Two Leica cameras in Huawei’s P9 phone – exploded view
Credit: tjfer.com
Some time ago, I predicted that the future of photography would be very large pixel-count-sensors with digital zoom. My predictions included: “... expect a consumer camera producing 10 mp images with an 8x digital zoom inside ten years.”
A number of companies are working on making this happen well inside 10 years.
What I missed, is that multiple small sensors (pixel count & physical dimensions) combined with clever software can synthesise large-pixel-count &/or large-format, sensors.
One implementation of synthetic-sensor cameras is the Light L16 camera, which combines 16 cameras, each with phone size sensors, to emulate the performance of a full-frame SLR with a 40+ megapixel sensor & 35-150 mm zoom. All of this fits into a package the size of a 6" phablet phone, but twice as thick, with no protruding lens.
Also in development, synthetic-sensor cameras for smartphones. 2 x phone-cameras, one a typical phone-camera, the other a longer focal-length black & white. Cameras & software synthesise the capabilities of a phone-camera with 5x optical zoom.
First-to-market with a synthetic-sensor camera – Huawei. Their P9 phones incorporate two Leica cameras, one a conventional phone camera, the other black & white, for improved definition & low-light performance.
http://www.wired.com/2016/04/huawei-p9-leica-dual-cameras/
And what of the point-&-shoot camera? Existing phone cameras are the only camera many people own. The rapid expansion of phone-camera capabilities we will see in the next couple of years will only accelerate this trend. / Huawei Leica unveiled rumored new P9 P9 Plus smartphone two primary cameras on the back dual-camera flagship phone long-term technology partnership new phones unveiled press event available first in Europe London smartphones design Huawei’s previous P Series smartphones finish shell aluminum metal rounded corners 5.2-inch FHD full high definition 5.5-inch AMOLED display most interesting detail pair 12-megapixel cameras back side backside both phone models cameras co-engineered Huawei Leica Chinese phone-maker German optics company dual cameras lens lenses designed P9 two large sensors sensors new 1.25um Sony IMX286 chips captures RGB information monochrome sensor superior light sensitivity lens aperture f/2.2 field of view 27mm equivalent full frame 35mm equivalent dual-LED flash on board though optical image stabilization missing shortcoming black and white synthetic-sensor camera synthetic-sensor camera synthetic sensor camera synthetic sensor camera sensor colour sensor color sensor working together capture more light more detail photographs photos Huawei monochrome sensor captures 300 percent more light photos shot with the phone brighter backgrounds better contrast clearer images two sensors operate in wide-aperture mode extra depth of field background blur attractively bokeh cameras refocus a frame after fired off a shot dual lenses autofocus mechanism faster laser-assisted focus system close-up shots objects dedicated sensors contrast focusing objects farther away smartphone dual-camera 3D features camera two lenses refocusing options refocusing variable aperture well-respected leader in photography Leica optical expertise smartphones chips smartphones Huawei Kirin 955 octa-core system-on-a-chip USB Type-C connector fast charging P9 six colors 32GB storage 3GB RAM 64GB memory 4GB of RAM microSD slots optional 128GB of additional storage Press Touch Huawei Apple’s 3D Touch interface Force Touch larger P9 Plus stereo speakers integrated IR universal remote function very small camera interface pro mode make manual adjustments ISO adjusted shutter speed white balance beauty filters HDR panorama night shots time-lapse slo-mo slow-motion slow motion watermark light painting audio notes document readjustment options monochrome mode, too black and white effect filters third-party camera apps monochrome dedicated Leica sensor dramatic gorgeous black and white picture deep blacks awesome contrast /
