The camera-cum-phone that is the Nokia 808 PureView is slated to be the biggest breakthrough in mobile photography ever. It’s no surprise then that many a tech head and photographer out there, really want to understand what they’re dealing with when they eventually come to pick up the device.
Here are some enlightening facts from NokNok.tv surrounding the photographic prowess possessed by the PureView that you may not know:
Nokia 808 PureView: PureView Pro
The image processing technology at work inside the PureView is supposedly unlike anything cameraphones have used. Dubbed PureView Pro, Nokia has limited the cameras capacity to zoom digitally to 2x and by removing upscaling altogether, the zoom only uses the part of the sensor you’re looking at, meaning no loss in quality even when zooming in.
Nokia 808 PureView: Processing
Until this point, the best chips could only be pushed to process images as far as 20-megapixels. However, the boffins at Nokia have endowed the 808 PureView with an incredible 41-megapixel sensor (below, pic via CNET). This, paired with video that can now process over a billion pixels per second with 16x oversampling makes for a ludicrous combination of imaging potential.
Nokia 808 PureView: Low Light
16x oversampling means stills and videos should see a dramatic reduction in low light noise and when the lighting is good, there should be practically no noise at all.
Nokia 808 PureView: Shutter Speed
Higher shutter speeds allow you to capture subjects that move quickly without risk of blurring, but the faster shutter speed, the more light the camera requires in order to capture the image. Even when the PureView’s camera is at its maximum zoom range, the sensor can accommodate 5.4x more light than a conventional optical zoom camera. At ISO 100 the PureView can capture an image in 1/180th of a second, impressive when typical shutter speeds at this ISO are around 1/30th of a second.
Nokia 808 PureView: Flash
Mobile photographers will appreciate the inclusion of a Xenon flash, rather than an LED or dual LED unit on the Nokia 808 PureView. Paired with the fast shutter, the camera’s flash won’t lose potency, even at its full zoom range, so the benefits of the flash won’t diminish, the further the subject is from the camera.
Nokia 808 PureView: Autofocus
Creative Shooting mode on the 808 PureView will allow for on-the-fly switching between automatic and macro focus modes. All the user will have to do, is tap and hold their finger on the screen and a pop-up menu provides the necessary options. Convenient.
Nokia 808 PureView: Video
It’s worth emphasising that the oversampling techniques employed by the PureView’s camera module can be utilised in video recording as well as with still photography, outputting the Full 1080p HD video with whath Nokia claims is crisp, clear, noiseless quality.
Nokia 808 PureView: Silent Zoom
Nokia has taken steps to ensure that when the PureView’s autofocus is silent when filming video, to avoid any annoyance.
Nokia 808 PureView: Slide Zoom
Pinch to zoom has seen increasing use on smartphone camera UIs, most notably with the likes of the iPhone. Conversely, step zoom as seen with Windows Phone’s camera UI has proven to be a somewhat clunky alternative. The Nokia 808 PureView allows for a slide zoom which previews the reframed shot, without the user having to commit to taking the photo. Handy.
Nokia 808 PureView: Video Autofocus
The PureView’s video autofocus is said to have been tweaked and tailored to provide a sharp, stable shot in almost any eventuality, something we’re very keen to try for ourselves.
So that’s it, in case you haven’t realised, the photographer within us is rather excited to take the Nokia 808 PureView for a spin when it launches in May to try these new features out, we just hope we don’t have to ship it in from overseas to do so.
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