This summer, two smartphone manufacturers have issued very different but challenging visions to their competitors [and each other] of what a smartphone camera should be able to do. Hold on to your money and reins and take a look what will be coming likely this Fall.
Samsung’s Galaxy NX – a full state of the art DSLR with a smartphone/tablet attached on the back.
Now before you laugh or discount this device remember 3 things:
1)This is a state of the art camera first and foremost;
2)As camera it has some ground breaking new features including the ability to run all sorts of apps to control the camera directly;
3)the communication features will be a big plus – images and video recorded in a very good camera can be communicated instantly – news and broadcast will change again.
But what is eye catching are the specs for the camera:
Basic Components:
Screen – 4.8inch HD TFT LCD
CPU -1.6GHz Quad-Core Processor
Memory – 2.0GB RAM, 16GB Internal memory ＋ microSD slot (up to 64GB)
Dimension (WxHxD) : 136.5 x 101.2 x 25.7 (37.65) mm,
Weight – 495 gms with standard battery but no lens
Battery – 4,360 mAh
Camera Features
Image Sensor – 20.3 effective megapixel APS-C CMOS
Lens Mount – any NX interchangeable lens[ see Samsung 50-200mm Telephoto zoom lens for NX Series Cameras
Flash – Built-in Pop-up flash, hotshoe for attached flash
Shutter speeds – min 30sec, max 1/6000sec
Continuous shooting- 8.6 frames per second
Metering modes – spot, multi, center weighted
Auto focus modes – Contrast detect, Phase detect, Touchscreen on Liveview, Face Detect
ISO – Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400, 12800, 25600
Image Format – JPEG 3:2, RAW , JPEG 16:9, 3D Image JPEG, JPEG 1:1
Image Size -20.0M (5472×3648), 10.1M (3888×2592), 5.9M (2976×1984), 2.0M (1728×1152),
Video Codecs – MPEG4, H.263, H.264, VC-1, Sorenson Spark, WMV7/8, MP43, VP8
Video Format – MP4/3GP, AVI, WMV/ASF, FLV, MKV, WEBM, Size: 1920×1080/25fps, 1920×810/24fps, 1280×720/50fps 1280×720/25fps, 640×480/50fps, 640×480/25fps, 320×240/25fps
Mobile Features
Sensors – Accelerometer, Geomagnetic, Proximity, Gyro, RGB Light
Network – 4G (LTE Cat3 100/50Mbps), 3G (HSPA＋42Mbps)
Connectivity – WiFi a/b/g/n 2.4GHz, 5GHz, Bluetooth 4.0 (LE), GPS, GLONASS (Support A-GPS)
Software
OS -Android Jelly Bean 4.2
Bundled Software – Samsung Kies (Windows & Mac), Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
Additional Features – Samsung Link, Samsung ChatON, S Voice, S Translator, Group Play: Share Music(MP3), Share Picture(JPEG, GIF), Share Document(PDF, PPT), Play Games, Trip Advisor, Photo Suggest
Google Mobile Services – Chrome, Downloads, Google Maps, Gmail, Google Search, Google Settings, GooglePlus, Google Local, Google Play Store, Google Messenger, Google Navigation,Youtube, Google Talk, Voice Search, Google Play Movie & TV, Google Play books, Google Play Music, Google Play Magazine.
What the specs tell us is that the Galaxy NX runs a large APS-C image sensor coupled with a quad core processor that has been tapped to provide serious auto focus capabilities along with 9 frames/second continuous shooting. In addition, Camera Studio draws on the processor to provide 16 Smart Mode shoting routines with third party software vendors expected to expand those modes and camera control features dramatically.
The camera can be controlled with any combination of voice commands, touch screen operations, and basic button/ring operations. The 4.8 inchTFT touch screen operations are customizable in Camera Studio. But Amadou Diallo at Forbes magazine catches the real opportunity represented by a full-power DSLR linked to the Android OS with a full size AMOLED screen:
The truly bold move lies in incorporating the Android OS and such a large, high-end display on an enthusiast camera. For all of their advances over the past decade, DSLRs have largely followed a familiar control interface. You press a button and/or rotate a dial to control one setting at a time until you’ve achieved the desired exposure or camera adjustment. Last year we saw Canon introduce touchscreen control in a DSLR with their EOS Rebel T4i. When I reviewed this camera, which in most other respects was rather ordinary, I was taken aback by how much more efficient it was to change camera and image settings via touch….
With a camera powered by a robust OS like Android, however, what if you could have customizable onscreen Function buttons that could be dragged to a preferred location on the screen? Or a collection of saved user settings, that with one tap could set multiple aspects of the camera’s behavior to your liking? And put a nearly 5-inch display on the back of a camera and you’ve opened up a world of possibilities that go beyond Samsung’s current camera app implementation. Not only is your camera powered by an OS designed completely around touch and gestures, but one that has a large stable of third party developers who will undoubtedly come up with novel ways of interacting with the camera and your images.
In effect Amadou sees the same opportunity of apps and programmability for cameras that NYTimes David Pogue saw for the nascent iPhone with its very few apps 6 years ago when it was introduced by Steve Jobs and Apple. David prophetically predicted that the apps would revolutionize mobile phones. Amadou is betting the same for the Samsung Galaxy NX as a major DSLR camera innovation. In sum, this is an innovative camera that can act as a smartphone in the service of its camera functionality.
Nokia EOS 41MPixel
Courtesy of the steady leaks that are coming in from the gadget sphere, we know a lot about Nokia’s new EOS 41Mpixel camera announcement debuting July 11th. Here is some leaky view of the camera:
Here are some key probable specs also from the leak trail:
• 41 MP camera with Xenon flash
• 32 GB internal but no SD Card
• OLED Screen 768 X 1280
• Polycarbonate body in at 3 colors black, white, and yellow
• Takes a 35 MP picture and a 5 MP picture at the same time one to save one to share
• AT&T will be first provider in US at price of $600 without contract
Compare Nokia 41MP EOS black-on-yellow bump to nearly flat Nokia 920
Now this is the same basic technology that appeared in the Nokia 808 Pureview camera which SlashGear found to be a formidable camera a year ago – the chief disadvantage to the Pureview 808 was its Internet browser and Symbian OS. Flash forward one year later and Nokia has the same basic 41MP camera but with some notable improvements for this version: Windows Phone 8 OS, Nokia’s better browser, and several enhancements to the underlying camera technology including image stabilization, better brightness control, and low light exposures.
In effect, Nokia is betting that its 41MP crop-to-size technology will create a formidable optical zoomless alternative for compact photography. And so for $600 you will mate a smartphone with a superior camera which should spark a resurgence in Nokia’s mobile phone market share. Also, Nokia will be expected to make available its Pureview APIs to Windows Phone developers to create apps for the new Nokia camera phone in the same fashion that Samsung Galaxy NX Camera Studio is expected to do.
Summary
So both vendors see the camera mated to a phone as offering major opportunity. Samsung to gain market share and position in the DSLR space by mating a very capable camera with interchangeable lenses to a phone for its communication capabilities and a good mobile OS for it 3rd party apps payoff. Nokia is reversing that – and mating a capable camera to a now solid smartphone for greater smartphone market share. But Nokia too sees opportunity in 3rd party camera apps filling out its smartphone/camera feature set. Which will get hold of the brass ring? A few months time will tell the tale.