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  • Ultra-thin lenses could eliminate the need for smartphone camera bumps

    Protruding camera bumps like on the iPhone 11 Pro Max could soon be a thing of the past.

    Smartphone cameras have been improved a lot over recent years and while many improvements are down to software and image processing, hardware also plays a big part. Sensor sizes have been increased, lenses have become faster and optical tele lenses offer better zoom performance.

    However, there’s also a drawback to these developments. Due to the laws of physics, faster and longer lenses, especially when combined with larger sensors, take up more space in a device. Combined with the device designers’ obsession with ultra-thin bodies this resulted in many devices coming with unsightly ‘camera bumps’ that protrude from otherwise perfectly smooth smartphone housings.

    Those bumps could soon be a thing of the past, though. A research team at the University of Utah has developed a super-thin camera lens that would easily fit even in the thinnest smartphone body.

    Current lenses are, depending on lens type and sensor size of the camera, a few millimeters thick. The new lens type is only a few microns thick, that’s about a thousand times thinner than current smartphone lenses. They are also one hundred times lighter.

    Flat lens developed by researchers at the University of Utah, photo: Dan Hixson/University of Utah College of Engineering

    The method the researchers have used to make this possible has been detailed in a research paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The new lenses are flat and consist of a large number of microstructures, each bending the light towards the sensor rather than just one single piece. As part of the project the team also developed a fabrication process using a new type of polymer and algorithms than can calculate the exact geometry required for these microstructures.

    ‘You can think of these microstructures as very small pixels of a lens,’ says Rajesh Menon, one of the co-authors of the project, ‘They’re not a lens by themselves but all working together to act as a lens.’

    According to the scientists, the new lens type could also help give smartphones thermal imaging capabilities as well as design more lightweight military drones that could fly longer and lighter night vision cameras for soldiers in the field.

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • iPhone 11’s Portrait Mode sets a high bar for the Pixel 4

    Taken with iPhone 11 ISO 500 | 1/30 sec | F1.8

    The bokeh-imitation effect that’s all over your Instagram feed is a few generations old, but it’s still a relatively young technology. Portrait Mode, as Apple calls it, is a computational feature that mimics the shallow depth of field closely associated with professional portrait photography. The latest iteration in the iPhone 11 is a great leap forward and, when compared with Google’s Pixel 3, shows that the search-engine giant is going to have to do something pretty special with the forthcoming Pixel 4.

    Just to make sure you’re caught up – phone sensors and the lenses they are coupled with are quite small, and inherently limited in their ability to create a blurry background behind a subject. Hence, portrait mode was born (Portrait Mode is Apple’s proprietary name, but for the sake of simplicity I’ll use it throughout this article to refer to all such modes).

    Compared side-by-side with results from the iPhone 11, the Pixel 3 has been surpassed in many respects

    Like so many first-generation technologies, portrait mode was a bit dodgy at first – subjects poorly separated from their backgrounds and results that were decent but not quite convincing. But no matter where you stand on its current state from “It’s so terrible it’s an insult to photographers” to “Eh, it’s passable,” there’s no denying that it has steadily improved with each generation.

    Apple, like most manufacturers, introduced Portrait Mode when it brought dual cameras to its devices. However, Google chose to offer it with a single camera, relying on dual pixel depth data, machine learning, and up-sampling to create that fake bokeh look. The results looked fine until, well, about now.

    Compared side-by-side with results from the iPhone 11, the Pixel 3 has been surpassed in many respects. Here are the areas in which the iPhone 11 pulls clearly ahead of the Pixel – and where Google needs to do some catching up in the Pixel 4.

    The nitty gritty details

    Google achieves its portrait mode by digitally zooming in to mimic a longer focal length and creating a depth map by using dual pixels along with a learning-based algorithm to judge distance to a subject and separate it from its background, up-sampling the final result to a full 12MP resolution. Apple (and Samsung, Huawei, among others) instead use their telephoto camera, calculating depth with the help of the perspective offset between the telephoto and wide cameras – no cropping or up-sampling needed.

    The images below demonstrate the difference – note that to match the subject’s size in the frame using the two different focal lengths, the 3a image was taken from about a meter farther back than the iPhone 11.

    Pixel 3 – 100% crop

    iPhone 11 – 100% crop

    Of course the vast majority of portrait mode images will be viewed on a phone or computer screen, where the difference in detail is much harder to spot. Still, looking at the images above at even a 50% crop shows a vast difference in the level of detail captured, and all things being equal we’d much rather have more detail than less.

    Backlit subjects

    We’ve previously noted the Pixel 3’s fantastic ability to render high-contrast scenes, but one place this falls flat is with backlit portrait subjects. The camera’s tendency to preserve highlight detail and push up shadows is normally what we’d prefer, but it doesn’t work well when the shadows are your main subject.

    Pixel 3a iPhone 11

    The resulting image shows that the Pixel does a poor job of rendering the cat’s orange fur, giving him an overall ‘crunchy’ look in comparison to the more pleasing rendering by the iPhone. In our testing, the Pixel 3 has consistently shown this tendency to expose for highlights, even when it might do better to choose an exposure better suited to your human or feline subject, at the cost of highlight detail. Even tapping the subject’s face doesn’t adjust the exposure as much as we’d like.

    Skin tones

    The most sophisticated depth mapping in the world won’t save an image from bad-looking skin tones, and this is one area where Google really needs to catch up. The subject below is lit by window light that’s much cooler than the yellow lights of the kitchen behind him. It’s a tricky situation for sure, but the iPhone has clearly made the right call to warm up the subject’s skin tone rather than preserve the cool cast of the window light.

    Pixel 3a iPhone 11

    To be fair, both of these phones are susceptible to producing noticeably different colors based on slight shifts in framing, or using a different camera mode like Night Sight. But over the course of much use, we’ve seen that the Pixel 3’s standard camera mode renders skin tones particularly poorly by comparison.

    Apple’s face smoothing and skin tone rendering has a tendency to go too far in some situations, and there are times when we prefer the more faithful color rendering of the Pixel. It’s also pretty easy to correct the Pixel’s skin tone rendering in the phone’s own Photos app, but we’re betting that most people don’t want to (and won’t) take the time to color correct every portrait that they take.

    Focal length flexibility for portrait mode

    Taken with iPhone 11 | ISO 200 | 1/60 sec | F1.8

    Apple’s XR introduced wide-angle portrait mode to the iPhone, but the 11 and 11 Pro improve on it with more accurate depth maps thanks to the availability of the ultra-wide lens. Thus, the 11 offers a very good wide Portrait mode via its standard lens, and the 11 Pro offers both telephoto and wide portrait options.

    Whether you prefer the look of a telephoto or wide portrait is of course a personal preference, and I tend to prefer the wide portrait mode on the iPhone 11. I like an across-the-table environmental portrait, which usually requires backing up if I’m using the telephoto lens or the crop imposed by the Pixel 3.

    Whether or not you like the crop, it being forced on you makes it less flexible and, in my book, I’d rather have that wide-angle – and I’m sure I’m not alone.

    Your move, Google

    To be fair, there are things we prefer about the Pixel 3’s portrait mode. We find it’s much less prone to obvious errors in cutting around human subjects than the iPhone 11. I also far prefer using Google Photos to Apple’s iCloud, so the seamless integration with my photo archive is a big plus.

    Healthy competition between two big tech companies keeps pushing phone camera technology forward at a rapid pace

    We can also say with some certainty based on leaks and rumors that the Pixel 4 will address some of these shortcomings. We know that the device will offer more cameras, which will likely improve portrait mode. Whether we’ll see improvements to skin tones or better handling of backlit subjects is less certain, though encouragingly, leaked photos do show better rendering of skin tones. All will be revealed soon, but one thing is for sure – healthy competition between two big tech companies keeps pushing phone camera technology forward at a rapid pace, and that’s nothing but good news for the photo-taking public.

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • How to Use Lighting and Gels for Modern Portrait Photography [video]

    The post How to Use Lighting and Gels for Modern Portrait Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.

    In this video from Lindsay Adler Photography, Lindsay deconstructs an image that she has lit using colored gels to make it look as though she photographed it in a nightclub or bar.

    ?

    Inspired by a red velvet couch that she has in her studio, Lindsay decided to make her studio look like it was a nightclub or bar. She takes us through the process to teach us exactly how she achieved this look.

    When choosing the color of her gels, Lindsay chose red to unify the subject with the color of the couch. She then used color wheel theory and used contrasting/complementary colors, so she went with a color close to green – teal.

    Lindsay uses three strobes with fairly basic modifiers – bare bulbs and umbrellas.

    Lindsay states that “The shot as lit overhead by a small white umbrella (no gel). The right-hand side of the frame was lit by a large deep umbrella with diffusion and a red gel to wrap around most of the frame. Finally, a bare bulb with a teal/green gel was used to light the shadows on the left of the frame. The colors selected helped create a sense of atmosphere to the otherwise static black environment.”

    During the video, you’ll find out why these choices were made to combat particular issues that arose, including the wall being a slightly reflective surface.

    You’ll also see some post-production choices that Lindsay makes with the image, as well as discovering why Lindsay chose to have the model posed in this particular way.

    But more importantly, you’ll learn how to make a photo like hers!

    What did you think of Lindsay’s video? Did you find it helpful? Let me know in the comments!

     

    You may also find the following helpful:

    Your Guide to Studio Lighting Equipment

    Understanding Broad and Short Lighting in Photography

    5 Creative Portrait Lighting Tricks Using Only Phone Light

    How to use Off-Camera Flash to Create Dramatic Images with Cross Lighting

    5 Lighting Setups You Can Do Using an Octabox

    How to do Clamshell Lighting: A Reliable Two Light Setup

    The post How to Use Lighting and Gels for Modern Portrait Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.


    Digital Photography School

  • Pixelmator Pro ‘Avalon’ update brings macOS Catalina support and more

    The latest Pixelmator Pro version 1.5 Avalon comes with a number of updates, including support for macOS Catalina, the Mac Pro, Pro Display XDR, machine-learning powered noise reduction and improved performance.

    The Mac image editing package is now fully compatible with macOS 10.15 Catalina, including support for Sidecar and Apple Pencil. Pixelmator Pro users running Apple’s latest OS can now extend their desktop workspace with an iPad and use the Apple Pencil for painting, retouching and illustration tasks. This includes the Pencil’s double-tap gesture for undoing and redoing, switching between Paint and Erase tools, or showing the Apple Colors window.

    In addition the software’s editing engine has been optimized to take full advantage of the new Mac Pro’s power reserves. Pixalmator says that thanks to multi-GPU processing, the new Core ML-powered ML Denoise is applied up to 2.5 times faster on a Mac Pro with 2 GPUs compared to and iMac Pro.

    The Apple Pro Display XDR’s 10-bit color depth and P3 wide color gamut are supported as well and the Pixelmator claims the new Extended Dynamic Range Mode lets you see previously invisible detail when editing RAW image files.

    ML Denoise is a new noise reduction tools based on machine-learning. It is designed to remove luminance and color noise and can reduce compression artifacts. Pixelmator says the tool has been trained to intelligently preserve details, avoiding the blurring effect of simpler denoising tools.

    Performance improvements include 10 times faster zooming and scrolling, up to 2.4 times faster painting and up to 2.7 times faster effect rendering.

    Pixelmator Pro 1.5 Avalon is available today on the Mac App Store as a free update for existing users. New customers will have to invest $ 39.99 and am upgrade discount is available for users of the original Pixelmator app. More information is available on the Pixelmator website.

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • The end of an era? Digital camera review site Imaging Resource set to close

    We’re sad to report that Imaging Resource, one of our most longstanding (and very friendly) competitors is set to close at the end of 2019, after more than 20 years. In a lengthy message to friends in the industry, founder Dave Etchells confirmed that while the site will remain available through at least spring next year, content production will most likely cease in the coming months.

    Imaging Resource and DPReview grew up together in the early days of consumer digital imaging, and although many of our respective readers might imagine that we’ve had a competitive relationship, the truth could not be more different. The photo industry is, by and large, a friendly and close-knit community. A community of nerds, sure. And not a few misfits, but bonded together over a common interest in photography and technology. As king of the nerds (and I know he would have no problem with me saying that) Dave has been a central, and literally towering figure for 20 years.

    Although many of our respective readers might imagine that we’ve had a competitive relationship, the truth could not be more different.

    We have worked closely with Dave and his team of writers since our respective sites were in their infancy. Just personally, I’ve had the pleasure of accompanying Dave on several factory tours, including some where we were the only two journalists present. Along the way we’ve shared notes, resources (you’ll find our images in Dave’s recent Sigma factory tour article, and a lot of Dave’s insights in ours!) and of course a lot of hangovers.

    I hope that there are still a few shared hangovers ahead of us, because the chances of Dave and his team leaving the photo industry entirely seem extremely thin (it’s kind of like the mafia, in that respect). And on that note, we’ve been in communication with Dave about I.R.’s pending closure for some time, and I’m hopeful that we can play a part in continuing its legacy going forward into the future.

    For now, I hope you’ll join me, and everyone at DPReview in wishing Dave and his team well, and we invite you to leave thoughts, best wishes and memories in the comments.

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • Adobe launches redesigned Creative Cloud desktop app with search, libraries and more

    Adobe has launched a redesigned Creative Cloud desktop app offering what it says is a more intuitive way to access and update applications, browse and install new apps, manage and share assets, and more. In addition, the new desktop client makes it easier to browse Adobe’s products across different platforms and categories, including mobile, web, and photography.

    As demonstrated in Adobe’s newly published video, the new Creative Cloud desktop client provides direct access to the company’s tutorials and other helpful resources, a full-screen Library view and the ability to directly manage and share assets, and a new search tool for finding stock images, fonts, and other ‘creative resources.’

    According to Adobe, its new Creative Cloud desktop app will replace the existing client. The software is currently rolling out in Germany and France; it is scheduled to arrive in Japan on Friday followed by the US and other regions next week.

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • Researchers have developed reset-counting pixel that promises near-limitless highlight capture

    Figure 4 (from the paper linked below): Realized CMOS test chip: (a) photograph of the packaged chip, (b) screenshot of the layout.

    German researchers have developed a pixel design with the potential for massively increased dynamic range. Their design, reported in the ‘Advances in Radio Science’ journal isn’t limited by the point at which it saturates, meaning it can continue to capture more highlight data when other sensors would become overwhelmed.

    Unlike conventional CMOS chips, their ‘self-resetting pixel’ doesn’t simply ‘clip’ when it becomes saturated, instead, it resets and has a circuit that counts how many times it’s had to reset during the exposure. It also contains a conventional analog-to-digital conversion circuit, so it is also able to measure the remaining charge at the end of the exposure.

    Figure 2 (from the linked paper above): The working principle of the self-reset pixel.

    This would mean that you don’t need to limit your exposure to protect highlight data and can instead set an optimal exposure for capturing your subject, safe in the knowledge that this won’t result in blown-out highlights. In their paper, the researchers from Institut für Mikroelektronik Stuttgart created a series of test pixels with different designs, and will now focus on the one that gave the most linear response to different light levels, both in terms of its reset characteristics and its conventional ADC mode.

    Figure 1 (from the linked paper): Schematics of the analog and digital parts of one pixel cell and a global control for all pixel cells.

    Before you get too excited, though, this work is still at a fairly early stage and is primarily focused on video for industrial applications, though lead researcher Stefan Hirsch tells us: ‘basically it should also be possible to use for still images.’

    At present, the additional counting circuitry ends up meaning the light-sensitive photodiode in each pixel is very small, making up just 13% of the surface area of huge 53?m pixels. A move to a stacked CMOS design, with the circuitry built as different layers, would increase this, with potential for 20?m pixels with more of the area being light-sensitive. A three-layer design could allow still smaller pixels. For perspective, the pixels in the 12MP Full-Frame a7S II are around 8.5?m, so there would need to be a lot of work done to find a way to produce a sensor useful as a consumer video or stills camera.

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • Weekly Photography Challenge – Patterns

    The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Patterns appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.

    This week’s photography challenge topic is PATTERNS!

    Image: Diogo Nunes

    Diogo Nunes

    Patterns – a repeated decorative design – are all around us in nature, architecture, technology, and human-made objects.

    So go out and capture anything that has patterns. They can be color, black and white, moody or bright. Just so long as they have patterns! You can also manipulate them in your favorite post-processing software. You get the picture! Have fun, and I look forward to seeing what you come up with!

    Image: Levi Midnight

    Levi Midnight

    Image: Kate Ausburn

    Kate Ausburn

    Image: Christian Bisbo Johnsen

    Christian Bisbo Johnsen

    Check out some of the articles below that give you tips on this week’s challenge.

    Tips for Shooting PATTERNS

    Tips for Photographing Patterns in Nature

    How to Turn Your Images into Kaleidoscope Patterns

    How to Create a Kaleidoscope and Make Unique Abstract Images

    Master Repeating Patterns in Photoshop

    Using Repetition and Patterns in Photography

    33 Inspirational Images that Feature Patterns and Repetition

     

    Weekly Photography Challenge – PATTERNS

    Simply upload your shot into the comment 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 favorite photo-sharing site and leave the link to them. Show me your best images in this week’s challenge.

    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 #DPSpatterns 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.

     

    The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Patterns appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.


    Digital Photography School

  • iOS 13.2 beta adds the ability to change resolution, frame rate of video in stock Camera app

    The latest developer beta of iOS (iOS 13.2 beta 2) adds a new feature to the latest iPhone 11 devices that should make shooting video a little easier.

    As of iOS 13.2 beta 2, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max users will have the option to change the resolution and frame rate of the video being captured with a simple tap. As shown in the below tweet from iOS developer Ryan Jones, the update makes it possible to switch between various video settings without the need to go back into the Settings app.

    As Jones showcases in the above screen capture, the setting changes are sequential, going from 720p to 1080p to 4K and from 24 to 30 to 60 frames per second.

    The lack of settings control from within the iOS Camera app has long been a sore spot of the stock Camera app. This update doesn’t address the issues with the still photography interface and is only a small step in the right direction, but it’s progress nonetheless. Hopefully, we’ll see Apple make it easier to control Raw capture, HDR settings and more still photography settings from directly inside the Camera app.

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • Nikon Announces the Nikkor Z 58mm f/0.95 S Noct, it’s fastest lens ever!

    The post Nikon Announces the Nikkor Z 58mm f/0.95 S Noct, it’s fastest lens ever! appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

    Nikkor Z 58mm f/0.95 NoctNikon has just announced its latest Z-mount lens:

    The Nikkor Z 58mm S Noct lens, which includes a whopping f/0.95 maximum aperture. The lens is slated to hit the shelves on October 31st, and it will debut with considerable hype, having snagged the designation as the fastest Nikkor lens ever made.

    For those of us who have been waiting for Nikon to make good on its claims that the Z-mount’s 55mm diameter allows for the production of better optics, this new lens should give us a hint of what’s to come. But while the f/0.95 maximum aperture is eye-catching, is it actually useful? And will photographers actually be interested in this lens?

    Let’s take a closer look.

    While lenses with ultra-wide apertures are rarely small, the Nikkor 58mm f/0.95 sits on the other extreme, with a weight of nearly 4.5 lbs (2 kg). This comes from its aperture, the 17 lens elements, and a magnesium alloy construction. Of course, there are real benefits to all these features, such as higher optical quality and increased ruggedness. But is it worth the cost? For many, a huge benefit of mirrorless setups is the decreased size and weight. Yet this lens won’t be at all convenient to carry around. Plus, all that glass takes up a lot of space, which is why it’s packed into a 6-inch (15.3 cm) body.

    Note also that an f/0.95 aperture will provide a very small plane of focus. And given that this lens only focuses manually to begin with, you may struggle somewhat to lock onto your subjects with speed.

    The lens is primarily designed for astrophotographers and other night shooters (hence the ‘Noct’ designation). And for astrophotographers, the shallow depth of field won’t be a problem, as they rarely need to think about depth of field anyway. But ambitious portrait photographers may find themselves frustrated by the combination of a shallow plane of focus at f/0.95 and a manual focus lens, and anyone who tries to lock on subjects other than the night sky may come away from shoots without much luck.

    Now, don’t get me wrong:

    The Nikon 58mm f/0.95 is most likely an incredible lens, optically speaking. Nikon is promising amazing sharpness, and I expect this will be borne out in tests. I’m also impressed by the wide aperture, which will allow for unprecedented shooting in low light and at night. Astrophotographers, in particular, will like this lens, regardless of its size.

    But at the same time, it’s hard not to wonder whether many other photographers will be interested. Especially because Nikon’s MSRP for this new lens is an incredible $ 7999.95 USD.

    So now I’d like to ask you:

    What do you think? Would you be interested in this lens? Will anyone buy it? Is there anything you would’ve preferred Nikon scrap or modify?

    Let me know in the comments!

    The post Nikon Announces the Nikkor Z 58mm f/0.95 S Noct, it’s fastest lens ever! appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.


    Digital Photography School