Anyone that comes from a photography background should have sensed this, but I'm here to give an explanation to all the noobs, and open this to discussion, since this questions still appear to be popping up in this forum.
The issue with the Lumia 920's camera has to do with the aperture adjustment under different lighting conditions. Aperture (aka F-stop), is basically how wide the shutter opens when taking a photo.
Aperture is the key to getting that "blurred" out background effect, when taking a picture of a subject in the foreground. Here is an example:
The effect like this is achieved by using a "wide open aperture".
Aperture is also used for other purposes, e.g. Night photography. When you have little to no light (night time), you want to use a wide open aperture (either that or a slow shutter speed, to allow the light to come in over a longer period of time, which requires the use of a tripod - not feasible with a smartphone). Having the shutter wide open is great for night photography. However, when you're taking daylight photos, with plenty of light, and just want everything to be in focus (your typical smartphone shot), you want to have a small aperture. A small aperture will eliminate the "background blur" effect, and generally everything will be in focus and SHARPER.
This is where the 920 camera fails. There is no way to manually adjust aperture, and the "auto" setting is absolutely dismal, dismal at adjusting it. In fact, I'm curious to know if the "auto" setting adjusts aperture at all under different lighting conditions. Or if this lens is even capable of an aperture adjustment? So I conducted a simple test to figure it out.
I've taken two photos, one in the dark of night and the other a landscape during a bright, sunny beautiful day (all settings on auto - not that it matters with this locked down software). So how did the 920's camera perform in terms of aperture adjustment?
F/2 corresponds to a completely wide open shutter, and as you can see, it doesn't matter if it's at night or during the day. You're taking a picture with a completely wide open shutter. This is exactly why daylight/landscape shots are blurred out.
Any photographer who has experience with a DSLR will tell you that a typical daylight landscape shot you'd want your F stop to be anywhere from F/8 to F/22 for maximum sharpness.
So again, my question becomes: is the 920's lens even capable of a different aperture other than F/2? Or are we locked in. I cannot for the life of me understand why the software would be coded to leave the aperture at F/2 under all circumstances, so my guess is, it's a hardware limitation with the lens.
Anyone with half a brain is free to chime in, the 'OMG PORTICO MADE IT SO MUCH BETTER' people should refrain please. Thanks.
The issue with the Lumia 920's camera has to do with the aperture adjustment under different lighting conditions. Aperture (aka F-stop), is basically how wide the shutter opens when taking a photo.
Aperture is the key to getting that "blurred" out background effect, when taking a picture of a subject in the foreground. Here is an example:
The effect like this is achieved by using a "wide open aperture".
Aperture is also used for other purposes, e.g. Night photography. When you have little to no light (night time), you want to use a wide open aperture (either that or a slow shutter speed, to allow the light to come in over a longer period of time, which requires the use of a tripod - not feasible with a smartphone). Having the shutter wide open is great for night photography. However, when you're taking daylight photos, with plenty of light, and just want everything to be in focus (your typical smartphone shot), you want to have a small aperture. A small aperture will eliminate the "background blur" effect, and generally everything will be in focus and SHARPER.
This is where the 920 camera fails. There is no way to manually adjust aperture, and the "auto" setting is absolutely dismal, dismal at adjusting it. In fact, I'm curious to know if the "auto" setting adjusts aperture at all under different lighting conditions. Or if this lens is even capable of an aperture adjustment? So I conducted a simple test to figure it out.
I've taken two photos, one in the dark of night and the other a landscape during a bright, sunny beautiful day (all settings on auto - not that it matters with this locked down software). So how did the 920's camera perform in terms of aperture adjustment?
F/2 corresponds to a completely wide open shutter, and as you can see, it doesn't matter if it's at night or during the day. You're taking a picture with a completely wide open shutter. This is exactly why daylight/landscape shots are blurred out.
Any photographer who has experience with a DSLR will tell you that a typical daylight landscape shot you'd want your F stop to be anywhere from F/8 to F/22 for maximum sharpness.
So again, my question becomes: is the 920's lens even capable of a different aperture other than F/2? Or are we locked in. I cannot for the life of me understand why the software would be coded to leave the aperture at F/2 under all circumstances, so my guess is, it's a hardware limitation with the lens.
Anyone with half a brain is free to chime in, the 'OMG PORTICO MADE IT SO MUCH BETTER' people should refrain please. Thanks.