smartphonecamera

Canon Patents Smartphone Camera Attachment with Multiple Lenses

A new patent has been unearthed that reveals yet another strange camera design from the folks at Canon. Following in the footsteps of the "clippable" IVY REC and monocular Powershot Zoom camera, this particular creation would be a smartphone camera attachment that lets you swap in various lenses.

Sony Can’t Keep Up with Image Sensor Demand from Smartphone Makers

Sony semiconductor simply can't keep up with the soaring demand for its mobile image sensors. In a recent interview, head of Sony's semiconductor unit Terushi Shimizu revealed that the company is struggling to keep up, despite running its factories 24 hours per day over the holidays for the second year running.

Apple Acquires UK Start-Up that Could Provide Major Boost to iPhone Camera

Apple has quietly acquired a UK-based imaging start-up whose technology could lead to a huge boost in iPhone camera performance. The company, called Spectral Edge, pioneered an "image fusion" technology that uses infrared photos and machine learning to produce photos with more "colour, detail and clarity."

Consumer Reports: iPhone X Has the Best Smartphone Camera

Consumer Reports has published its latest research regarding the best smartphone cameras on the market. The non-profit magazine concluded that the iPhone X is number 1 camera on the market today. The number 2 and 3 spots? They're held by the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, respectively.

This is How Smartphone Cameras Have Improved Over Time

I was curious about how resolution (megapixels), aperture sizes, and sensor sizes have improved on smartphones over time. With the advent of phones with two back cameras with different focal lengths, like the iPhone 7, LG G6 and ASUS ZenFone 3 Zoom, I also wanted to look at how the number of camera modules on a device has increased.

HTC U11 Beats Google Pixel to Become DxOMark’s Top Smartphone Camera

In a totally unexpected turn of events, Googles extremely impressive Google Pixel was just unseated as DxOMark Mobile's best smartphone camera by the new HTC U11. DxO announced the news a few hours ago, giving the U11 a top score of 90, one point better than the Google Pixel and 4 points higher than the iPhone 7.

Top 5 Smartphone Cameras Compete in Blind Test

What do the OnePlus 3T, iPhone 7+, Google Pixel XL, Samsung Galaxy S8, and LG G6 have in common? They're 5 of the best smartphones for photography. And in this blind camera comparison, you get to pick your favorite without any unconscious (or conscious) bias clouding your judgement.

This is the First Sports Illustrated Cover Shot with a Smartphone

When veteran SI photographer Michael J. LeBrecht II got an email from a DOP at Sports Illustrated offering him the chance to shoot "an A-List Celebrity," he immediately said yes. It wasn't until a later, on the phone, that he hear the catch: "we would like you to try and shoot the cover with a Smartphone."

iPhone 7 Has Third Best Smartphone Camera DxOMark Has Ever Tested

DxOMark Mobile just got done testing the much-talked-about iPhone 7 camera, and the results should satisfy Apple fans: the new phone's camera is not only a significant improvement over even the iPhone 6s Plus, it's the third best smartphone camera sensor DxO Mark has ever tested.

This Patent Shows How Apple Could Add Optical Zoom to the iPhone 7

Apple's iPhone 7 has long been rumored to sport dual cameras, but the smartphone might have another interesting photographic trick up its sleeve when it arrives: optical zoom. A new patent from Apple shows how they could make this happen without making the phone bulkier.

Leica-Branded Dual-Cam in Huawei’s P9 Made by a Chinese Company

The cat is out of the bag... well, maybe not entirely, but it's definitely peeking its head out. When Huawei announced the P9 smartphone and its Leica-branded dual-cam, neither company was being very straightforward about what Leica's role actually was in designing the optics. Now we have some answers.

Rumor: Images of Lumia 1030 Prototype Leaked, Supposedly Boasts a 50MP Sensor

If you thought that 41-megapixel camera in the Lumia 1020 was a bit... excessive... then you're probably going to find the newest rumors about the 1020 followup a bit crazy. Apparently Microsoft intends to pack even more megapixels onto the next camera's sensor, making it far and away the highest resolution camera phone in the world.

This Free App Uses Your Smartphone’s Camera to Do Your Math Homework for You

Your smartphone's camera might fall short of the typical DSLR in just about every respect, but there is one thing it now do that not even your ultra-portable mirrorless camera can handle: your math homework.

No, we're not talking about shutting down the camera and opening your calculator app, what we're talking about is PhotoMath, a new app from MicroBLINK that uses your smartphone camera to solve equations for you.

Your Future Smartphone Camera May Be Able to See Cancer Thanks to the Mantis Shrimp

Mimicking animal and bug vision to create unique and interesting cameras is nothing new. Bug vision cameras with, for example, infinite depth of field, have been made in the lab before. But researchers at University of Queensland in Australia are developing a camera that can do something pretty unique: it can see cancer.

The idea came after the scientists discovered that mantis shrimp have this incredibly useful ability.

New Chemical Iris Technology May Change the Way Smartphone Apertures Work

As smartphones have gotten smaller and smaller, the need for the cameras inside of them to shrink has become more pressing. One area where there's a lot of room for improvement is in the traditional mechanical aperture.

As we begin to hit the physical limit of the overlapping blades, researchers at the University of Kaiserslautern have designed an exciting new ‘micro iris’ that uses small chemical rings rather than a physical blades, dramatically shrinking the size of the aperture components in the camera.

Some Samsung Galaxy S5 Units Plagued by Camera Failure

Samsung is proud of the camera in the Galaxy S5 smartphone. So proud, in fact, that the company released an ad that called the iPhone out by name. But the company may have jumped the gun now that it has been confirmed that an unspecified number of Galaxy S5s have shipped with cameras that don't work at all.

Vivitar Working on Interchangeable Lens Smartphone Add-On

Whatever you want to call the emerging category of camera/lens assemblies that snap onto a smartphone, there no doubt it's growing. Case in point: Sony's QX line and JK Imaging/Kodak's SL series will soon by joined by a Vivitar model that made a very quiet debut last week at CES.

Samsung’s New Camera Module Promises Steadier & Brighter Shots for Smartphones

Samsung seems to be hard at work making sure that smartphone camera quality continues to improve in leaps and bounds. In addition to debuting ISOCELL technology a couple of weeks ago, the company has now announced a new smartphone camera module that will offer twice the optical image stabilization of anything on the market, while also capturing better photos in low light.

The OPPO N1 Smartphone is the World’s First to Feature a Rotating Camera

Back in July, Chinese electronics company OPPO confirmed that it was working on an "N-Lens" line of camera-centric devices that would be the "most important flagship series for OPPO going forward."

Well, the first of these devices has officially arrived, and although it is still more of a smartphone with a camera than a camera that can make calls, the phone packs some interesting features, including (according to OPPO) the world's first rotating smartphone camera.

You Can Install the Improved Android 4.3 Camera App on Most Android Phones

Here's some good news for the smartphone photographers out there who are sick of all the iPhone-only news that seems to flow down the pipeline daily. It turns out that anybody with an Android 4.0 and later phone can install a copy of the superior Android 4.3 camera app without even having to root their phone.

Samsung Springs a Leak and We Get Our First Look at the Galaxy S4 Zoom

With a mechanical shutter and a 41-megapixel PureView sensor, the leaked pictures and video of the upcoming Nokia Lumia phone codename "EOS" have caused quite a stir.

Nokia, however, isn't the only one that knows how to spring a leak when it comes to high-end smartphone cameras. Samsung also has a high-level camera phone up its sleeve, called the Galaxy S4 Zoom, and yesterday marked its first significant leak.

Comparing the Quality of iPhone Cameras Over the Years

The iPhone has evolved in leaps and bounds since the smartphone first burst onto the scene in 2007, and one of the most impressive ways it has evolved is in its capability to take pictures. In the original iPhone, a camera was something of an afterthought; the current model has entire commercials dedicated to the camera.

But knowing intuitively that the camera has improved exponentially is a far sight from seeing it with your own eyes. And so, just like they did in 2011, the folks behind the popular iPhone app Camera+ got every model of the iPhone together took a set of comparison shots for your perusing pleasure.

Low-Light Video Shootout Pits the Lumia 928 Against the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S3

Nokia recently announced its new Lumia 928: a 8.7-megapixel PureView, Carl Zeiss, OIS-toting replacement for the already impressive Lumia 920 that will do its best to blow away the rest of the market in terms of image and video quality.

But in case words aren't enough, Nokia has also released the above video comparing the low-light video capability of the new Lumia with that of the Samsung Galaxy S3 and the iPhone 5.

Voice Shutter Now Available for Android Phones Running CyanogenMod

CyanogenMod is sort of like Magic Lantern for Android phones. It's an open source, replacement firmware option for people who want to get more out of certain Android devices. And the most recent update targets the photographic community -- in a hands-free sort of way.

Google Patent Changes Camera Settings Based on Local Weather

Google takes photos pretty seriously. In addition to schmoozing the photography community earlier this week by releasing the entire Nik collection of plugins for only $150, the company also promised to make the cameras in their phones "insanely great." And a recent patent shows one of the ways Google may go about doing that.