Live data from Hacker News

Samsung leapfrogs Nikon with Galaxy camera, 16mp 21x optical zoom and jellybean

geeknizer.com

31–40 of 46 posts

Re: Samsung leapfrogs Nikon with Galaxy camera, 16mp 21x optical zoom and jellybean

#31
post #29

Wow, so much negativity in these comments. To me this is the logical conclusion of the phone camera (a lot of people had this idea, I'm sure, but they seem to be the first to get it out). After bashing Samsung for their iPhone copying, I applaud them here for making something innovative. Camera phones (always available, and now internet connected) are a not-insignificant part of the social web revolution--people want…

But how do you hold it comfortably with that big bump on the back?

Re: Samsung leapfrogs Nikon with Galaxy camera, 16mp 21x optical zoom and jellybean

#32
post #12
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> I suspect it's going to produce extremely poor photos. Relative to what? Compared to an SLR? Sony's RX100? The iPhone 4? Other 1/2.3" cameras? Keep in mind that a 1/2.3" sensor is still significantly larger than something like, say the 1/3.2" sensor in the iPhone 4. Scaled to real-world image sizes (i.e. Facebook, etc.) the downsampled images will probably be good enough for most snapshots.

What's the point of 16MP if you're only concerned about scaling to Facebook?

What's the point of 16MP anyway? I've been very happy with my Nikon D40 shooting at 6BP.

Re: Samsung leapfrogs Nikon with Galaxy camera, 16mp 21x optical zoom and jellybean

#33
post #29

Wow, so much negativity in these comments. To me this is the logical conclusion of the phone camera (a lot of people had this idea, I'm sure, but they seem to be the first to get it out). After bashing Samsung for their iPhone copying, I applaud them here for making something innovative. Camera phones (always available, and now internet connected) are a not-insignificant part of the social web revolution--people want…

"The pure camera manufacturers will be playing catch-up forever"

Why? Nothing stops other camera manufacturers from using Android in their products.

Re: Samsung leapfrogs Nikon with Galaxy camera, 16mp 21x optical zoom and jellybean

#34
post #27

16 megapixels packed into a 1/2.3" sensor? Ouch. That's the smallest sensor size on this image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sensor_sizes_overlaid_ins... I hope DPReview does a review on this camera -- I suspect it's going to produce extremely poor photos.

Yup, it's a real shame. Imagine if they made it 5 megapixels, with BSI and full well? You could still make 8x10 prints (if anyone still does that...), but you could also take photos of your friends in a dark bar with no flash at f4. It would be amazing. But no one is doing it, and I have no idea why. Even the SLRs are now up above 20 megapixels. Why? I'm really anxious to see if Apple has the balls to keep the next i…

Because most consumers aren't well informed?

Re: Samsung leapfrogs Nikon with Galaxy camera, 16mp 21x optical zoom and jellybean

#35
post #31
post #29

Wow, so much negativity in these comments. To me this is the logical conclusion of the phone camera (a lot of people had this idea, I'm sure, but they seem to be the first to get it out). After bashing Samsung for their iPhone copying, I applaud them here for making something innovative. Camera phones (always available, and now internet connected) are a not-insignificant part of the social web revolution--people want…

But how do you hold it comfortably with that big bump on the back?

Hold it like a point and shoot camera.

Re: Samsung leapfrogs Nikon with Galaxy camera, 16mp 21x optical zoom and jellybean

#36

Why on earth would I want my camera to be running a full phone OS? It's one thing to build a camera into a phone for convenience, but when will having an OS and touchscreen in the back of my camera make something more convenient?

When there is an app on the Play store for 3.99 that makes your camera a much better camera.

Better than a 1/2.3" sensor in front of a f/2.8-5.9 lens? Right.

Re: Samsung leapfrogs Nikon with Galaxy camera, 16mp 21x optical zoom and jellybean

#37
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the point of 16MP if you're only concerned about scaling to Facebook?

Exactly. Megapixels only really matter if you're doing photo-editing or photo-printing. If it's being down-scaled - and it is, if you are uploading it to whatever social media site - then a 5MP iPhone 4 camera will serve you just as well.

They also matter if you do a lot of "digital zoom". While I'm not a fan of digital zoom, people seem to use it.

Re: Samsung leapfrogs Nikon with Galaxy camera, 16mp 21x optical zoom and jellybean

#38
post #12
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> I suspect it's going to produce extremely poor photos. Relative to what? Compared to an SLR? Sony's RX100? The iPhone 4? Other 1/2.3" cameras? Keep in mind that a 1/2.3" sensor is still significantly larger than something like, say the 1/3.2" sensor in the iPhone 4. Scaled to real-world image sizes (i.e. Facebook, etc.) the downsampled images will probably be good enough for most snapshots.

What's the point of 16MP if you're only concerned about scaling to Facebook?

There really isn't much of a point to 16MP, but seeing how the camera comes with it, and how people will practically use it (i.e. downsample), there's really nothing you can do but accept that it's there.

Re: Samsung leapfrogs Nikon with Galaxy camera, 16mp 21x optical zoom and jellybean

#39
post #10

I'm not convinced that a point-and-shoot camera can be considered "pro". Thumbs-up for manual exposure settings and the inclusion of Android, but a single f/2.8-5.9 lens is not going to be suitable in a lot of situations. I also don't see a flash (or flash mount) anywhere, which would make it annoying to take photos in a dark bar or restaurant. Alternatively, I think it would be neat to apply some of these features t…

I'd like to see this tech on Samsung's NX mirrorless line. If Samsung wants to compete with the big boys, they'll need to differentiate, and Android's one way to do it.

Re: Samsung leapfrogs Nikon with Galaxy camera, 16mp 21x optical zoom and jellybean

#40
post #28

Why on earth would I want my camera to be running a full phone OS? It's one thing to build a camera into a phone for convenience, but when will having an OS and touchscreen in the back of my camera make something more convenient?

There are smartphones, tablets, netbooks, watches, ski goggles running Android. It is interesting to consider Android as a "phone OS". Sure, your camera doesn't need apps. Neither does your phone. But just because it's not necessary, doesn't mean that it won't provide lots of benefits. You can, for instance install Dropbox and use Camera Upload to automatically sync all your photos to all your devices the moment you…

>> Sure, your camera doesn't need apps.

A lot of people seem to like using apps on their phones for photography though. This Samsung camera seems like a great Instagram camera.

Post reply on HN