What can we expect from cameras in phones in the next couple of years?

[CakeMonster]

I went back and looked at some of the pictures taken with my old Nexus One and they are pretty bad now compared to the S3 which most of my recent photos are taken with. There was certainly a huge improvement there in just ~3 years. I recently upgraded to the S4+ which according to reviews have a noticeably better camera but I haven't spotted any difference yet. The S5 does also have a better camera than the S4 if I am supposed to believe reviews. I was actually happy to read that the S5 supported 1080p 60fps video recording which I consider a huge step forward and more important than the 4K support.

Anyway, what I am wondering is: Can we expect significant improvements in the phone cameras in the next couple of years? What is there to improve?

My wishlist would be less noise for still photos, and I'd be happy to see 120fps for video in all resolutions. But I don't really have a clue about cameras and photography, so does anyone know what is on the horizon and what is possible to put in a phone in the foreseeable future?

 

[KB]

Of course we will see improvement in cameras. The Nokia lumia has a 41 MP camera. In the not too distant future this will be the baseline. I keep waiting for a hardware zoom camera in my phone but with 41 MP you may not even need it.

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-23272758

In maybe 2 - 5 years I expect 3D cameras to be popular and to make its way to every phone. Amazon is likely the one to push this and others will follow.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-...s-fire-phone-chance-to-rekindle-3d-dream.html

I don't see 120 fps cameras as the human eye can't see that fast and its too slow for high-speed.

 

[Brian Stirling]

Of course we will see improvement in cameras. The Nokia lumia has a 41 MP camera. In the not too distant future this will be the baseline. I keep waiting for a hardware zoom camera in my phone but with 41 MP you may not even need it.

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-23272758

In maybe 2 - 5 years I expect 3D cameras to be popular and to make its way to every phone. Amazon is likely the one to push this and others will follow.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-...s-fire-phone-chance-to-rekindle-3d-dream.html

I don't see 120 fps cameras as the human eye can't see that fast and its too slow for high-speed.

Please, 41MP on a sensor that small -- wasted pixels given the blurring due to diffraction. Physics is a bitch and doesn't care what the marketing folks say.

There's been improvement in cellphone cameras owing to the fact that they sell hundreds of millions of them so there's a justification for developing better lenses and the hardware/software to process them. My full size full frame DSLR, the Nikon D800E, is pushing the limits of pixel count and it's sensor is many times the size of the Nokia sensor and with fewer pixels.

You're up against noise and diffraction limits and there's plenty of images comparing it's images to others and the Nokia doesn't fair too well.

As far as what we can expect in future cellphone cameras ... OIS, better lenses, better hardware and software for image/video capture and processing. Just don't expect the cellphone cameras to compete with DSLR's. They will, however, kill of point and shoot cameras...


Brian

 

[Eug]

Yeah, 41 MP in that Nokia is kinda pointless. It's the size of the sensor and pixels that matters, not the number of pixels.

Furthermore, dunno if they fixed this yet or if it's still a problem, but there were serious problems with their camera software, mainly because their software/SOC wasn't built to handle the data processing required for 41 MP.

 

[openwheel]

Nokia 1020 still has best camera on an available smart phone today.

 

[Eug]

Nokia 1020 still has best camera on an available smart phone today.

Correction. It has one of the best camera sensors but it had problems with software and CPU hardware because it had serious lag and colour balance issues for example.

Building a good camera phone isn't just about cramming a big sensor into a phone. And it's definitely not just about having a bazillion pixels. Nokia would have done better to have a similar sized sensor with less than half the number of pixels. The picture quality would be about the same, but it would remove a lot of the processing power needed. Unfortunately, that alone wouldn't fix the colour balance issues, since that's all software.

Nokia Lumia 1020 camera's 3.5-seconds lag of death

 

[JAG87]

IMO, dual camera sensors should be the focus going forward. If you can't increase the size of the sensor and optics, then the next best thing is to have two sensors capture different exposures and combine in software to obtain better detail, contrast and HDR without motion blur.

For video, 1080p 60 fps (at reasonably high bit rate like 50 mbps) should be standard for video. Doubling temporal resolution drastically improves quality. 120 fps is not necessary, but I guess it's a nice to have if you want to do slow motion videos. Again, the feed from dual sensors could be combined to create a much more detailed and contrasted image.

Going back to the dual sensor thingy, this can also massively improve low light shots. If you combine the images from the sensors asynchronously you could double your exposure time at the same shutter speed. So think like 1/4 exposure with the speed of 1/8. And if you properly post process that in software with and an EIS algorithm, you could further reduce motion blur and have almost perfect night time shots.

There is lots of room for improvement.

 

[Eug]

^^^ I'd rather have a single larger sensor than two sensors. Fortunately, sensors have already been getting bigger.

 

[JAG87]

Yes but a larger sensors require larger and deeper optical systems (look at the nokia 1020 or the 808), and that doesn't go hand in hand with thin mobile phones. On the other hand since surface area (screens) is getting larger, including two sensors side by side is a very easy thing to do. Look at your iPhone and imagine that the flash was another camera.

 

[openwheel]

Will sensors ever be "big enough"? Mark my word: NEVER!

 

[corkyg]

I can also foresee more restrictions arising as to their use, especially at things like weddings. It is already becoming highly intrusive and rude for guests to start shooting, expecially video where the hosts have contracted with a professional photographer. I foresee more officiants requesting cell phones be turned off during the ceremony.

 

[Zaap]

My guess: More shitty pictures with captions reading "can you believe I took this with my phone?"

 

[cmdrdredd]

I can also foresee more restrictions arising as to their use, especially at things like weddings. It is already becoming highly intrusive and rude for guests to start shooting, expecially video where the hosts have contracted with a professional photographer. I foresee more officiants requesting cell phones be turned off during the ceremony.

Lol like that would happen. People hire professionals because they want a professional picture/film. That isn't going to be replaced by Uncle Bob with a phone. People with the right equipment will always have better stuff than comes with any phone.

 

[Commodus]

I'd say that the megapixel race is going to taper off a bit, and the focus will be more on light sensitivity and focusing speed. We're already seeing some of that today -- just about everyone is touting how quickly their flagship phones can lock on to a subject.

As for the Lumia 1020, I have one (along with my regular stuff), and it feels like something like a surgical tool. It's really, really good in the right circumstances, but it's not the best all around. To me, a good camera is something like what you get in the iPhone 5s. It doesn't have a lot of settings or megapixels, but it produces consistently good shots with little effort.

 

[Eug]

Yes but a larger sensors require larger and deeper optical systems (look at the nokia 1020 or the 808), and that doesn't go hand in hand with thin mobile phones. On the other hand since surface area (screens) is getting larger, including two sensors side by side is a very easy thing to do. Look at your iPhone and imagine that the flash was another camera.

Dual sensors introduces a whole host of additional optical issues, and it also uses up precious real estate in the phone.

Thus I really don't see much advantage here to dual sensors for a phone.

I agree with Commodus. Apple has the best approach. They use decent but practical sensors with killer software integration to make a phone camera that takes consistently decent pictures.

I also think Apple will increase sensor size, but only mildly, as the technology permits, because they don't want clunky phones.

In contrast, Nokia created a clunky gimmick phone, one that is really hit or miss with shots and which had serious issues that like lag that shouldn't be an issue in 2013.

 

[ControlD]

My guess: More shitty pictures with captions reading "can you believe I took this with my phone?"

This exactly.

 

[Bman123]

The image stabilization on my lg G2 works pretty good but I'd like to see larger lenses

 

[corkyg]

Lol like that would happen. People hire professionals because they want a professional picture/film. That isn't going to be replaced by Uncle Bob with a phone. People with the right equipment will always have better stuff than comes with any phone.

You missed the point. It has already happened several times where rude phone shooters have ruined the scene by standing up and shooting, etc. My son and his wife are professional musicians and play wedding gigs in Virginia. They have observed this and lately, the officiant has asked that all cells be OFF during the ceremony.

I have personally seen iPad shooters holding up their stupid tablets and causing annoyance as well as ruining the scene for others. Too many cellphone shooters have no manners at all. One of the biggest offenses is using a flash in a church during a ceremony.

 

[zerocool84]

The thing is that we aren't going to get these huge leaps in image quality like we did before because the tech is stagnating. Just like we aren't going to get huge jumps in performance year over year in mobile processor tech. Everyone was improving things so fast we got used to it. Now companies are going to have to come up with different ways to set themselves apart with camera tech like laser focus or depth sensors.

 

[cmdrdredd]

You missed the point. It has already happened several times where rude phone shooters have ruined the scene by standing up and shooting, etc. My son and his wife are professional musicians and play wedding gigs in Virginia. They have observed this and lately, the officiant has asked that all cells be OFF during the ceremony.

I have personally seen iPad shooters holding up their stupid tablets and causing annoyance as well as ruining the scene for others. Too many cellphone shooters have no manners at all. One of the biggest offenses is using a flash in a church during a ceremony.

Then you deal with that individual but I'll be damned if I turn off my phone and be out of touch if an emergency came up. F-that

 

[darkewaffle]

Gigapixels!

 

[corkyg]

Then you deal with that individual but I'll be damned if I turn off my phone and be out of touch if an emergency came up. F-that

That's AOK as long as you rememberr your manners.

BTW - if you attend musical events and concerts, it is common to have your phone silenced, i.e., airplane mode, vibrate mode, or off. That is a common request and there are few things worse that a stupid phone ringing during a performance, especially if it is being recorded. Also, some events prohibit any form of photography or sound recording.

In summary, my point is that as phone imagery improves and becomes more common, we can expect more restrictions to arise. That's all.

 

[Zaap]

^ I'm not sure what this has to do with improved quality though. I think the type of person that interrupts events with their phone, isn't the necessarily the type that cares that much about quality. They're the same types that have always interrupted events with phones/cameras ever since we've had portable phones.

 

[Eug]

Yeah and at weddings etc. they just used to use point-and-shoots it SLRs instead of camera phones.

 

[MarkizSchnitzel]

Correction. It has one of the best camera sensors but it had problems with software and CPU hardware because it had serious lag and colour balance issues for example.

It's still not to be dismissed:
http://www.gsmarena.com/camera_shootout-review-1104p8.php

Considering the hardware it's based on..