor that can increase the risks of a positive COVID-19 diagnosis. Additionally, the photographer has three kids and a husband at home that she didn’t want to infect, should she end up COVID-19 positive.

After discovering the groom’s secret, the photographer and her assistant left. Texas Monthly notes ‘her exit was tense.’ ‘The wedding planner said it was the most unprofessional thing she’d ever seen […] Bridesmaids accused her of heartlessly ruining an innocent woman’s wedding day.’ The photographer even recollected a bridesmaid telling her ‘I’m a teacher, I have fourteen students. If I’m willing to risk it, why aren’t you?’

After leaving, the photographer ‘canceled her Thanksgiving plans with family, sent her kids to relatives’ houses so they wouldn’t get sick, and informed the brides of her upcoming weddings that she’d be subcontracting to other shooters,’ says Texas Monthly. Sure enough, a few days after the wedding, the photographer started feeling symptoms and eventually tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

The photographer said the couple whose wedding she was photographing ‘didn’t care’ about the diagnosis and ‘didn’t offer to compensate her for the test, nor did they apologize for getting her sick.’

The article goes on to point out that this incident is far from an isolated one. As you browse through the hashtag ‘#TexasWedding’ on Instagram, there are a handful of images that show groups of friends and family celebrating matrimony with what appears to be little regard for protocols suggested for mitigating the spread of COVID-19, a disease that’s confirmed to have killed over 302,000 individuals in the United States alone.

A screenshot of a few images that show up when you search ‘#TexasWedding’ on Instagram. Faces have been blurred for privacy sake.

The report details statements from other photographers, who share their experiences trying to shoot weddings throughout the pandemic. A reoccurring theme is a lack of masks, proper social distancing and little means of sanitation options, such as hand sanitizer.

As for the original wedding photographer, she recalled a heartbreaking conversation she had with a bridesmaid at the wedding:

‘I have children,’ she told a bridesmaid, ‘What if my children die?’ The bridesmaid responded, ‘I understand, but this is her wedding day.’

The report notes that not all wedding anecdotes it came across from photographers were as reckless as the featured one, but even in the anecdotes that featured more responsible weddings, nearly half of the guests were unmasked, including those who had high risk factors. While Texas reduced the size of wedding gatherings — from 500 to 250 individuals — there’s still plenty of risk in having that many individuals together at a single venue.

Vaccines are being distributed around the globe, but according to experts on the matter, it will still be a while before anything gets back to ‘normal,’ whatever that may look like. And until then, this unfortunate reality is what many wedding photographers (and other professions) will have to face as the death toll continues to rise, particularly in the United States.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Samsung details new 65/14nm stacked sensor design for improving power efficiency, density of mobile image sensors

08 Oct
Stacked Architecture of the chipset Samsung details in its new paper.

Samsung has published a paper detailing a new stacked CMOS mobile image sensor that uses a 14nm processing layer to deliver high-resolution images while reducing power consumption.

The stacked sensor consists of two chips: a 12MP backside-illuminated (BSI) pixel chip on the top that uses 65nm process and a bottom chip for analog and logic circuits that uses 14nm process. By using the super-fine 14nm process on the processing layer, Samsung says it could achieve a 29% drop in power consumption compared to current conventional sensors that use a 65nm/28nm process.

Microphotograph of Implemented Sensor (Left: Top Chip & Right: Bottom Chip)

Samsung says the chip is capable of outputting at 120 frames per second while consuming just 612mW of power. The analog and digital power supply requirements also drop to 2.2V and 0.8V, respectively, compared to conventional 65nm/28nm process chipsets.

What this all translates to is a more energy-efficient stacked sensor for future smartphones that also manages to improve data throughput and reduce noise. It also paves the way for creating sensors with smaller pixel pitches, maximizing the potential for even higher-resolution sensors without increasing the size of mobile sensors. As illustrated in the below graphic, a 16MP sensor with a 1.0um pixel pitch is the same size as a 13MP sensor with a 1.12um pixel pitch.

Of course, smaller pixels means each pixel will be less sensitive, but Samsung emphasizes this shortcoming can be overcome through its pixel-merging technologies such as its Tetracell (2×2) and Nonacell (3×3) technologies, which will merge data from neighboring pixels together to achieve better image quality when light is scarce.

Specifications of the 12MP sensor Samsung details in its paper.

Samsung specifically notes the power-saving nature of stacked sensors using the 65nm/14nm process will be ‘critical’ for 8K video capture and even higher-resolution sensors, as power consumption is one of the biggest factors limiting 8K capture on current smartphones.

As tends to be the case with developments of this kind, there’s no knowing when we might see this 65nm/14nm stacked sensor design inside a consumer smartphone.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Weekly Photography Challenge – Details

19 Sep

The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Details appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Sime.

This week we want you to focus on ‘details’

Last week we went with self-portraits and there were many of you that submitted really great images, thanks! This week, we want to see ‘detail’ and that could be a detail of yourself if you wanted to continue the theme “here’s my eyeball” seems to be a thing ?

I’ve decided to photograph the end of a fallen tree at the local park, the cracks, the rings and the ants! #dPSDetail

fallen tree, wood rings, ants, detail, dps

There’s detail in everything, while not necessarily being a macro photograph, though you can if you want, the detail is a selection of the larger image. An example might be that the photograph above is a detail shot of the scene below. Detail photographs are used in a story to help tell that story. Tag your photos #dPSDetail and we look forward to seeing what you come up with!

Weekly Photography Challenge – Details

From last week’s photographs, this was a stand-out from Belgium based photographer, Katrien Stuyck, thanks and congratulations, Katrien!

Weekly Photography Challenge – Details

Great! Where do I upload my photos?

Simply upload your shot into the comments field (look for the little camera icon in the Disqus comments section) and they’ll get embedded for us all to see. Or, if you’d prefer, upload them to your favourite photo-sharing site and leave the link to them.

Weekly Photography Challenge – Looking Up

Share in the dPS Facebook Group

You can also share your images in the dPS Facebook group as the challenge is posted there each week as well.

If you tag your photos on Flickr, Instagram, Twitter or other sites – tag them as #DPSDetail to help others find them. Linking back to this page might also help others know what you’re doing so that they can share in the fun.

Follow us on Instagram?

The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Details appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Sime.


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Samsung unveils the details of its new Galaxy Note 20, Note 20 Ultra smartphones

06 Aug

Today, Samsung unveiled its latest flagship Note devices, the Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, and teased a successor to its original Galaxy Fold. The new devices bring improved specifications across the board, including an upgraded three-module camera system.

While similar in name, the two devices appeal to different user bases, with the Galaxy Note 20 being the more entry-level phone, while the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra goes big across the board with a massive screen, tons of RAM and an impressive camera setup.

Galaxy Note 20

As their names suggest, the Galaxy Note 20 is the more basic of the pair, but it still has plenty to offer. The phone is built around a massive 6.7” AMOLED display with a 20:9 aspect ratio and a 60Hz refresh rate. It’s constructed of Samsung’s ‘Glasstic’ plastic, uses Gorilla Glass 5 for the front display and is IP68 certified.

In North America, the device will use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865 Plus CPU and the global version will run on Samsung’s Exynos 990 CPU. Inside, it has 128GB of internal storage (no microSD card slot), 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM, 5G, Wi-Fi 6 and a 4,300mAh battery that can charge at 25W wired and up to 15W wirelessly.

Moving onto the camera setup, the Galaxy Note 20 offers three camera modules on the back: a 12MP F1.8 optically-stabilized wide-angle camera with 1.8?m pixels, a 64MP F2.0 telephoto (hybrid 3x zoom) camera with 0.8?m pixels and a 12MP F2.2 wide-angle camera with 1.4?m pixels. The front of the devices uses a 10MP F2.2 camera module with 1.22?m pixels. As for video capture, the Galaxy Note 20 can record 8K video at up to 24fps in either 16:9 or 21:9.

The Galaxy Note 20 comes in ‘Mystic Gray,’ ‘Mystic Green’ and Mystic Bronze, and will start at $ 1,000.

Galaxy Note 20 Ultra

The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra takes the ‘bigger is better’ approach in nearly every way. The phone has a 6.9” AMOLED 120Hz display that wraps around the edge of the phone to form a 19.3:9 ratio. It’s constructed of metal and glass, with a Gorilla Glass 7 display cover, and is IP68 certified.

A front-view comparison between the Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra.

The CPU options for the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra are the same as the Note 20: a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus in North America and a Samsung Exynos 990 CPU for the global version. Inside is 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM, a 4,500mAh battery that can charge at 25W wired and up to 15W wirelessly, 5G, Wi-Fi 6 and the option for either 128GB or 512GB of internal storage (no microSD card slot).

For photography, the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra has the same 108MP F1.8 wide-angle optically-stabilized camera module found in the Galaxy S20 Ultra, a 12MP F3.0 telephoto (5x zoom) camera module and a 12MP F2.2 ultra-wide cameras, as well as a Laser AF module for improved autofocus speed and accuracy. It can record 8K video at up to 24fps in either 16:9 or 21:9, identical to its non-Ultra counterpart.

The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra comes in ‘Mystic Black,’ Mystic White’ and Mystic Bronze, and will start at $ 1,300. Pre-orders for both phones start at 12:01 AM August 6th, with the first units expected to ship on August 21.

Galaxy Z Fold 2

In addition to the two Note devices, Samsung also showed off the Galaxy Z Fold 2, a successor to its original Galaxy Fold phone release last year. Samsung didn’t divulge too many specifications for the new folding phone, but does appear to use the same camera setup found on the Galaxy note 20, based on the product images. Samsung says it will reveal more information on the Galaxy Z Fold 2 on September 1.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Ricoh reveals D FA 21mm Limited, DA 16-50mm F2.8 and details D FA* 85mm F1.4

15 May

Ricoh has published a video setting out its development plans for three new lenses, including a constant F2.8 standard zoom for APS-C, a 21mm lens in its much-loved ‘Limited’ prime lens series and gave more details of the FA*85mm F1.4.

The company says its announcements were originally planned for the cancelled CP+ trade show, that was supposed to take place in February 2020 in Yokohama, Japan.

The company gave more details of the HD Pentax-D FA* 85mm F1.4ED SDM AW first announced in March 2020. This is the first 85mm Pentax lens designed specifically for digital cameras. The lens will include three super ED lenses, which behave similarly to fluorite elements, to minimize chromatic aberration. They say this should avoid the purple or green edges that can be distracting in wide aperture portraits.

The design also utilizes a concave front element, which the company says reduces some aberrations. The spherical aberration has been optimized to provide attractive bokeh, rather than solely prioritizing sharpness. They claim this will result in ‘the finest lens in its class.’

The lens will be launched later in 2020, with a more definitive announcement soon.

Alongside the 85mm, the company showed the forthcoming D FA 21mm Limited lens as an addition its range of prime lenses. Like the other ‘Limited’ lenses, it will feature metal construction and will be available in black or silver. The focal length was chosen as one that’s not currently available in the lineup. The maximum aperture was not disclosed.

Unlike the current Limited series lenses, the D FA 21mm will have a built-in DC focus motor, rather than being driven by the camera body. It will also be weather sealed. The lens will be available in 2021.

For APS-C users, there will be a lens current called the HD Pentax DA* 16-50mm F2.8ED PLM AW, a completely new constant F2.8 standard zoom for APS-C. This, like the 85mm, will be part of the ‘new-generation’ star range.

It will be powered by a PLM ‘Pulse’ motor, which has meant a complete optical redesign with a light focus element to suit the fast, quiet motor. The company is aiming to have the lens ready in the first half of 2021, to more closely coincide with a promised APS-C flagship camera.

The company’s manager of product planning, Tetsuya Iwasaki also promised that the company will also develop some smaller and reasonably priced lenses in future.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Ricoh video details the next flagship Pentax APS-C DSLR

15 May

In a video published on YouTube, Ricoh has announced details of its upcoming flagship Pentax APS-C DSLR. The company was originally going to make tshe announcement at CP+ 2020, but the show was cancelled due to the coronavirus. A prototype of the camera was shown at an event in the Netherlands last fall.

According to Ricoh, the most notable feature on this as-yet-unnamed camera is its entirely new optical viewfinder, which uses a special glass that ‘excels in refraction’. The company is targeting a magnification of 1.05x (0.7x 35mm-equivalent), which is the same as on the full-frame K-1. An eye sensor below the viewfinder automatically dims the LCD panel, and the eye cup protrudes further away from the back of the camera than previous models. The shape of the pentaprism is a bit different, as well.

Ricoh claims that autofocus subject tracking has been improved, without providing further detail.

A battery grip will be available for the camera, which will share the same dials and AF joystick as the body.

Ricoh says that despite the coronavirus delaying the introduction of the camera, the company hopes that it will still ship on schedule by the end of the year.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Samsung details the 108MP camera sensor tech packed in the Galaxy S20 Ultra smartphone

15 Feb

Samsung has published technical details on the 108MP ISOCELL Bright HM1 ‘Nonacell’ image sensor found in its newly launched Galaxy S20 Ultra smartphone. The image sensor features 108-million 0.8?m pixels and a 1/1.33in size, as well as Smart-ISO and Nonacell technologies to produce what Samsung claims are ‘crystal-clear’ and ‘vivid’ 8K videos and high-resolution images.

Nonacell builds upon the Tetracell technology Samsung unveiled in 2017; rather than featuring a 2×2 array like the older tech, the Nonacell features a 3×3 arrays of the same color filter. This allows chunks of nine 0.8?m pixels to be merged into what is essentially a single 2.4?m pixel. This results in more than double the light absorption offered by the Tetracell tech, according to the company.

The downside is that there is a larger gap between pixels recording different colors, meaning that the ‘re-mosaic’ algorithm, that tries to reconstruct what a conventional 1×1 Bayer sensor would have captured, faces a more difficult challenge. So you won’t ever get the lever of color resolution that a conventional 108MP sensor would give.

Other ‘advanced pixel technologies’ like Smart-ISO help produce what Samsung calls ‘ultimate results under any lighting condition,’ including particularly challenging mixed-light environments. The camera’s HDR tech involves assigning exposure lengths to each and every pixel for multiple simultaneous exposures, enabling real-time HDR previews.

Rather than using a mobile processor, Samsung says its sensor directly converts pixels via ‘an embedded hardware IP.’ Other features include electronic image stabilization that uses gyroscope hardware, Super-PD phase-detection tech and up to 3x lossless 12MP zoom that doesn’t require upscaling.

The use of ISOCELL Plus tech, meanwhile, deals with the color interference that would otherwise arise from the Nonacell system, according to Samsung:

As the number of adjoined cells increase, so does color interference, making pixel-binning technologies more challenging, While such difficulties had limited Nonacell to a theory, the HM1 was able to realize the method by adopting Samsung’s ISOCELL Plus technology, which dramatically reduces crosstalk and minimizes optical loss as well as light reflection.

In addition to the 108MP sensor, the Galaxy S20 Ultra model features a 12MP wide-angle camera and a 48MP telephoto camera, 10x Hybrid Optic Zoom and ‘Super Resolution Zoom’ that uses AI for up to 100x zoom. The model’s ‘selfie’ camera, meanwhile, features a 40MP sensor with the ability to ‘shift’ to 10MP with larger pixels for higher quality images captured in low-light settings.

The S20 and S20+ models feature lesser specs with 12MP wide-angle and telephoto cameras, as well as a 64MP telephoto camera. A full breakdown of the camera hardware found in these three smartphone models is available on Samsung’s website.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Sharp 8K Video Camera appears at CES 2020 with some specs and availability details

16 Jan
During last year’s CES event, Sharp introduced a Micro Four Thirds camera prototype simply referred to as the ‘8K Video Camera.’ Details about the camera at the time had largely come from Kinotika, which had the chance to spend some hands-on time with the model. The company was back with more details about this model during CES 2020 and this time they come from a video published by Personal View.

During the video interview below, Sharp’s vice president of New Business Development Cliff Quiroga revealed some details about the company’s 8K camera, which was demonstrated with a working model at the most recent Consumer Electronics Show. The camera will be able to record 8K/30p, 4K/60p and 1080/60p video, it was confirmed.

The latter two recording options will be at 200Mbits/s at 10-bit, according to the interview, which reveals that the camera will feature a full-size HDMI output port, a 14cm (5.5″) fully articulating touch LCD, headphone and audio jacks, as well as a mini XLR port. The camera was demonstrated with an 8K external display.

Sharp is aiming for an H2 2020 release date in Japan and plans to launch the camera in the United States at some point ‘shortly after that.’ The price is still expected to fall below $ 4,000, but additional details are still pending.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Google details how it’s improved Portrait mode on the Pixel 4

17 Dec

Portrait modes that simulate the shallow depth of field of a large sensor camera and fast lens have been around on smartphones for a long time. The Pixel 2 was the first Google phone to offer the feature. With the Pixel 2 being a single-lens camera the dual-pixel autofocus system was used to estimate the parallax and thus depth. The Pixel 3 still relied on dual-pixels but the system was improved using machine learning.

The Pixel 4 is the first Google phone to use dual-pixel AF and dual-cameras combined for depth estimation.

The latest Google flagship, the Pixel 4, is the first phone in the Pixel line to feature a dual-cameras. This allows for even better depth estimation by leveraging both the dual-camera and dual-pixel auto-focus system. In addition Google has also improved the appearance of the bokeh, making it more closely match that of a large sensor DSLR or mirrorless camera.

With the dual-pixel autofocus distance between the two focus pixels is very small which makes it difficult to estimate depth further away from the camera. The Pixel 4’s dual-cameras are 13 mm apart, allowing for a larger parallax and making it easier to estimate the depth of objects at a distance.

…dual-pixels provide better depth information in the occluded regions between the arm and torso, while the large baseline dual cameras provide better depth information in the background and on the ground.

Google is also still using the information collected by the dual-pixels, though, as it helps refine depth estimation around the foreground subject. In addition machine learning is used to estimate depth from both and dual cameras. A neural network first processes data from the two separately into an intermediate representation. A final depth map is then computed in a second step.

This image shows depth maps generated from dual-pixel AF, dual-camera and both combined. Dual-pixels provide better depth in the areas visible to only one camera, dual-cameras provide better depth in the background and ground. (Photo: Mike Milne/Google)

In addition to the improved depth estimation spotlights in the background are now rendered with more contrast, making for more natural looking results. This is achieved by blurring the merged raw image produced by the HDR+ processing and applying tone mapping.

Additional depth map samples can be found here, head over to the Google Blog for the full article.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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