Kodak Ektra • Hacker News Board

Re: Kodak Ektra

#151

Post by sly010 » Fri, Oct 21, 2016, 4:00 AM UTC

I am not sure how much "smarter" this is than a camera taped on a phone [0].

If the DSP chip itself were programmable from the phone then one could do all sorts of tricks just by downloading new "firmware" over the air.

I doubt that is the case here though. It looks like this saves me from copying files to share then on Instagram and that's about it.

Someone please make a camera that costs the same as a high-end smart phone, but the DSP chip is open and documented. Why is that not a thing?

[0] http://media.e2save.com/images/community/2013/06/tumblr_m7bf...

EDIT: link

Re: Kodak Ektra

#152

Post by mgalka » Fri, Oct 21, 2016, 4:07 AM UTC

astrocat wrote: post #93

There's a missed opportunity here... this is not a smartphone, because as a phone, it will suck. It's a smartcamera, because as a point-and-shoot running Android with a cellular data connection, it will probably be quite cool. As mentioned already, Nokia tried the "photography first" smartphonecamera - it didn't fly. Because, honestly, iPhones are already top of the line smartphonecameras. The cameras are ridiculousl…

If by "phone" you mean "pocket computer with native apps and a slick UI," then I agree, Kodak will probably suck as a "phone."

Otherwise, I can't imagine the phone part could be that much worse than Apple.

Re: Kodak Ektra

#153

Post by danvayn » Fri, Oct 21, 2016, 4:16 AM UTC

The real potential with this lies with the photo editing and viewing suite -- even if it's camera first there's not really many 'smart cameras' are there? there's just a lot of potential in having extra buttons. imo, simplicity of UI/UX is becoming a tiresome idea now that the ability to operate a smartphone has been mainstreamed at this point. power to the new players.

Re: Kodak Ektra

#154

Post by matthew-wegner » Fri, Oct 21, 2016, 4:21 AM UTC

Lots of negativity here. This is a really smart move.

I take a decent amount of photographs, and shoot enough photos at events around other photographers to see the next generation coming up. A surprising amount of these photographers are using live view on DSLRs, just because they're "graduating" out of smartphone photography. (Live view generally has a number of disadvantages compared to the optical viewfinder; it's a pretty bad habit).

These photographers are used to framing their shots on a screen, and have muscle memory built around holding a device like a smartphone. Giving them better sensors--and not changing much else about their shooting experience--is a very wise decision...

Re: Kodak Ektra

#155

Post by PascLeRasc » Fri, Oct 21, 2016, 4:36 AM UTC

simonsarris wrote: post #2

Their "Specs" link at the bottom 404s! Ow. Much more info in this blog post: http://www.kodak.com/US/en/Consumer/Press_Center/KODAK_EKTRA... KODAK EKTRA Smartphone key features: * ANDROID 6.0 (Marshmallow) * Professional results from a 21MP fast focus camera sensor with F2.0, PDAF, OIS, Dual LED Flash * 13MP phase detection auto focus front-facing camera with F2.2 PDAF * Helio X20 2.3GHz Decacore processor with 3GB R…

Decacore? I've never heard of Helio SOCs but I really wonder about the cores race of Android SOCs these days. Are heavier apps these days really multi-threaded?

Re: Kodak Ektra

#156

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Oct 21, 2016, 4:46 AM UTC

astrocat wrote: post #93

There's a missed opportunity here... this is not a smartphone, because as a phone, it will suck. It's a smartcamera, because as a point-and-shoot running Android with a cellular data connection, it will probably be quite cool. As mentioned already, Nokia tried the "photography first" smartphonecamera - it didn't fly. Because, honestly, iPhones are already top of the line smartphonecameras. The cameras are ridiculousl…

[deleted]

Re: Kodak Ektra

#157

Post by PascLeRasc » Fri, Oct 21, 2016, 4:48 AM UTC

gwbas1c wrote: post #17

I understand that Kodak is probably "dipping their toe in the water with this model," but 32GB is not enough storage. I'd like to know more about the phone, though. Is it a good phone? I mean, is it a good phone? The concept of a phone that's also a quality Kodak camera is cool, but at the end of the day, I'd like to know that it's also great at doing everything else I do with my phone. Also, does it have a standard…

Given that they're featuring "edit with Snapseed" on the page, they might have a Pixel-like deal with Google for unlimited original-quality uploads to Google Photos.

Re: Kodak Ektra

#158

Post by PascLeRasc » Fri, Oct 21, 2016, 4:51 AM UTC

As much as I like the idea, from the side profile it looks like it'd be really difficult to carry around in a back pocket and could snag on the lens bump when trying to put it back in a pocket.

Re: Kodak Ektra

#159

Post by slededit » Fri, Oct 21, 2016, 4:58 AM UTC

nikcub wrote: post #138

jbarham wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This device is not made by Kodak. It's made by a British company called Bullitt Group that is licensing the Kodak name. Source: https://www.dpreview.com/news/7643905711/kodak-launches-ektr...

Kodak is an "innovators dilemma" case study, and what they're doing by bringing in an outside group to compete with itself is exactly one of the solutions that is often prescribed.

Kodak is bankrupt. The old company no longer exists, and is being run by its creditors. If they can make back some of their losses by licensing the name, they absolutely will do so.

Re: Kodak Ektra

#160

Post by Question1101 » Fri, Oct 21, 2016, 5:02 AM UTC

Since they don't mention the sensor size I assume it will be barely bigger than that of an average smartphone. So I expect the image quality to be underwhelming. There was the Lumix CM1 and it wasn't a huge hit so I don't know why this would sell well since it doesn't look like it's doing anything better.