3 Rumoured Devices - 16 lens "Lytro-style" camera

[RJ Priest]

Sometimes you can catch interesting info from the financial / investor news sites.

Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NOK) is Working on TWO MegaPhones? Rumor Has It … - Insider Monkey

First, let us look at the two megaPhone rumors. The first megaPhone that Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) is currently working on would have a screen size of about 5.5 to 6 inches and would have PureView camera technology that would be similar to what is on the Lumia 925 handset - which allows for low-light photography and video stabilization to offset wobble or shaky hands. This device is rumored to come out in October.

The second megaPhone supposedly gearing for a February release is expected to have PureView technology integrated with Lytro-style camera technology involving 16 lenses. The technology apparently will allow for focus of the scene to be adjusted after the picture is taken, not just before the shutter button is pushed. This new camera will supposedly have a higher resolution than current Lumia models, which max out at 8 megapixels currently.

The third rumored item by Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) is supposedly a low-budget Lumia 920 that is supposed to be a direct competitor in the mid-range smartphone market with the budget iPhone by Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) that is being rumored to hit store shelves by the end of the year. This budget Lumia is also slated for an October release alongside the first megaPhone. This phone is expected to have an 8-megapixel camera with a Carl Zeiss lens, a similar thin profile to the Lumia 720 but have similar display resolution as the 920 along with similar processor speeds.

 

[tissotti]

That lytro like Lumia phone will happen at some point, that's for sure. Nokia has invested over 25 million to Pelican Imaging and so has Qualcomm. Another is the exclusive chip supplier for WP and another is a smartphone manufactured with major camera focused R&D centers in Tampere, Finland and Shanghai.

Imo it's quite natural to see lytro likes camera moving to phones as the strength of smartphones lies on the powerful hardware, not on the available space. In a way following 808 PureView steps of using the strengths of the brute hardware power, rather than investing on to way more bulkier lenses like back on the N93 and N93i days. You can only lose to the established point and shoot, DSLR players there in a long run.

 

[vlad0]

The compact camera market is pretty much done.. I mean, it will take a while obviously, but our phones will replace them. As soon as Sony and Samsung realize that this is the way.. done deal.

We will end up with phone+DSLR .. which is what I've been doing for the past 3 years

 

[lennyk1313]

I agree. once I have my EOS, I am selling my Nikon 1, and just will keep my D800 SLR.

 

[the_coolestnerd]

So in 2-4 years we can expect to have a 41mp OIS infinite focus camera on a Nokia WP? The awesomeness of that is mind blowing lol

 

[calfee20]

Everyone should watch rise of the drones on PBS. They had an experimental camera that was made up of many cell phone cameras. I can imagine a lytro cell phone setup that could do amazing things with resolution and depth of field. It will require crazy processing power but that seems to be where we are going. Do a web search on photo stitching for resolution or depth of field or macro photography.

 

[RJ Priest]

Digging up my old thread. This article from June sort of slipped under the radar, but it sounds like everything is coming true.

The first phone = 1520
The third phone may be 1320 (same resolution and processor as 920), but might not be.

Depending on what impact the pending Microsoft deal throws into the gears, could we see the 16 lens camera at the end of Q1 2014 with WP 8.1??? Exciting times in the WP world right now.

 

[apalm8]

Exciting times indeed.

Digging up my old thread. This article from June sort of slipped under the radar, but it sounds like everything is coming true.

The first phone = 1520
The third phone may be 1320 (same resolution and processor as 920), but might not be.

Depending on what impact the pending Microsoft deal throws into the gears, could we see the 16 lens camera at the end of Q1 2014 with WP 8.1??? Exciting times in the WP world right now.

 

[KnightOfAnfala]

Really exciting times. The minute I read about the Lytro-like capabilities coming up with the 1520, I went digging around for the articles about Pelican Imaging that came out months ago even before the 1020 was released. It all seems to be falling into place now. I think it's very likely that the 16-element lens phone (if it's indeed in the works) would be the successor to the 1020. I sure hope that it's announced before the Microsoft deal closes (if it pushes through). An awesome device like t hat would be a very fitting Swan Song for Nokia....

 

[Moiz Mian]

Is infinite focus the only advantage of this Pelican camera? Honestly I'd like to see a newer implementation of OIS, more dynamic range from the camera, better processing, etc... Like real camera improvements, I'm not sure if Pelican Cameras will actually be BETTER cameras or just gimmicky toys that can do infinite focus. The lytro camera isn't that good honestly. If anyone knows more technical aspects of the pelican camera, I'd love to hear about it though

 

[KnightOfAnfala]

I think depth sensing is going to be more important than the refocusing...