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Huawei P30 Pro camera review

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Re: Huawei P30 Pro camera review

#51

Post by bitL »

alkonaut wrote: post #24
usrusr wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But building optics that can properly illuminate those larger sensors within the confines of current smartphone designs already is impressive progress. As you said, those physics are hard. I'm no expert but I suspect that the physics would even be strictly impossible for a "proper" lens and they only get away with it because they can now apply corrections computationally which would require lot's of glass/space when…

Yes (more) computantional imaging is probably the next frontier. We already see the double and triple cameras (some times for depth info, some times for different FOV's) but I'm guessing N modules in some grid pattern + computation can emulate a much larger camera without making it much thicker like a single large sensor). I think I saw such a prototype if I remember correctly. If it works, it's also quite similar to…

> N modules in some grid pattern

Nokia 9 is like that.

Re: Huawei P30 Pro camera review

#52

Post by rchaud »

dkobia wrote: post #39

Politics aside, I have Huawei phones and tablets and they're probably the best bang for your buck you'll get.

Huawei's higher-end tablets restored my faith in Android as an alternative to iOS. Nice deisgn, thin bezels, 2560 x 1600 screens (absent on all but the most expensive Samsung tablets) and most importantly, long-lasting battery life.

I have the M3 8.4" tablet with those specs, and it's been running great. The 10.8" versions have pen support.

Re: Huawei P30 Pro camera review

#53

Post by rchaud »

Can anyone suggest a point-and-shoot camera for taking pictures at concerts? I don't think the venues would allow DSLRs, but a small P&S would be OK. I'm thinking that would require good night-time photo capability and a certain level of optical zoom.

The camera on my Galaxy S7 was great, but I upgraded to a Nokia X6 and the camera there is significantly worse (phone was $500 cheaper though).

For my needs, I'd rather have a single high-quality dedicated compact camera, and not have it be tied to my phone, which I change every couple of years.

Re: Huawei P30 Pro camera review

#54

Post by usrusr »

alkonaut wrote: post #24
usrusr wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But building optics that can properly illuminate those larger sensors within the confines of current smartphone designs already is impressive progress. As you said, those physics are hard. I'm no expert but I suspect that the physics would even be strictly impossible for a "proper" lens and they only get away with it because they can now apply corrections computationally which would require lot's of glass/space when…

Yes (more) computantional imaging is probably the next frontier. We already see the double and triple cameras (some times for depth info, some times for different FOV's) but I'm guessing N modules in some grid pattern + computation can emulate a much larger camera without making it much thicker like a single large sensor). I think I saw such a prototype if I remember correctly. If it works, it's also quite similar to…

Multiple sensors, stuff like Google "night sight" and all that fake bokeh are impressive. But compared to the benefits from liberating the optical path from the burden of minimizing distortion and vignetting they are little more than lipstick one a pig. Simplified optics improve the source signal, some hard trade-offs that defined camera design for more than a century have been blown wide open by a simple 2D convolution.

Admittedly, multiple sensors also create more/better source signal to work with and unlike optical path simplification it's an improvement that can be repeated over and over again (just add more), but currently it's main importance is that it is something for buyers to see, without diving into the subjectivity-infested depths of image quality comparisons. I have no doubts that a bad multi-sensor would sell better than a good single-sensor.

Re: Huawei P30 Pro camera review

#55

Post by dr_zoidberg »

rchaud wrote: post #53

Can anyone suggest a point-and-shoot camera for taking pictures at concerts? I don't think the venues would allow DSLRs, but a small P&S would be OK. I'm thinking that would require good night-time photo capability and a certain level of optical zoom. The camera on my Galaxy S7 was great, but I upgraded to a Nokia X6 and the camera there is significantly worse (phone was $500 cheaper though). For my needs, I'd rather…

I have used the beautiful Olympus OMD E-10 Mk.III -- can't really say if it's going to be allowed in a concert[0], but it has a great advantage: it looks like a retro camera, and many people actually think it's an analog (ie, physical film) camera. I absolutely loved it's low light performance, though I've seen review compare it to the Sony A7 family and it'd seem those surpass it.

Before getting it, I owned two compact Canons, the G12 and G16 and both were a joy to use: fast stabilized lenses, """large""" sensors (at least for a compact camera) and lots of integrated features. The newer lineup has sort of derailed and there are tons of very-similar-with-tiny-differences models, but you'd be looking at either the G1X Mk2 or the G7x Mk2 (those are the ones that look more like compacts rather than "pro" cameras).

[0] since it's a mirrorless, so some would say a pro camera, hence not allowed without a permit.

Re: Huawei P30 Pro camera review

#56

Post by llaappqq »

koffiezet wrote: post #49
cs702 wrote: post #28

> If you still needed a reason to spend money on a compact camera, it would have been for zoom reach, as even the best smartphone cameras could not provide usable zoom image quality beyond a 5x factor. This has now changed with the Huawei P30 Pro and its innovative zoom system that uses folded optics and a super-resolution algorithm, which finally makes usable 10x zoom on smartphones a reality. The zoom on its own wi…

Sony also used this technique in their credit-card sized compact camera's.

Ya, a camera I bought 15 years ago was using this technique too. IIRC the model is Sony T1

Re: Huawei P30 Pro camera review

#57

Post by jacobolus »

baybal2 wrote: post #40
mrec wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ignorant question: at what point does the limiting factor for useful zoom become stabilization rather than optics? I looked briefly into ridiculous-zoom-level compacts a while back and consensus seemed to be that while the tech specs look good on paper you're just going to get a blurry mess unless you put it on a tripod, at which point you've lost the main advantage of a compact.

if done properly, software stabilisation can genuinely rival hardware

For what angle of view?

If you are e.g. hand-holding a camera with a super-telephoto 1° angle of view, there’s nothing software stabilization is going to be able to do when your small wiggles make what you were looking at before violently jump out of the frame.

Re: Huawei P30 Pro camera review

#58

Post by pentae »

rchaud wrote: post #53

Can anyone suggest a point-and-shoot camera for taking pictures at concerts? I don't think the venues would allow DSLRs, but a small P&S would be OK. I'm thinking that would require good night-time photo capability and a certain level of optical zoom. The camera on my Galaxy S7 was great, but I upgraded to a Nokia X6 and the camera there is significantly worse (phone was $500 cheaper though). For my needs, I'd rather…

The Sony Rx-100 mk V or mk VI will suit your needs perfectly. It’s pricy but generally considered to be the most camera you can pack into a compact. The VI has the only 35-200mm equivalent zoom on a compact which makes it perfect for sporting events and concerts that don’t allow ‘professional’ dSLR cameras.

Re: Huawei P30 Pro camera review

#59

Post by NikkiA »

BossingAround wrote: post #4
sschueller wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only if you are in the US. For the rest of us the price will probably drop.

Yea but no updates for the rest of the world either. What you get with the phone is basically it, no more updates after that. Now that I think about it, the new phones won't probably have GApps in general, so no market store -> no apps (I'm sure there'll be a different market app, like Amazon or someone's, but let's get real, who wants that?)

The last two chinese android phones I have had came with a chinese app store pre-installed anyway. Now, I didn't trust it enough to use it then, but with how google have been the last couple of years...

Re: Huawei P30 Pro camera review

#60

Post by baybal2 »

jacobolus wrote: post #57
baybal2 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

if done properly, software stabilisation can genuinely rival hardware

For what angle of view? If you are e.g. hand-holding a camera with a super-telephoto 1° angle of view, there’s nothing software stabilization is going to be able to do when your small wiggles make what you were looking at before violently jump out of the frame.

Yes, you got it. It's not a problem for narrow field, but at some point you the sacrifice of frame area gets too big
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