Apple concept would improve iPhone camera quality with use of mirrors

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 77
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Dang! This is what I've been saying here for years. The only difference is that I'd like to see the sensor flat against the back of the camera, with one more mirror allowing that additional angle. That would allow a bigger sensor.

    But otherwise, the rest of this is just like I've been describing as what they should do.
  • Reply 22 of 77
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hill60 View Post

     

    It's a periscope.




    Yeah, haven't some compact cameras had this kind of setup for years? Sony cameras pioneered it IIRC. And I had a Samsung one that had much the same. It was crap and didn't last long, but it was still a good idea in principle; a zoom lens without a protruding telescopic lens. If they can make it work in a phone, great. But as we know, if it comes down to this or shaving another 0.00001 mm off the thickness, I'm sure we know which way Apple will go.

  • Reply 23 of 77
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by TheWhiteFalcon View Post

     



    Is the camera lens really that big of a deal? It barely sticks out.




    Just another point for the chronically dissatisfied to whine about. There are YouTube videos of iPhone 6s being wobbly when set down on their backs and touched.

  • Reply 24 of 77
    pazuzupazuzu Posts: 1,728member
    Mirrors need to be polished like the Hubble telescope's. This could open a whole new revenue stream for Apple.
  • Reply 25 of 77
    Apple didn't invent the [s]rounded rectangle[/s] mirror¡
  • Reply 26 of 77
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    solipsismy wrote: »
    Couldn't they use another angled lens so they can place the sensor flat again while keeping the device thin?

    Hey Solly, that's my plan. I just posted on that before seeing your post here. Shoot. This is what I've wanted them to do, with that additional mirror, which should be aspheric for best results. Heh! Maybe they've been reading our posts and used what I said. Yeah, yeah, of course not, but hey, they could've.
  • Reply 27 of 77
    melgross wrote: »
    Dang! This is what I've been saying here for years. The only difference is that I'd like to see the sensor flat against the back of the camera, with one more mirror allowing that additional angle. That would allow a bigger sensor.

    But otherwise, the rest of this is just like I've been describing as what they should do.

    Apple should use TARDIS technology to make the inside of the iPhone bigger than the outside.
  • Reply 28 of 77
    ireland wrote: »
    Optical zoom and a better camera all while getting rid of that bump on the rear of the phone. I think they really need to get on with this ASAP.

    If you put a case on the iPhone 6 Plus the camera bump is below the surface of the case ...

    Love your sig -- FWIW, I once had a neighbor named Harry Ball ... PPR (Prenatal Parental Revenge)?
  • Reply 29 of 77
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Apple should use TARDIS technology to make the inside of the iPhone bigger than the outside.

    I love Dr. Who, but I'm interested in more practical solutions. In my lab, we had a number of machines that used "bent" optics. It's not a new idea, but it's a good one. I've been pushing it here for years. It's good Apple now has the same idea. This would make a major improvement.
  • Reply 30 of 77
    melgross wrote: »
    Dang! This is what I've been saying here for years. The only difference is that I'd like to see the sensor flat against the back of the camera, with one more mirror allowing that additional angle. That would allow a bigger sensor.

    But otherwise, the rest of this is just like I've been describing as what they should do.


    1000


    http://phys.org/news89398752.html


    1000


    http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/archive/newsrel/science/foldedlens07.asp



    Apparently, a folded lens can do for light -- what a folded horn can do for sound.
  • Reply 31 of 77
    zoetmbzoetmb Posts: 2,654member

    The iPhone is so light and easy to hold that I really don't think that vibration or user shake is much of an issue.  Remember that image stabilization only works to rectify user movement, not subject movement.    It's a far different issue in heavy DSLRs using large and heavy zoom lenses.   It always boggles my mind that I can take very stable videos on my iPhone, but when I hand hold video on my Nikon D800, it's usually all "shaky-cam" if I'm making long shots, like shooting someone performing a song.   

     

    What would improve quality more than IS is the ability to shoot at faster shutter speeds because then you could freeze action.   That would generally require more sensitive sensors and/or faster lenses as well as the ability to control ISO and shutter speed, if not f-stop as well.  

  • Reply 32 of 77
    melgross wrote: »
    Dang! This is what I've been saying here for years. The only difference is that I'd like to see the sensor flat against the back of the camera, with one more mirror allowing that additional angle. That would allow a bigger sensor.

    But otherwise, the rest of this is just like I've been describing as what they should do.

    Apple should use TARDIS technology to make the inside of the iPhone bigger than the outside.

    Ohh ... or a iPhone case built as a kline bottle ...

    1000

    1000



    http://mathworld.wolfram.com/KleinBottle.html
  • Reply 33 of 77
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Ireland View Post



    Optical zoom and a better camera all while getting rid of that bump on the rear of the phone. I think they really need to get on with this ASAP.



    Even a very slim case on the 6 or 6 Plus eliminates the issue. Why aren't people putting these phones in cases? $650 - $950 (plus tax) is nothing to sneeze at. It's like owning a car without some type of insurance. I just don't get it. 

  • Reply 34 of 77
    paxmanpaxman Posts: 4,729member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post



    Apple introduced optical image stabilization in its products last year with the debut of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. The smaller iPhone 6 accomplishes this through software, while the larger iPhone 6 Plus also uses hardware OIS for superior image taking capabilities.

     


    Originally Posted by Ireland  Quote: View Post

    Originally Posted by paxman View Post



    I love they way they managed to squeeze optical image stabilization into the iPhone 6 through software .... What???




    The 6+ has optical image stabilisation for video through hardware. Some previous model iPhones including the 6 have software stabilisation for video. Optical is much better.

     

    Realize that - was referring to the somewhat unclear wording in the original article.

  • Reply 35 of 77
    This bears a striking resemblance to the Minolta Dimage X that I had back in 2002 and was the thinnest zoom camera on the market. It had a folded optics internal moving zoom lens and with the exception of the movable mirror for image stabilisation, it is the same concept.
  • Reply 36 of 77
    1000


    http://phys.org/news89398752.html


    1000


    http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/archive/newsrel/science/foldedlens07.asp



    Apparently, a folded lens can do for light -- what a folded horn can do for sound.

    How interesting. However, I thought the way things were headed, greater reliance on computational photography for image enhancement was the way forward for small sensor arrays.
  • Reply 37 of 77
    paxmanpaxman Posts: 4,729member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by RedGeminiPA View Post

     



    Even a very slim case on the 6 or 6 Plus eliminates the issue. Why aren't people putting these phones in cases? $650 - $950 (plus tax) is nothing to sneeze at. It's like owning a car without some type of insurance. I just don't get it. 




    While I agree a case is worth it and you live dangerously if you don't use one, your simile falls down if the choice of not using case is an aesthetic one. You may choose to use an iPhone without a case and still insure it.

  • Reply 38 of 77
    ireland wrote: »
    Optical zoom and a better camera all while getting rid of that bump on the rear of the phone. I think they really need to get on with this ASAP.


    Even a very slim case on the 6 or 6 Plus eliminates the issue. Why aren't people putting these phones in cases? $650 - $950 (plus tax) is nothing to sneeze at. It's like owning a car without some type of insurance. I just don't get it. 

    I agree! No Brainer! Every iDevice we own is immediately put in a case. It keeps the iDevice pristine for higher resale or in-kind warranty replacement.
  • Reply 39 of 77
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by supersheep View Post

     

    Looks like an amazing idea. However, I don't see it built into an iPhone soon. Apple would have to either make the iPhone thicker to make room for the by 90° flipped sensor or make the sensor smaller. 

     

    By adding a zoom lens you lose light. Basic principle true for every zoom lens versus a fixed one. I see a whole chain of problems in this patent. On the other hand though, it's Apple. They have some pretty smart people working there and have a way of figuring out pretty clever solutions to problems of this kind.


     

    Let them make the phone thicker. It's not like the 5 or 5s were too thick, you could go back to that thickness and fill the extra space inside the phone with more battery. "Make the phone as thin as possible" is a weird and impractical fetish.

  • Reply 40 of 77
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Fuzzypaws View Post

     

     

    Let them make the phone thicker. It's not like the 5 or 5s were too thick, you could go back to that thickness and fill the extra space inside the phone with more battery. "Make the phone as thin as possible" is a weird and impractical fetish.




    But entirely within the Apple ethos; style over substance.

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