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Posts Tagged ‘mode’

Xiaomi Mi MIX 3 launches with tele-camera and night mode

26 Oct

Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi today announced its new flagship smartphone, the Mi MIX 3. The new device features a 6.4” AMOLED display with Full HD+ resolution and only minimal bezels. Unlike most current high-end phones, the Xiaomi doesn’t come with a display notch. Instead the rear of the phone slides upwards, revealing a front dual-cam setup with 24MP main module and a 2MP depth-sensing camera.

Rear camera hardware specs have not changed compared to the Mi 8 and Mi Mix 2S which were both released earlier this year. The rear dual-camera comes with a 12MP wide-angle primary camera that uses a 1/2.55 Sony IMX363 sensor with 1.4µm pixel size, F1.8 aperture and OIS.

The secondary 2x tele-camera comes with smaller 1.0µm pixels and an F/2.4 aperture lens. Software-wise the Mi MIX 3 offers a new Night Mode for hand-held long-exposure shots and AI-powered scene recognition.

Other specs are in line with the current crop of top-end Android phones. The device is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset and 6, 8 or 10GB of RAM. You can choose between 128GB or 256GB of internal storage but there are no expansion slot headphone jack.

Pricing starts at $ 475 (CNY3,299) for the 6/128GB version and goes up to $ 720 (CNY4,999) for the 10/256GB model. Preorder is starting today and the device will actually be available November 1.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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How to Use Shutter Speed and Aperture Together When Using Manual Mode

18 Oct

When you’re just starting out as a photographer, one of the biggest challenges can be using the correct shutter speed and aperture values. Shooting a correctly exposed photo in manual mode is an amazing feeling. But unless you know the relationship between shutter speed and aperture it may not happen very often.

In this article I’ll talk about how to use the shutter speed and aperture values efficiently to get properly exposed photos.

Note: To get full control of your camera’s shutter speed and aperture values you need to put it in Manual Mode.

What happens when you adjust the aperture value

When you increase the aperture value the aperture opening inside the lens gets smaller, reducing the amount of light that can enter the camera. Similarly, when you decrease the aperture value the opening gets bigger, allowing more more light to enter the camera.

Here’s an example to help you understand how changing the aperture value affects the shutter speed.

Let’s say you’re using a 24-70mm f/2.8 lens with a default aperture value of f/8. At a shutter speed of 1/200th of a second your camera will give you the correct exposure.

EXIF: f/8, 1/200th sec, ISO 100

Now you want a shallower depth of field (more blur effect), so you reduce the aperture value to f/2.8. Because you’ve reduced the aperture value by three stops, the aperture opening is now letting three stops more of light into the camera. The result? An overexposed image.

If you reduce the aperture value, you must increase the shutter speed by the same number of f-stops to compensate. Similarly, if you increase the aperture value, you must slow down the shutter speed by the same number of f-stops.

In this example, you’ve reduced the aperture value by three stops. So to get the correct exposure at f/2.8 you must increase the shutter speed by three stops to 1/1600th of a second.

EXIF: f/2.8, 1/1600th sec, ISO 100

Another example might be if you’re shooting a landscape. This time you want a deep depth of field, so you choose an aperture value of f/16. You’ve increased the aperture value by two stops (from f/8 to f/16), so you’re letting two stops less of light inside the camera. At a shutter speed of 1/200th sec this give you an underexposed photo.

Underexposed image at f/16, 1/200th sec, ISO 100

To get the correct exposure, you need to slow down the shutter speed by two stops to 1/50th of a second. With the aperture value two stops higher (f/16) and the shutter speed two stops lower (1/50th sec) your photo will be perfectly exposed just as it was at f/8 and 1/200th sec.

What happens when you adjust the shutter speed

When you increase the shutter speed the camera shutter opens and closes more quickly, reducing the amount of light that enters the camera. Similarly, when you reduce the shutter speed more light enters the camera.

Starting with the same base camera setting as before (f/8 at 1/200th sec), let’s see how changing the shutter speed affects the aperture value.

Let’s say you’re a wildlife photography, and you want to take photos of a flying bird. To avoid any blurring you’d need to increase to 1/800 sec. You’ve increased the shutter speed by two stops, and so you have two stops less of light entering the camera sensor. At f/8 this would give you an underexposed image.

Because you’ve increase the shutter speed by two stops to 1/800th sec, you must also reduce the aperture value by two stops to f/4 to get the same correct exposure you had at the f/8 and 1/200th of a second you started with.

Or perhaps you intentionally want to capture a panning shot, and s reduce the shutter speed to 1/50 sec to get the effect you want. Reducing the shutter speed by four stops (from 1/800 sec to 1/50 sec) means you’re letting in four stops more of light into the camera. And at f/8, that would give you an overexposed image.

To get the correct exposure you’d need to increase the aperture value by four stops to f/32.

By remembering these examples when you’re shooting in manual mode, you should end up with far more photos that are correctly exposed.

The post How to Use Shutter Speed and Aperture Together When Using Manual Mode appeared first on Digital Photography School.


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Apple introduces iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR with better Portrait Mode and Smart HDR

13 Sep
iPhone XS and XS Max

Apple has unveiled the next generation of its iPhone X in the form of three variants: the 5.8″ iPhone XS and 6.5″ iPhone XS Max with OLED displays, and an iPhone XR with 6.1″ LCD “Liquid Retina” screen. iPhone XS and XS Max offer dual-camera modules like the X, while the XR uses a single 12MP wide-angle camera.

The iPhone XS and XS Max’s dual-camera module includes a new, larger 12MP sensor behind the wide-angle lens, with 1.4 µm pixels (up from 1.22 µm). The telephoto camera is still 12MP, and both lenses offer optical stabilization as they do on the iPhone X. The rear camera’s True Tone flash as been improved, and the front-facing camera has been updated with a faster 7MP sensor.

The iPhone XR uses the same updated 12MP sensor as the XS and XS Max, and is still able to produce Portrait Mode effects without a secondary rear camera – Apple says it uses the sensor’s focus pixels to produce a depth map.

On the software side, Apple has put some effort into improving the bokeh effect in Portrait Mode and now allows for post-capture adjustment of depth-of-field for stills in the native camera app, which is available on all three new phones.

…the camera will buffer four frames pre-capture for a “zero shutter lag” effect

A new Smart HDR mode is also available in all three devices, and leans even further into computational photography. When a moving subject is detected, the camera will buffer four frames pre-capture for a “zero shutter lag” effect. An image signal processor works with the device’s CPU to analyze scenes and do a better job of isolating Portrait Mode subjects. Apple says the camera captures secondary interframes at different exposures to capture highlight and shadow detail, analyzes the information and merges it into one image.

The XS and XS Max include an IP68 water resistance rating, while the XR offers an IP67 rating consistent with the iPhone X’s.

Both XS and XS Max offer a Super Retina OLED HDR screen, and Apple claims the displays offer a 60% improvement in dynamic range compared to the iPhone X. We considered the OLED display on the X to already be class-leading in its dynamic range and wide P3 color gamut, so this is an impressive accomplishment. The XS screen is (not surprisingly) spec’d identically to the iPhone X’s with 2.7 million pixels and 458 ppi, though the XS Max’s display is the largest to appear in an iPhone to date with 3.3 million pixels at 458 ppi. Both screens will render HDR photos and HDR streaming content from the likes of Netflix with high contrast and a wide color gamut.

iPhone XR

The XR stands on its own with an LCD, a 1792 x 828, 326ppi display Apple designates as “Liquid Retina.” It’s not designated an ‘HDR’ display like the XS models, and there’s no 3D touch present, but the display provides haptic feedback. The device uses the same updated front-facing camera as the XS and XS Max (yep, there’s a notch on this one too) enabling Face ID and front-facing Portrait Mode.

iPhone XS and XS Max will arrive first, shipping September 21st in 64GB, 256GB and 512GB configurations. The XS starts at $ 999; the XS Max starts at $ 1099. The iPhone XR will ship October 26th starting at $ 749 with 64GB, 128GB and 256GB configurations.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Updated firmware for Fujifilm X-T100 and X-A5 include two new filters, square capture mode

30 Aug

Fujifilm has new firmware updates for its X-A5 and X-T100 mirrorless cameras. The updates include new and updated features in addition to a number of bug fixes.

First up is the Fujifilm X-A5. Firmware version 1.20 adds two new Advance Filters called ‘Rich & Fine’ and ‘Monochrome [NIR].’ The ‘Rich & Fine’ filter is made for food and still life photography, with an emphasis on saturated colors and a slight vignette. As the name suggests, the ‘Monochrome [NIR]’ filter simulates the look of a near-infrared camera through selective toning of the scene.

Also included in the update is a new Square Mode, which enables 1:1 format capture and improved autofocus accuracy in AF-C mode when the shutter is half-pressed. A bug that caused the highlight warning not to show in the Info display has also been squashed, alongside a few others.

Onto the X-T100, firmware version 1.10 adds the same two new Advance Filters, Square capture mode, improved autofocus accuracy in AF-C mode present in the X-A5 firmware update. Fujifilm has also made the default ISO setting when switching between P, S, A, M, Adv modes ‘Auto.’

Fujifilm also fixed an issue with the autofocus frame shifting when zooming in on the focus position display. Other bug fixes, including the aforementioned highlight warning issue, have been included as well.

You can download firmware version 1.20 for the X-A5 and firmware version 1.10 for the X-T100 on Fujifilm’s website. Installation instructions are found on the bottom of the respective update pages.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Nokia 8 update adds new Pro Camera mode with manual controls

05 Jun

Last week, HMD Global released a software update for the Nokia 8 smartphone that added a new Pro Camera mode. The mode, which resembles the camera controls offered on older Nokia handsets, gives users manual control over five camera functions: shutter speed, ISO, white balance, focus, and exposure.

The Nokia 8 Android handset features dual rear 13MP cameras with Zeiss optics, optical image stabilization, PDAF and a dual tone flash. The handset supports 4K video recording with 360-degree audio. With the newly added Pro Camera mode, users can view the changes each manual adjustment makes to the final image in real time.

The update is currently rolling out globally.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Xiaomi Mi 8 launches with tele-camera and AI-powered portrait mode

01 Jun

Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi today announced its latest high-end smartphone, the Mi 8. The new model comes with very similar camera specifications to the Mi MIX 2S, featuring a wide/tele dual-camera setup.

The main camera uses a 1/2.55″ Sony IMX363 Sony sensor with a 1.4µm pixel size, F1.8 aperture lens and a 4-axis optical image stabilization system. The longer lens offers approximately a 2x zoom factor. The sensor comes with smaller 1.0µm pixels, and at F2.4 the aperture is not quite as fast as the main camera’s.

The camera uses PDAF to focus and a LED-flash helps illuminate your subjects in very low light. Artificial intelligence offers auto enhancement for more than 200 types of scenes and there is also an AI-enhanced portrait mode, similar to the iPhone X’s portrait lighting. The latter is also available on the 20MP / F2.0 front camera.

Xiaomi Mi 8 portrait effect Xiaomi Mi 8 portrait effect

Images can be framed and viewed on a 6.21-inch Samsung AMOLED display with 18.7:9 aspect ratio and Full HD+ resolution and the device is powered by Qualcomm’s top-end chipset Snapdragon 845. For those relying on their phone’s GPS when out shooting images, it’s worth noting that the Mi 8 is also the first smartphone with Dual GPS, combining L1 and L5 frequencies. This should provide faster and more precise location services than most devices.

Pricing starts at CNY2,699 (approximately $ 420) for the 6/64 GB version and go all the way up to CNY3,299 (approximately $ 515) for the 6/256 GB model, which, compared to some direct competitors, represents pretty good value. The Mi 8 will be available online and offline from June 5th.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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4 Tips to Help You Love Using Manual Mode

07 May

In this article, I’d like to share with you a few tips on how to utilize some of your camera’s functions to help you come to grips with shooting in Manual Mode.

Sometimes stripping back to the basics and only using minimal, older equipment with none of the modern features new cameras possess, can help you grow as a photographer. Sometimes making good use of selective technology on your digital camera can also help you learn and create more accurate exposures more easily than is ever possible with older cameras.

Asian woman holding an old 35mm film camera - 4 Tips to Help You Love Using Manual Mode

I started learning on a camera which had no auto anything. There were no options other than to learn Manual Mode. I still use shoot manual 99% of the time.

During the photography workshops we run, I love to encourage people to switch to manual and commit to it for a period of time. If you try Manual Mode once or twice for a short time it’s likely you will not “get” it. You need to commit and using only Manual for most of what you photograph for long enough until you feel you are making progress.

man taking a photo - 4 Tips to Help You Love Using Manual Mode

1. Live View/Electronic View Finder

Many cameras now have LCD screens/electronic viewfinders which display how the exposure will look when you take a photo in Manual Mode. If your camera has this function it pretty much eliminates the need to look at the exposure meter or change your metering mode to obtain well-exposed photographs.

By focusing your attention on the exposure of the image on your LCD screen or in your electronic viewfinder while you are adjusting your aperture, shutter speed, and ISO settings you can easily see when your photo will look good.

Asian woman photographer 4 Tips to Help You Love Using Manual Mode

You need have your screen or viewfinder set so it’s neutral, not too bright and not too dark. To check this you can take a few test photos and then review them (on the computer). If they are over or underexposed adjust the brightness value of your camera’s LCD screen and/or viewfinder until your photos have the same exposure value you are seeing in the viewfinder or on your monitor in Live View mode.

2. Use Your Spot Meter

If you prefer not to use Live View or do not have an electronic viewfinder which displays the changes to the exposure value as you adjust your controls, using the spot meter can help you achieve more accurate reading and set your exposures more precisely.

Woman selling mangoes - 4 Tips to Help You Love Using Manual Mode

Modern cameras have a selection of metering modes which include a spot meter. Most often using the averaging mode, which takes a reading from multiple segments of the image area and gives an exposure value the camera calculates, is sufficient.

However, in some situations, particularly if your subject is back-lit or contrast in the scene you are photographing is high, using the spot meter setting will allow you to make a reading off the area of the image which is most vital to you.

For example, making a portrait where your background is significantly lighter or darker than your subject it is best to take a spot meter reading from their face as this is usually the most important part of your image. Using the averaged setting your camera’s meter will also read from the background and calculate that into the result it returns, potentially giving you a less than satisfactory exposure.

Karen woman smoking a pipe - 4 Tips to Help You Love Using Manual Mode

Learning to use your spot meter will assist you in creating more accurate exposures. I have one of the function buttons on my cameras set to switch to spot metering, allowing me to quickly and easily take a reading from any particular part of my composition.

3. Review Your Photos

It’s not a healthy practice to always be checking your camera’s monitor after every photo you take, as this can interrupt your attention from your subject. But it can be helpful to review your first few images after making adjustments to your exposure settings.

Taking a look at the results after changing your aperture, shutter speed, or ISO will give you a clear idea as to whether your settings are suitable for the photos you want to create. If you see a photo that’s too bright or too dark overall or in a part of the composition you prefer to see well exposed, then you will need to make some adjustment to your settings.

Asian woman reviewing a photo on a DSLR camera monitor - 4 Tips to Help You Love Using Manual Mode

As you practice this technique you may start to find you can estimate how much you need to alter your exposure settings rather than consulting your exposure meter again. This does take some practice, but if you form a habit of doing this, you will find this is a quick and easy way to achieve a better exposure.

4. Check Your Metadata

Our digital cameras record an incredible amount of metadata, associated information about each photograph you take. Learning to read and understand even a small amount of this information can assist you in producing more consistently pleasing exposures.

Back of a DSLR camera at dusk - 4 Tips to Help You Love Using Manual Mode

Being able to freely review the exposure value for any photo you have taken can help you understand why it’s good or maybe why it needs improving. I find this information most handy when I am sitting at my computer reviewing my images from a photography session.

Comparing photos made with different exposure values and looking at the metadata can help you have a better understanding of what settings you can use next time.

In Conclusion

Evening photo with bold colors taken during a Chaing Mai Photo Workshop

Autofocus, Facial Recognition, Auto White Balance, and ISO flexibility are all modern advancements in camera technology which make using Manual Mode easier. Because you don’t have to pay so much attention to these things and can better concentrate on setting your exposure well.

Exposure is one of the key elements of every photograph. Learning to understand how you can use the various features of your camera to assist you in making better exposures will help you become a more creative photographer.

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Rylo update adds 180° mode, bluetooth capture and motion blur timelapse effect

19 Apr
Credit: Rylo

The popular Rylo 360° camera—a camera we called the “360 degree camera done right” in our review—is receiving a major update today. The update adds two new features for both iOS and Android users of the Rylo camera and app, with a third feature available only to iOS users for now.

Let’s take them one by one.

180° Mode

The new 180° video mode shrinks the field of view, allowing you to capture 180° video at higher resolution and better image quality than 360° mode allows. According to Rylo, 180° mode “is especially useful for chest-mounted shots or activities/scenarios in which one lens is blocked.”

Bluetooth Remote Capture

The name kind of gives this one away. Remote capture lets you sync your phone to the Rylo camera via bluetooth, which allows you to: switch between recording modes, start or stop a video, and snap a photo, all from the app on your phone.

Obviously, this feature will help if you’ve got the camera mounted somewhere hard to reach.

Motion Blur

A new feature for timelapse shooting, Motion Blur adds a ‘cinematic’ motion blur effect that is actually synced up to the speed of your timelapse shots (more speed = more blur). The effect doesn’t show up while shooting, but will be viewable upon export.

All three features ship today, although Bluetooth Remote Capture is currently only available for iOS, with Android support “coming soon.”

If you own a Rylo 360-degree camera and want to try these features out, all you need to do is update your Rylo app via the App Store or Google Play, then update your camera’s software through the app. And if you haven’t heard about the Rylo and want to know what this camera is all about, check out our full review at the link below.

Review: Rylo is a 360° camera done right

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Instagram ‘Focus’ mode brings fake bokeh to single-camera smartphones

11 Apr

Instagram has released version 39 of its iOS and Android mobile apps, and the update brings with it a background-blurring portrait mode similar to the “Portrait”, “Depth” and “Bokeh” modes we have seen on most recent high-end smartphones… with one major twist.

While the baked-in bokeh modes on most smartphones use the slightly offset lenses of a dual-camera setup, or other partly hardware-based methods to create the effect, Instagram’s version appears to solely rely on face detection. That means you shouldn’t expect perfect subject/background isolation and super-smooth blur transitions, but it also means single-camera phones can take advantage of the feature.

Focus mode is available in the Stories camera UI, right next to “Superzoom”. It works with both front and rear cameras, automatically blurring the background when one or more faces are detected. Focus mode works on the Apple iPhones SE as well as the 6S, 7 and 8 generations and the iPhone X. It is also available on “select Android devices”, which appears to include most current high-end Androids.

In short: Focus mode looks like a nice addition to the Instagram feature set, but if your smartphone offers a native portrait mode you’re probably better off using that and inserting the image into Instagram via the gallery or camera roll. To find out more about Focus, head over to the Instagram Press blog or update the app and give the feature a try for yourself.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Samsung explains the sensor tech behind the Galaxy S9’s super-slow-motion mode

05 Apr

Samsung published a couple of technical blog posts today, providing some detail on the stacked sensor technology used in the new Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus smartphones, and specifically how this tech is used to power the devices’ super-slow-motion mode.

This mode can record 960 frames per second at HD resolution for a duration of 0.2 seconds, which translates into 6 seconds playback time at 30 fps—32 times slower than standard video. The resulting videos can be reversed, exported as GIFs and edited in other ways.

To achieve the blistering fast frame rates, Samsung has adopted similar imaging technology to what we’ve previously seen on some Sony devices. The S9 sensor offers faster sensor readout-times, bandwidth and video processing of the application sensor than on previous Galaxy generations by using a three-layer stacked sensor design that consists of the CMOS image sensor itself, a 4x faster readout circuit, and a dedicated DRAM memory chip for buffering:

In addition to slow-motion, the stacked sensor helps reduce rolling shutter effects in video mode, and counter camera shake through frame-stacking methodologies.

“We were able to achieve a readout speed that is four times faster than conventional cameras thanks to a three-layer stacked image sensor that includes the CMOS image sensor itself, a fast readout circuit, and a dedicated dynamic random-access (DRAM) memory chip, which previously was not added to image sensors,” explained Dongsoo Kim. “Integrating DRAM allowed us to overcome obstacles such as speed limits between the sensor and application processor (AP) in a high-speed camera with 960fps features.”

You can see some of the Samsung super-slow-motion video results in the video below. Samsung’s article on the technology is available on its blog, where you’ll also find an interview with the team behind the new sensor.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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