One of the most-asked questions Profoto received after releasing its Profoto Camera app for iOS was: ‘when will it be available for Android devices?’ Now, four months after releasing the Profoto Camera app for iOS alongside the release of its B10/B10 Plus strobes, an Android version is here, albeit in beta and limited to a select number of Samsung devices, for now.
As with its iOS counterpart, the Profoto Camera app for Android beta makes it possible for Android users to trigger a number of its strobes, speedlights and compact LED lights using the company’s AirX Smart-TTL technology. Specifically, the app will work with Profoto’s A10, B10, B10 Plus, C1 and C1 Plus flashes, bringing full flash tube sync support.
Click to enlarge.
Getting this support wasn’t easy, says Profoto in its announcement post:
‘One difference in synchronizing external flash to a mobile device compared to traditional capturing devices like DSLR or MILC is that smartphone cameras require a much more flexible flash-length on different shutter speeds. This makes it more difficult to fire the flash at the exact time and duration to light the image. Up until now, attempts to synchronize the two have fallen short, making Profoto the world’s first company to successfully bring the full power of professional flashes to smartphones with their proprietary Profoto AirX technology’
The Profoto Camera app for Android is available for free in the Google Play Store as an ‘early access’ beta starting today for the following Samsung smartphones running Android OS 8 or later:
Galaxy S8 line
Galaxy S9 line
Galaxy S10 line
Galaxy S20 line
Galaxy Note 9 line
Galaxy Note 10 line
Galaxy Note 20 line
Profoto doesn’t specify when the app will likely be out of beta, nor when we can expect to see support for other phones. It’s likely going to be a slow-going process, as Profoto needs to create specific algorithms for each device to ensure compatibility with the onboard camera systems—no small feat considering the fragmentation of devices running Android OS.
Xiaomi has introduced its self-developed Retractable Wide-aperture Lens Technology at its annual developer conference. Image credit: Xiaomi
Chinese technology company Xiaomi has officially kicked off its annual Mi Developer Conference (MIDC 2020) in Beijing. During the conference, Xiaomi has showcased numerous new technologies and breakthroughs, including retractable wide-aperture lens technology for smartphone devices.
If you have been following along with new smartphone announcements over the last few years, you’ll have noticed a strong emphasis on improvements in image quality, camera performance and lens quality. Drawing inspiration from traditional camera and lens design, Xiaomi has developed new Retractable Wide-aperture Lens Technology. This advancement in design lodges a compact optical structure in the smartphone, which can be extended when necessary.
Xiaomi promises that this new design will result in a breakthrough in performance. The company states, ‘This design allows the retractable telescopic camera to have a larger aperture to increase the amount of light input by 300%, as well as showcase better performance in portrait photography and night photography compared to currently-used camera structures.’ Further, the design incorporates a new image stabilization technology which ‘offers a larger anti-shake angle’ and increases sharpness by 20%.
The telescoping design has the primary benefit of allowing a camera not in use to be compact and easy to slip into a pocket, while still offering optical zoom when in use and capturing photos. In the case of a smartphone and its camera design, it’s even more critical to consumers that the device remain thin, compact, and lightweight.
Retractable lens designs have most frequently been seen in fixed-lens compact cameras, such as the Sony ZV-1 seen above. By utilizing a retractable lens design, engineers can strike a balance between performance when the camera is in use and a compact form factor when you aren’t capturing images.
Photography advancements from Xiaomi have been fast and furious this year despite the impact of the pandemic. This August, Xiaomi introduced its 3rd-generation under-display camera, which promised a high-quality, hidden camera under the smartphone’s display. This technology relies upon a revised pixel arrangement solution, allowing light to pass through gaps between the sub-pixels in the display.
Xiaomi’s advancements in camera technology don’t exist solely in the future. To celebrate its 10th anniversary this summer, Xiaomi launched the Mi 10 Ultra smartphone. This device incorporates a quad-camera array, including a long telephoto lens which offers a 120mm equivalent focal length and includes a 48MP image sensor. On the wide end of its camera array, there is a 12mm equivalent focal length and 20MP image sensor.
The Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra smartphone, introduced this August, highlights the company’s fast-paced camera technology advancements with its 12mm and 120mm cameras. Click to enlarge.
It remains to be seen what the real-world performance of a telescoping lens in a smartphone will be, but Xiaomi intends to utilize its new camera technology in upcoming smartphones. The company’s goal is to deliver ‘professional photography to hundreds of millions of smartphone users around the world’ with its expanding portfolio of image technology improvements.
Today, at its ‘Launch Night In’ event, Google unveiled the details of its new Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5 devices.
Pixel 4a 5G
The Pixel 4a 5G is, as its name suggests, a 5G variant of the budget-friendly phone released last autumn. But it’s not just an improved cellular modem that’s been added to the 5G variant.
The Pixel 4A now has a larger OLED screen — 6.2” over the 5.8” on the 4a — as well as a slightly faster Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G processor (compared to the 730g found in the 4a). All of these upgrades together have increased the starting price of the 5G variant to $ 499, $ 150 more expensive than the base Pixel 4a at launch.
Pixel 5
Compared to the improvements the Pixel 4 brought over the Pixel 3, the Pixel 5 feels like a much smaller update. While the specifications haven’t improved dramatically, Google has added a number of new and improved features, particularly in regards to the camera software.
Starting with internals, the Pixel 5 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G processor with an X52 5G modem that supports both sub-6GHz and mmWave 5G. This is a bit of an interesting move as more flagship devices are beginning to use the Snapdragon 865 or 865 Plus, but using a slightly older chipset means the price of the Pixel can keep it below more top-tier Android devices.
The Pixel 5 features 8GB of RAM, starts with 128GB of internal storage, uses a 4080mAh battery. Other notable details include reverse wireless charging, IPX8 water-resistance and the newest version of Corning Gorilla Glass.
The 6” screen is a 2340 x 1080 OLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate and 19.5:9 aspect ratio. Although it retains the 8MP hole-punch front-facing camera, the lack of the Motion Sense array means the screen now stretches the full width of the device.
As for cameras, the Pixel 5 has an optically-stabilized 12.2MP main camera with a 77-degree field-of-view (FOV) as well as a 16MP ultrawide that covers a 107-degree FOV. To make the most of the humble hardware, Google is, as it has for years, relying on its software to get the best image quality possible.
New shooting modes include the inclusion of a Night Sight Portrait mode, improved HDR+ capture and a new AI-powered Portrait Lighting mode that will automatically adjust the lighting on subjects captured in Portrait mode. Also new are three new image stabilization modes: Locked, Active and Cinematic Pan. The new Cinematic Pan setting is designed specifically for capturing gimbal-like footage, complete with slow-motion capture.
The Pixel 5 will be available on October 15 through Google Fi, Verizon and unlocked starting at $ 699 for the 128GB version — a $ 100 drop from the $ 799 the Pixel 4 retailed for at launch. AT&T will also offer the Pixel 5 later this autumn. Pre-orders are available starting today.
Profoto has unveiled the A10, its third and latest round-head speedlight in its A1 lineup. Much like the A1X was nearly identical to the A1, the A10 is effectively an A1X with built-in Bluetooth and AirX technology for making the most of the speedlight, even with a smartphone.
Profoto showed off its AirX technology back in July with its B10 and B10 Plus monolights, and more recently, its C1 and C1 Plus LED lights, but until now, it wasn’t available for its speedlights. The A10 changes that, making it easier to get pro-level lighting with your smartphone when using the compatible Profoto app (Android, iOS). Of course, the A10 will also work with other DSLR and mirrorless camera systems with dedicated models for Canon, Fujifilm, Nikon and Sony cameras.
Aside from the new AirX Bluetooth syncing, none of the specifications have changed from the A1X. It features the same round-head design with support for Profoto’s Click Light Shaping tools, a large hi-res display for changing settings and navigating the menu, an LED modeling light, a maximum 76Ws output, a recycle time between 0.05–1 second and a built-in Li-ion battery rated for up to 450 full-power flashes.
Below is a video walkthrough of the A10 from Profoto:
The Profoto A10 is currently available to purchase for $ 1,095 (Adorama, B&H, Wex). Be sure to select the correct model for your camera brand when making a purchase. All units come with the flash, an included Li-ion battery, a charger, a dome diffuser, a bounce card, a stand, a dedicated bag and Profoto’s two-year limited warranty.
Professional smartphone video capture app, FiLMiC Pro, has received a new update that adds the ability to stream a clean HDMI output to external livestreaming and recording solutions.
FiLMiC Pro version 6.12 supports a clean HDMI output over compatible HDMI adapters or over Wi-Fi using AirPlay (limited to iOS devices). You can even use multiple smartphones at once running FiLMic Pro to create a multi-cam setup that can be controlled by a livestreaming program such as OBS Studio or a hardware solution such as an ATEM Mini from Blackmagic Design. When paired with the FiLMiC Remote app (Android, iOS), it’s also possible to control each of the cameras wirelessly for more fine-tuned control.
A screenshot from the above tutorial showing how you can use FiLMiC Pro to turn your smartphone into a webcam with the help of an USB HDMI input adapter.
In addition to livestreaming and recording options, this functionality also means you can use your smartphone as a webcam when paired with an HDMI input device, such as an Elgato CamLink 4K. Output resolutions are limited by the devices being used, but in general, Lightning-based iOS devices are capable of 1080/60p output, USB-C iOS devices are capable of 4K/60p and select Samsung devices can max out at 4K DCI 60p.
FiLMiC Pro is available for both Android and iOS devices for $ 15. The update is free for existing users. If you want to find out more about FiLMiC Pro, head over to FiLMiC’s comprehensive support page.
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.
A number of Android smartphones are at risk of suffering a fatal system error if the user sets a specific image as their wallpaper. The discovery was first publicized by popular Twitter account Ice Universe and has since been confirmed by users who tested the warning for themselves. The issue, it turns out, is the image’s color space and Android’s current inability to deal with it.
There’s nothing inherently malicious about the image shared by Ice Universe; it shows an idyllic landscape complete with water, mountains and clouds. The problem, investigators have discovered, is that its color space is incompatible with Android, which currently doesn’t have a method in place to detect this incompatibility and convert the image to color space it supports.
Setting the image as an Android wallpaper will cause the phone to crash; it will reboot, but soon crash again, in most cases doing this too quickly for the user to change their wallpaper to something else. As a result, the user is forced to factory reset the device, losing any images and other data that wasn’t backed up beforehand.
WARNING??? Never set this picture as wallpaper, especially for Samsung mobile phone users! It will cause your phone to crash! Don’t try it! If someone sends you this picture, please ignore it. pic.twitter.com/rVbozJdhkL
— Ice universe (@UniverseIce) May 31, 2020
As expected, this issue isn’t limited to only this particular image — any non-sRGB image may potentially cause the same crash. Android Authority recently spoke with a developer who shed light on the problem with a long, technical answer for those who are interested. Put simply: Android can only deal with sRGB images as wallpapers and doesn’t currently know how to handle certain non-sRGB images, triggering an infinite loop of fatal errors that forces the user to factory reset their device.
As noted by multiple Android developers, as well as 9to5Google, not all Android phones are vulnerable to this bug, though many major ones are, including older Google Pixel phones, Samsung smartphones and more. 9to5Google‘s Dylan Roussel reports that the Pixel 4 XL running Android 11 doesn’t not crash from this image while the Pixel 3 XL on Android 10 does.
In Android 11, the system will detect if the wallpaper’s color space isn’t supported and will convert it to something it does support. Though Android 10 doesn’t have this same capability, it seems Google is already working on a fix for this problem, which means older Android phones that don’t update to Android 11 will eventually be protected from the bug, as well.
Until that happens, however, there’s a big problem for Android users: now that the bug has been widely publicized, there will no doubt be some people who deliberately seed these problematic images to mobile wallpaper websites in an effort to crash devices.
Though the bug doesn’t totally brick the device, it does often force a factory reset; many users report being unable to resolve the issue in Safe Mode. This means that many users who aren’t careful may end up losing some of their data.
Ice Universe notes that when the image is uploaded to other social media websites, it is converted and becomes safe to use with Android; only the image uploaded to Twitter retains its problematic color space.
To protect one’s self, Android users can avoid publically offered wallpapers until the Android 11 update arrives, they can limit their wallpapers to their own images or official manufacturer theme stores or there’s always the option of manually checking that an image is compatible before setting it as one’s Android wallpaper.
The post Review: Struman Optics Cinematic Lenses for Smartphones appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Lee Herbet.
The argument of whether smartphones can take good photos or not has been settled – they can! In this article, we are going to have a look at a set of lenses for smartphones from an Australian company, Struman Optics. While there are many lenses for smartphones on the market, I found a manufacturer that many, including me, had not heard of. Read on to find out how they perform.
I remember Scott Bourne once said on a podcast that when he was shooting a wedding, he had an “Uncle Bob” turn up with a “nicer camera” than his DSLR. And no matter what camera “Uncle Bob” was using, Scott could use his iPhone and still take better images. This was because Scott was a professional photographer with 30 years’ experience, and “Uncle Bob” was, well, “Uncle Bob.”
I totally agree with Scott’s sentiment. It’s the skills and years of experience behind the camera, rather than the camera itself that creates a beautiful image.
Having said that, thanks to the computational power of our smartphones these days, that gap is narrowing.
So, the next stage in this photographic evolution is what accessories we use to make our images from our phones even better.
Shot on iPhone 11 Pro with Struman 18mm wide lens
What are smartphone lenses?
In this article, I want to focus on a set of smartphone lenses I have been testing from Struman Optics. I’ve been trying out various brands for years now to either give me a bit more zoom, a wider shot, or the ever-fun macro function. They were always okay, but not optically amazing.
In the last 3-4 years, that’s changed with some really great glass coming out for smartphones. Unfortunately, you always get what you pay for, so these better lenses do cost a bit more than the cheaper ones we’ve seen over the years. But they’re still not going to break the bank.
The lenses that I’ve been testing over the last two months are Struman Optic’s Cinematic Wide, Cinematic Portrait, and Cinematic Macro lenses.
Struman Optics do make more cost-effective lenses that are more suited to purely photography, but since I am primarily a filmmaker, I got the Cinematic trifecta. Of course, they are great for photos too.
The wide is an 18mm f1.8 equivalent, and the portrait lens is 70mm f1.8 equivalent.
All three lenses attach via what has become a standard screw-on back. The portrait and wide lenses also have a 37mm front, which means you could actually attach standard filters such as a Circular Polarizer or Neutral Density filter.
What’s in the box
Before I go into some of the individual features of the lenses, let’s first look at what they come with. They each come with a travel pouch, cleaning cloth, and phone adapter. Struman Optics do make phone cases that allow you to screw your lens directly on too. I went with that option, but I really like that they have the phone adapter included. That means you can use the lens with any phone or, even dare I suggest it, tablet. (Please people, use your phones as cameras before you use your tablets.)
Using the adapter, which is kind of like a clip, means you could also use the lenses on the front camera of your phone for better quality selfies. ?
Build quality
The lens cases are nicely made. They are not too thick and have a good rubber grippy feeling. The thing that stands out for me is that the screw connection that you screw the lenses into seems to be solid metal. This is good, as I’ve had lens cases from other brands made of less sturdy stuff that breaks on me when trying to attach a lens. This happened to me while I was on a trip to Hong Kong, which meant I couldn’t use those lenses for the rest of the trip. Going by the feel of the Struman cases, it’s unlikely to happen.
Struman Optics lens case
The build of all the lenses is top-notch. They feel solidly made and have an aluminum casing. I appreciate that they come with a back cap as well as a front lens cap. I am not sure about the red ring around them, which I guess is a nod to bigger lenses with red rings. But most people I’ve shown them to have really liked it, so what do I know about design?
Why use them?
One of the first things you may be thinking is, “why would I need these now that most new phone cameras come with 3 lenses: an ultra-wide, a wide and telephoto lens?”
Well, not all lenses are created equal.
For example, the ultra-wide on the iPhone 11 Pro doesn’t feature the pretty amazing low light feature that the wide and telephoto lenses have. So, if you want to take an ultra-wide shot in the dark, you could put the Struman wide on your wide, get the advantage of the low light feature and still have an ultra-wide image.
In the same way that sometimes the tele just isn’t tele enough, adding the portrait lens to the tele gives you even more reach.
One thing to note is that if your phone has an ultra-wide lens, then the lenses will most likely not cover the entire lens as it’s just too wide. You can get some interesting-looking shots with the lenses on the ultra-wide, though, so it may be worth a try!
Shot on iPhone 11 Pro with Struman 18mm wide lens
Finally, that brings us to the macro lens. This has a feature that I’ve asked Struman Optics to add to all of their Cinematic lenses. The macro lens has a focus ring!
Struman Optics 22-82mm Macro lens for smartphones has a focus ring so that you can “pull focus.”
Again, you may be asking, “what do you need a focus ring for when the autofocus on the smartphones is so good?” Well, that’s true, but your autofocus won’t always focus on the thing you want to focus on when you’re super close, such as with a macro shot.
Shot on iPhone 11 Pro with Struman Macro lens
The reason I’d love to have the focus ring on the other two lenses is for when I want to a focus pull when making videos. That’s when you adjust your focus from one subject in your shot to another.
Autofocus can do that, but you can’t tell the autofocus how fast or slow to do it, so having that focus ring would be great for that type of creative control in video.
One thing to be aware of is that if your phone has more than one lens, then you may have to use a third-party photo app to force the camera to use the phone lens that has your external lens attached. A few of these apps are Procam, Halide and Manual – all have their pros and cons.
Both the wide and portrait cinema lenses are $ 249 AUD and the macro is $ 199 AUD. Struman Optics also has a series of cheaper lenses focused more on pure photography. They are available from their website www.strumanoptics.com.au, and, yes, they ship all over the world.
Have you used these or any other lenses for smartphones? How have you found them? Let us know in the comments section!
Shot on iPhone 11 Pro with Struman zoom lensShot on iPhone 11 Pro with Struman 18mm wide lens
The post Review: Struman Optics Cinematic Lenses for Smartphones appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Lee Herbet.
Smartphone maker OnePlus has just launched its new OnePlus series. Thanks to a, at least on paper, pretty impressive looking camera specification, the flagship OnePlus 8 Pro is the device in the series most mobile photographers should have an eye on.
Triple camera setup
The camera features a triple lens-setup, plus an additional time-of-flight (ToF) sensor that will presumably be used to improve depth estimation in bokeh mode and fine-tune the autofocus. Overall the spec sheet looks very similar to sister brand Oppo’s flagship Find X2 Pro.
Like on pretty much any flagship phone these days, the main camera gets support from a dedicated tele and a super-wide-angle. The main module features a 1/1.4″ 48MP Sony IMX689 Quad-Bayer sensor that uses pixel-binning to produce 12MP image output with lower noise and a wider dynamic range than conventional sensors. OnePlus is following the trend for larger image sensors in smartphone cameras, but some competitors, for example Huawei’s P40 Pro or the Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro come with even larger chips (1/1.28″ and 1/1.33″ respectively).
The lens is optically stabilized and comes with a F1.78 aperture and 26mm-equivalent field-of-view.
The super-wide-angle uses a smaller 1/2.0″ sensor but is also of the 48MP Quad-Bayer variant which, in combination with the F2.2. aperture, should be able to perform pretty well, even in dim light. The 16mm-equivalent focal length is pretty much in line with many competitors, but some, for example Samsung’s latest high-end models and Apple’s iPhone 11 series, offer wider viewing angles.
The dedicated tele camera features a stabilized 74mm-equivalent lens which equates to a 3x magnification. At 8MP the resolution isn’t the highest we have seen and some models in the high-end bracket feature longer lenses, for example the folded optics from Huawei and Oppo. Xiaomi even applies a dual-tele approach to optimize performance at shorter and longer zoom distances.
The 4K/60fps video mode is pretty much standard in the high-end segment these days and should allow for detailed video capture with smooth motion. It also features HDR video capture. In addition the OnePlus offers 720p/480fps and 1080p/240fps slow-motion settings and a time-lapse mode.
The camera setup is completed with an LED-flash and color sensor. In comparison to the main module, the front camera specs look pretty pedestrian.
Front camera
The selfie shooter uses a 16MP 1/3-inch Sony IMX471 with 16MP resolution and a fixed-focus lens. Video recording maxes out at 1080p/30fps. Some competitors already offer 4K recording and autofocus at the front. What’s new versus the OnePlus 7 generation is the location of the selfie camera. On the new model it is hidden under a cutout in the display. The previous model used a pop-up front camera which allowed for an uninterrupted display without any notches or cutouts. The advantage of the new design is that the 8 Pro is now IP68-rated for environmental protection – something that would have been very difficult to achieve with a pop-up mechanism.
Non-camera specs are pretty much in line with the current crop of flagship Android phones. The device is powered by a 5G-enabled Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865 chipset and features fast LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.0 storage which should ensure snappy operation, even of the most demanding apps and games.
Images can be viewed and composed on a 6.78-inch QHD+ OLED display with 120Hz refresh rate (up from the previous generation’s 90Hz), 240Hz touch sampling rate and HDR10/10+. A dedicated MEMC (Motion Estimation and Motion Compensation) chip – technology adopted from TVs – reduces motion blur in videos by calculating and inserting additional video frames. Using this technology the OnePlus 8Pro is capable of up-scaling 24fps content to 120fps. According to OnePlus the new technology can be used with a wide range of apps, including Amazon Prime Video, Hotstar, BiliBili, iQiyi, MX Player, Netflix, OnePlus Gallery app, Tencent Video, VLC, Youku, and YouTube.
Other specs include a massive 4510mAh battery with 30W fast wireless charging, an in-display fingerprint reader and up to 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.
OnePlus 8
The company also launched the standard OnePlus 8 which shares a lot of the basic specs, including chipset and memory options, with the Pro model, but comes with a smaller 6.55-Inch AMOLED display, a smaller 4300mAh battery and a simpler camera setup. The primary camera features a Sony IMX586 1/2″ sensor and is accompanied by a 16MP ultra-wide and a dedicated macro camera.
Availability and pricing
The new models will be available to purchase from April 21 in Europe and April 29 in North America. Pricing starts at $ 699 for the OnePlus 8 with 8GB of RAM. The 12/256GB version will set you back $ 799. The 8/128GB variant of the Pro model is $ 899 while the top-end OnePlus 8 Pro with 12GB RAM and 256GB of storage retails at $ 999.
The post 6 Reasons Why Dedicated Cameras are Better than Smartphones for Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.
Modern smartphone cameras are amazing! They have facilitated an explosion in photography that shows no signs of stopping. Mobile phone cameras, apps, editing, and sharing have given people access to creative outlets that were unthinkable a mere 15 years ago. If the best camera is the one you have with you, then 9 times out of 10, the best camera is right in your pocket! Despite the advances in smartphone cameras, there are still few things smartphone cameras lack. So, in this article, we’ll explore why dedicated cameras are better than smartphones for photography. In other words, there are some photos you just can’t get with a smartphone.
Reasons why dedicated cameras are better than smartphones for photography
Nikon D7100, 85mm, f/2.8, 1/1000 second, ISO 100
1. Software vs. Physics
The first of the 5 reasons why dedicated cameras are better than smartphones for photography, is software vs physics.
I don’t want to sound like an old man yelling at clouds, decrying all modern technologies that might make my life better. Smartphone cameras and computational photography are incredible! They can use software and artificial intelligence to capture incredible images of night skies and portrait-style images with blurry backgrounds.
But digital trickery and software manipulations are no match for a mastery of light and physics, and this is where dedicated cameras still have an edge.
Most smartphones have lenses that approximate roughly a 28mm field of view on a full-frame camera. Some have second lenses that go a bit wider, usually about 15mm. It’s also not uncommon for higher-end phones to have a telephoto lens as well, which is roughly equivalent to a 50mm lens.
Nearly all smartphone cameras are stuck at a single aperture value as well, which gives you limited control over a key element of exposure. While there is much that can be done in software to overcome the inherent limitations of these lenses and focal lengths, sometimes you just need a separate camera to get the shot.
2. Foreground Blur
Nikon D7100, 50mm, f/1.8, 1/2000 second, ISO 100
Any smartphone can take pictures of flowers. This particular image shows a backlit flower whose petals are glowing with sunlight streaking in from above and behind, and a mobile phone could capture that just fine. However, there is one key element of this image that’s impossible on a smartphone – the foreground blur.
Smartphones have come a long way with so-called portrait-style photography. Portrait mode involves software combined with depth data that allows a smartphone to blur the background.
But not the foreground.
This is one of the things smartphone cameras lack. Try it for yourself!
Take a portrait-style photo with your smartphone but include objects in the foreground that you would like to blur. The background will get blurry, but the foreground will remain in focus.
Blurring both the foreground and background is a time-honored technique to add a sense of depth and perspective to your photos. Perhaps one day the software and AI techniques used on mobile phones will be able to replicate this. But, for now, if you’re using a smartphone, you’re stuck with just background blur.
3. Telephoto Zoom
Nikon D500, 200mm, f/8, 1/400 second, ISO 900
While smartphone cameras have had pinch-to-zoom capabilities for over a decade, it amounts to little more than just cropping your pictures. Modern smartphones do a better job of interpolating data between pixels and adjusting exposure values on the fly, but at the end of the day, you’re still just cropping.
In the process, you lose a lot of detail. And even then, you just can’t zoom in very far. It’s definitely one of the things smartphone cameras lack, despite some recent advances.
One classic example of this is a picture of the moon.
Smartphone lenses, and the laws of physics, make pictures like this impossible. You have probably noticed if you have ever tried to do a pinch-and-zoom photo of our nearest celestial neighbor.
You’ll need a dedicated camera if you want to get crisp, detailed photos of faraway objects. And this is just another reason dedicated cameras are better than smartphones.
Nikon D500, 200mm, f/2.8, 1/3000 second, ISO 100
Smartphones aren’t great for most long-distance shooting scenarios, such as this picture of a horse in the pasture.
While pinch-and-zoom can make it seem like you’re getting closer, you won’t get a tack-sharp, high-resolution image suitable for printing and framing.
Like everything tech-related, this is getting better and will improve with time. Some phones now are using stacked periscope-style lenses combined with software and AI processing to mimic 10x or even 100x zoom lenses. Right now, these make interesting tech demos, but the results don’t have the same level of clarity, color, and fidelity as you would get from a DSLR or mirrorless camera with a zoom lens attached.
4. Background compression
Nikon D7100, 200mm, f/2.8, 1/1500 second, ISO 100
Another reason dedicated cameras are better than smartphones is background compression.
Something interesting happens when you shoot photos with a telephoto zoom: the background appears to move closer to your subject.
It’s called background compression and is a time-honored compositional technique to make your subjects stand out and take your images up to another level. It’s also impossible to do on a smartphone.
In the picture above, the building is very far away from the woman walking in the foreground. Shooting with a telephoto lens compresses the background and makes it seem much closer.
Nikon D750, 200mm, f/4, 1/400 second, ISO 3200
In this family photo, you can see the trees and leaves in the background, which are very far away. However, they appear closer as a result of background compression.
While some smartphone cameras do have some limited zoom capability, their smaller lenses and image sensors simply do not allow for these types of pictures.
5. Fast action
Before I get too far in this section, I want to point out that smartphones are good at capturing some types of fast action. These conditions are fairly limited, though.
You have to be close to your subject, which isn’t possible in a lot of action situations. It also helps if you can lock focus on a specific area where you know the subject will be, or else have a smartphone with amazing autofocus capabilities. And if you can meet those challenges, then your phone could produce some good results.
For a lot of fast action, though, you need a DSLR or mirrorless camera. It helps to have a good lens attached too.
This will let you stand on the sidelines while getting up close and personal with your subjects. It helps to shoot with a wide aperture too, which will let you get a fast shutter speed and freeze the action.
Nikon D750, 185mm, f/4, 1/500 second, ISO 100
These types of action shots are impossible on smartphones because pinch-to-zoom just can’t get the job done. You’ll get pictures that are pixellated, blurry, or out of focus because smartphones are not able to match the speed and capability of a dedicated camera.
In the picture below, I was sitting in the stern of a boat zoomed in to 200mm. I had to use tracking autofocus to keep the picture sharp. My brother was also in the boat with his smartphone, and he didn’t like any of the shots he got.
Nikon D7100, 200mm, f/2.8, 1/2000 second, ISO 100
6. Portraits
The last of my reasons that dedicated cameras are better than smartphones relates to portrait photography.
This one might ruffle some feathers because phones have gotten so much better at portraits in recent years. In fact, some people can’t even tell the difference between portrait-style images shot on mobile phones and actual portraits taken with a dedicated camera. I have trouble sometimes too. In the coming years, mobile phones are going to keep getting better and better.
For now, and into the foreseeable future, dedicated cameras still have a significant advantage.
Software and AI, and computational horsepower can do a lot, but they can’t keep up with a good lens and physics.
In the picture below, the girl’s eyes are tack sharp but there is a subtle falloff as you look towards the edge of her face. Her hair goes from sharp to blurry in a smooth, even fashion.
The background isn’t just blurry – it’s obliterated. Mobile phones can’t do that.
Nikon D750, 170mm, f/2.8, 1/180 second, ISO 100
You don’t need expensive gear to take great portraits either.
In fact, you can spend far less on a used DSLR or Mirrorless camera than you would on a mobile phone with portrait mode.
The shot below was taken on a Nikon D200, which came out in 2006, and can be found today for about $ 150.
The lens is a cheap 50mm f/1.8. And the results blow away anything you can get from a mobile phone.
All the subtle details, like the way her eye is in focus but her ears are slightly blurry, to her hair slowly fading away, to the bokeh in the background, make this image a cut above what you could get from a smartphone. Just another reason that dedicated cameras are better than smartphones for photography.
Nikon D200, 50mm, f/1.8, 1/250 second, ISO 400
Conclusion
Before anyone gets out a bucket of tar and some feathers, please understand that I think smartphone cameras are amazing!
Despite the things smartphone cameras lack, they can take incredible pictures and technology will only make them better with time. I just think it’s important to understand their limitations and have a sense of some of the pictures they can’t yet achieve.
What about you?
I’m curious what your experience has been with smartphone pictures. Does your smartphone take the kinds of shots you want, or have you found that it can’t yet replace your DSLR or mirrorless camera?
I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to share your thoughts and example images in the comments below.
The post 6 Reasons Why Dedicated Cameras are Better than Smartphones for Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.
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