Should The Camera be the focus of the 2018 Surface pro.

[Isaiah Heart]

In my book, the only thing which is Missing in the Surface Pro 2017 is a good camera not that it's bad.It's there though I wish they could bring the pureview tech, Zeiss lens, tri-led flash, 4k video recording and more. What do you think?

 

[L0n3N1nja]

Personally have never liked using a tablet as a camera, and have only taken a few photos with my SP3 just to mess around with it years ago.

I'm all for a great front facing camera, one capable of 4k with good dynamic range would be welcome, but I don't care about the back camera at all.

 

[kingtigre]

I'm definitely in the "meh" corner for improved optics on the Surface Pro line.

Now, I will say that folding Surface device everyone is on about should indeed have a camera that at the very least rivals current smart phone optics.

If they hope to make sales, that PC needs to be able to replace peoples phones at some point. So improved optics are a must. Especially since that's all anyone on review sites seems to care about these days. Probably because everything else in the mobile phone market has stagnated and optics are the only place companies seem to be putting their focus (pun intended).

 

[mininv]

NO! You have a better Camera on your Smart phone! Spend the time and on something else that really matters.

 

[Hanley Gibbons]

In my book, the only thing which is Missing in the Surface Pro 2017 is a good camera not that it's bad.It's there though I wish they could bring the pureview tech, Zeiss lens, tri-led flash, 4k video recording and more. What do you think?

I think a vastly improved rear camera could have significant productivity benefits such as recording lectures/meetings/briefings or possibly even making 3D scans of objects which could then be manipulated easily using things like Paint 3D or even AutoCAD. I mean, that's the reason it's called the Surface Pro, right?

 

[SvenJ]

Nah. Unless you are playing Ansel Adams, no need for a 12", 2.5lb camera. It's awkward for you and annoying to others. There are certainly times it might be useful to some, but I don't want to pay for something that might be useful to some, sometimes. I don't mind paying for some things that aren't universally needed, but this could be a significant bump in the price. The current cameras are good enough for what they are intended for, VTC, maybe a copier/OCR function.

If you want to fix something, fix the battery life, power management and ditch the bezels.

 

[Hirox K]

> It's awkward for you and annoying to others.
> I don't want to pay for something that might be useful to some.
I'm with SvenJ. It's more useful to put a good cam on a mobile or small size Wn10ARM than a 12".
Also, you prob don't want to plug a USB cam on your phone running around either.

And if you are a pro (or regular folks)... do you run around shooting with a 12"?
if you are a PRO game streamer... you don't do your streaming in a coffee store right? You've prob invested in something better, also one that you can use with different devices already.

 

[Vincent McLaughlin]

I will put it simply. It's better to have than not have in this situation. The price point for the Surface Pro will be high for many, but not all, anyway. So, using price point as an issue for not having a better camera is a moot point, IMO. I've seen people with iPad Pros taking photos regularly. If a person is carrying around their Pro and actively using it, wouldn't it be easier to just use the Pro, instead of reaching wherever to grab your phone?

 

[Vivio vrvly]

Besides 41Mp I would welcome thermo camera(like in cat S61), 4K hdr selfie, zoom-in tele lens, haac mics... with features like in smartphone flagships. Besides it being mobile device so it should be possible to have the same fn, it should be included, at least for that price. There is a lot more what could surface include, not just cameras.
Back to those, they could and should be used with AI to interact with user and object in camera view. If surface brings nothing great for that price, it garbage, it should be perfect.

 

[CrippsCorner]

Genuinely never used either camera in my Surface Pro! So definitely not a priority of mine... I think I may have done some video calls with my previous one when I was away on training courses, but still, not a priority because I could just use my iPhone instead.

 

[sd4f]

I don't think it would hurt. Bottom line is, the more features the device has, the more flexible it can be, however, cost is also a big factor too. While tablet/laptop cameras aren't that big a deal, I rarely ever use mine, but that's only because the phone one is so much better, and it's always within reach.

 

[rdubmu]

No, it will increase the price. Only the front camera should be upgraded. Unless you are going to market the back camera to the education nitch where students record classes

 

[Wevenhuis]

In my book, the only thing which is Missing in the Surface Pro 2017 is a good camera not that it's bad.It's there though I wish they could bring the pureview tech, Zeiss lens, tri-led flash, 4k video recording and more. What do you think?

I think it needs better camera algorithm software

 

[anon(5327127)]

The Nokia 1080 camera on the surface! Now that would be nice.

Should the camera be better on the Surface? Yes, of course it should. No-one should say otherwise.

"Would you like something better?"
"Oh no, no thank you!"

Madness.

 

[ClintRo]

As long as the quality of the camera is good enough to face unlock reliably and securely I am good personally.

 

[TurdRon_FergusonBurgundy]

In my book, the only thing which is Missing in the Surface Pro 2017 is a good camera not that it's bad.It's there though I wish they could bring the pureview tech, Zeiss lens, tri-led flash, 4k video recording and more. What do you think?

Absolutely No. The Pro is a computer, or at times for some a tablet......it is NOT a camera and should not be used to take photos. Same with iPads and other tablets on the market. If you want to take premium high quality photos use a DSLR camera, if you want to take great photos which would serve well in almost all purposes use a smartphone that has great camera technology.

 

[Jed Gibson]

I use a surface pro as a tool for work. One of the issues is that the tablet cannot take a decent picture of a piece of paper with information on for me to add additional notes (using OneNote). I am not looking at doing wedding photography with the surface pro, though using the camera to get information from hard copy format to electronic has been a definite fail. Where phones are selling with high tech cameras with megapixels for Africa the surface pro is struggling to meet the needs of its users in the camera department by producing sub-standard blurry images. Even getting the colour balance is a struggle.

 

[Jed Gibson]

I like to think of the Surface Pro as a tool that has a computer onboard. You may use it as a computer however many others may use it differently. The more flexible the Surface Pro is the more uses it will have. I use it as a tablet that can take photos of documents. Just not very well.