Smartphones have in the future dozens of cameras?

Huawei three years ago, with a dual camera and the cooperation with Leica for the first Time to a wider Public were known, few thought that this development was a PR Stunt. Three years later, it is clear that it was a Marketing Coup that has eaten away at the especially Samsung customers, but it was also a real improvement.

Even in the lowest price categories, one finds less and less Smartphones, on the back of only one camera. In the upper price categories, three are no longer a rarity, and Nokia in front of leads that can also be five.

Enormous computing power help

If you wrote about three years ago, that the Smartphone, after it has made the compact camera obsolete, now takes the more expensive and better cameras, an ambitious Amateur photographer to the visor, led columns to violent discussions in the comment. But year after year it was since then, more and more difficult to distinguish recordings of professional cameras and Smartphones.

In more and more situations – not only in bright day – can match the light of the tiny mini-cameras with heavy SLR cameras with long Lenses. This is made possible on the one hand, the progressive miniaturization that allows it to put better and better Sensors and brighter lenses in mobile phones. But just as important as processor power and Software. It is precisely in this category of smart phones have already ahead of the game. Thanks to the enormous computing power of the device itself and, if necessary, to with by Internet-connected data centers anywhere in the world to make Smartphones much, much betting, what you to much bigger cameras at the physical benefits advance.

The technology has not seen potential

So, it is no surprise that among the three most exciting and most daring photo cameras of the previous year, two Smartphones are. Since the Nokia 9 is on the one hand with 5 cameras on the back. As a technology partner, the Finns were able to win the Californian company Light, which specializes in cameras, the many mini-cameras via Software to power. Already in 2015, the company has introduced a camera with 16 mini cameras. Tests of the camera were the result of similar sobering, as in the case of Nokia's new 5-compartment camera. However, the technology has potential.

The Sony , the world market leader in photo-sensors and a profiteer of the Multi-camera-boom found and this February also has a partnership with Light announced. This technology is still in its infancy, but if computing power, and especially Software, are eventually ready to process the enormous amounts of data, these mini-cameras, it is not excluded that you will find all kinds of Lenses for his old SLR on the back of a smartphone.

The Leica Q2 replaced almost an entire SLR kit.

the opposite has been The Leica the new luxury compact camera, the Q2-elected. The company installed one in terms of Size and resolution, huge 47-Megapixel full-format sensor behind a non-replaceable Topobjektiv. Since the resolution is so big, you can zoom in order but, without that, the lens would provide this function. In everyday life, the Q2 can reflex almost a whole level equipment to replace (Here is the link to the detailed test report).

with the Leica, the inventors of the compact camera is a traditional camera manufacturer uses this strategy, is not surprising. But of all the mobile phone manufacturers of the Software-Primus Google is holding, of all things, also in this strategy. In Switzerland it is not officially available Pixel phones can be found on the back of a camera. The Software assumes here the role of the various mini cameras and doing such a good job that the Google phones do not need to fear comparison.

One or many?

It will be interesting to observe whether, in the future, with Smartphones and traditional cameras, more and more small cameras or a really good will prevail. It should run on a compromise, Huawei today, how it might look like.

On the back of the P30 Per a mix of the two approaches. On the one hand, the 40-Megapixel main camera, which is similar in concept to the Leica. But then there are also an additional wide-angle camera and a special 5x Zoom camera. The two special cameras are used when you want to get more into the picture or something closer to it want to get.

Common to all three cameras that you need to make for this function, abundance compromise: In the case of Leica, the resolution drops if you want to zoom in to Nokia, everything is quite slow, and in the case of Huawei, the many settings are still a bit too complicated for the casual snapshooter and beginners. But these are teething problems that will get done in the next few years.

Huawei P30 Per
zoom-how Large

How to improve a camera that actually already offers everything, what customers want? Good shots in low-light, wide-angle and Zoom had the last year's Huawei phones in the offer. Just in terms of the Hardware, was able to reach out to the Chinese supplier no competitors on the water.

thin and yet full of technology: In the Huawei P30 Per a 5-fold Zoom-lens. Photo: PD

For this year, the Huawei-strategists now decided to top it off. More Zoom the heck and the competition once more, look old. There's a thin cell phone, there are limits regarding the length of a lens, the engineers at P30 Per (1000 Swiss francs) to a Trick, the Minolta as early as the turn of the Millennium, in the compact cameras used: The photo sensor is installed. A mirror similar to a U-boat periscope, the light still hits the Sensor. So it is use possible a 5-fold Zoom. Thanks to the high resolution and digital Zoom, so even a 10x Zoom is possible. Anyone who wants can also zoom in to 50-fold, which is not seen but really nice and serves only as a binocular or to impress to friends.

Who loves photography, the success of the P30 Per the photos you would get with any other phone. For the casual photographer, the stunning camera is übermotorisiert but in the majority of cases. Yes, you wish Huawei would have given up on the Software, similar to a lot of effort. With the year more and more functions and possibilities the camera App is constantly more and more complex and overloaded. Just in terms of the operation, would be Huawei would be well advised to be in the future a little more from Leica inspired. (show)

Nokia 9 Pureview
Five Sensors for a photo-Hallelujah

in 2016, came up with the dual cameras, 2018, then the three specialist cameras. Now you need a diploma in future research, to discover that the manufacturer of this research principle, to move forward. And indeed: The Nokia 9 Pureview on the back of not only a lens, but a kind of lens bloom: five Sensors, an LED flash and a ToF Sensor, which determines the distance of each image point to the lens.

Five lenses, a flash and a depth sensor: This is Nokia's photo-array. Photo: PD

This Arsenal of Sensors, the Smartphone used to in low light conditions to do more to improve the contrast and to increase the quality of the image. This arouses expectations. However, at first glance, the Nokia makes 9 photos in decent, but not outstanding quality. What I like are the subtle nuances of, for example, in the case of portraits, and the good contrasts. But as for Smartphones, typically, the colors are overexcited sometimes.

But, by contrast, helps the compelling monochrome mode. He expects just the colors, as is usually the case: The camera has white real Black-and-Sensors installed. They make for good contrasts, even in the case of color images. The Phalanx with five cameras has unexpected side effects. First of all, the processing takes a long time. Secondly, it may be that the finished image of the preview is different. But unfortunately, it is not possible to influence which photos will be used for the calculation of the final image. Conclusion: this is an exciting approach, but still with the air to the top. Both in terms of processing speed, as well as the image quality can get more out of it. (gunfire)

(editing Tamedia)

Created: 09.04.2019, 17:57 PM