Recently, we’ve seen and confirmed the existence of the long-rumored Nokia EOS in image leaks across the internet. There’s no doubt it, the Nokia EOS is the company’s next big thing, but what can it do? It seems that there is more to it than just a large and bulky 41MP sensor; there are new leaks showing that it packs a mechanical shutter and more.
Nokia states that the PureView label indicates that the sensor on the phone is one of the best in its camera department. So far, these phones included the Nokia 808 PureView, the Nokia Lumia 920 & the Nokia Lumia 925. Take into note however, these phones excel in different fields.
We have a separate article here discussing on how PureView acts on the 808 (you can also read our full review here). Basically, here is an overview of what the 41MP camera allows you to take:
Pixel Oversampling – taking so many pixels and create ‘superpixels’ when shooting at lower resolutions, aiding in eliminating noise, improving color accuracy and sharpness
Loseless Zoom - 3.6x zoom on stills and 12x zoom on clips without compromising the quality’
Nokia 808 PureView camera specs:
True 16:9/4:3 aspect ratios
1/1.2” 41mp sensor
Carl Zeiss Optics
Super wide-angle: 26mm – 16:9
f/2.4 aperture
Pixel oversampling technologies
Powerful xenon flash + Single LED
On the other hand, the Nokia Lumia 920 didn’t take any of that when it released (probably because of porting problems from Symbian to Windows Phone). The Lumia 925, on the other hand, is said to just push that further. Instead of going the 808′s direction, they took another path:
Optical Image Stabilization – a bunch of springs supporting the camera allow the phone to take photos with less motion blur
Great Low-light performance
Nokia Lumia 920 camera specs:
True 16:9/4:3 aspect ratios
1.4 micron pixels, 8.7mp BSI sensor
Carl Zeiss Optics
Super wide-angle: 26mm – 16:9
f/2.0 aperture
Optical Image Stabiliser
Dual LED Flash
After that, the company has been touting that the steps that they’ve reached are labeled as Phase 1 & Phase 2. You can see all the details here.What’s next? What’s up for Phase 3 then?
“You should be able to give your phone to a 3-year old and still capture amazing photos, like with a big DSLR camera.”
Juha Alakarhu, head of Nokia imaging technologies {via}
A new video leak from Vizi Leaks reveals that the phone has a mechanical shutter as compared to the previous digital ones. This simply means that light management will be more effective. Moreover that, if you look closely, you can see the lens adjusting as well. The description of the video also states that it has optical image stabilization.
With all of that said, I think we know what we’ll be seeing with the Nokia EOS; it’s going to be a combination of the 808 & the 920 and more, one that can possibly replace your standard DSLR.
It’s been rumored for so long now & we have no confirmations of its existence yet – but photos of the supposed Nokia EOS just made it to the internet. The EOS is reportedly packing a sensor similar to the 41MP Nokia PureView 808 (or even better), all housed into a slim Lumia design package and made to run Windows Phone.
We’ve been hearing the buzz from months ago, and we even thought that they would launch it last May; apparently, the announcement was for the Nokia Lumia 925.
the back of the phone; compared to the Lumia 920
The phone hosts a huge protruding camera & a clip for wireless charging on the back, and on the right side you’ll find the power button, the volume rocker and the two-stage camera key. Down below is the place for the micro USB and the speakers, and on top are the secondary microphone, the audio jack and the SIM card slot. Up front is a display of unknown size and resolution, and the rest simply screams Lumia 920 all over – from the bezels and all the design cues.
The phone will come in black & yellow; other colors and details are yet to be announced. Most likely however, Nokia will have a US launch first with a worldwide launch coming in a few more months.
thinness comparison with the Lumia 920
What have you got to say about it? Is this the phone that will pull Nokia back from the ashes? Feel free to leave a comment down below.
Nokia was reported to be planning to launch a Windows Phone flagship codenamed EOS which will use the same PureView technology found on the Nokia 808 PureView.
According to The Verge’s sources, the Nokia EOS will be the “true PureView Windows Phone” and will use a large sensor similar to the one powering the Nokia 808.
Like the previously reported Lumia 920 successor – the Nokia Catwalk, the Nokia EOS will also be clad in aluminum rather than polycarbonate as statement of its flagship status. No further details have surfaced but the Nokia EOS is expected to debut this year.
What do you say folks? If the reports are true, will you go for the Nokia Lumia 920 or wait for the Nokia EOS?
In line with our review of the Nokia 808, we decided to make a separate article about the technology behind its camera to give you a better perspective on how PureView utilizes the awesome hardware of the 808.
To better understand how Nokia uses the 808’s ginormous sensor to produce stunning images, we need to take a closer look at these three key aspects; Resolution, Pixel oversampling and Lossless digital zoom.
Resolution
There are two things that we need to bear in mind when dealing with pixels in a digital camera; the input/sensor resolution and the output resolution. Input resolution is the number of available pixels in the sensor, while the latter is the actual number of pixels in an image.
The Input Resolution is constant; Output resolution on the other hand is not, but the value is dictated by Aspect Ratio you’re shooting in. In Nokia 808’s case it’s 34MP, 8MP, 5MP and 2MP at 16:9 and 38MP, 8MP, 5MP and 3MP at 4:3.
One of the most common misconceptions that people have when dealing with megapixels is that the higher the number, the better the image quality. This notion dates back to a time when the quality of the image is dependent to the number of pixels available. Although having a high output resolution does have significant effect on the quality of the image (5MP vs VGA), it doesn’t mean that a higher number will automatically yield better results.
Generally speaking, shooting at a high resolution offers more flexibility when cropping as the images are more pixel-packed. Since the sensor capture more details, the resulting image is more ideal for large-scale printing. For normal consumption (A4 printing, PC viewing, SNS usage etc.), however, a 5MP resolution should be enough to give you a satisfactory result.
Here’s a short clip to show just how good can 5MP be:
So does this mean that no one really needs a camera with more than a 5MP sensor, let alone a 41MP? Well, as mentioned by one of the head honchos at Nokia’s Imaging Technologies department, it’s not how many the pixels are, it’s how it’s being used.
Pixel Oversampling
Another false notion that people have about the 41-megapixel sensor of the Nokia PureView 808 is that it’s only meant to capture large picture. Although it’s true that shooting at a high output resolution is ideal for large-scale printing, that’s not whole story behind the 808’s big-ass sensor.
Believe it or not, the main reason why Nokia equipped the PureView 808 with a 41MP sensor is to allow users to shoot at lower output resolution without compromising the image quality through Pixel Oversampling and Subsampling (aka Downsampling).
Pixel Oversampling is referred to by Nokia as the process of combining many available pixels in the sensor to create a single (super) pixel. In essence, the technology utilizes all the available pixels in the sensor even if the user is shooting at a lower output resolution (Subsampling). Therefore, by having a high sensor resolution (41MP) and a low output resolution (in this case 8MP, 5MP or 3MP/2MP) it allows the camera to shoot images with almost the same amount of detail and signal-to-noise ratio as the images taken at a higher (38MP) output resolution, sometimes even better.
Here’s a graph that will show just how a picture taken at 2MP or 3MP may beat an image taken at 38MP in terms of image quality in some situations.
At Nokia 808’s native focal length of 8.02mm (28mm equivalent in 4:3), the 3MP has a better input to output oversampling ratio (14:1) compared to the 38MP’s 1:1 ratio. Taking Nokia’s explanation of how oversampling works in to account, an image taken at lower output resolution (2 or 3MP) should give a user the best possible result compared to other available resolutions (5, 8 and 36 or 38MP).
Besides improving the image’s signal-to-noise ratio, another benefit that pixel oversampling brings to the table is color accuracy. It aids the camera to produce a more realistic color by making the RGB pixels as close to the real thing as possible, resulting in to a more natural-looking image.
Lossless digital zoom
Another key feature of the Nokia 808’s camera is its zooming capability. Its camera, as with most digital cameras, uses digital zoom instead of optical zoom. The problem with digital zoom, however, is that it’s notorious for producing low quality image due to noise. And the closer you zoom in, the more your image suffers from noise.
But unlike typical cameras, this one zooms in by just selecting the relevant portion of the sensor instead of upscaling and cropping the image. As such, it allows the Nokia 808 to zoom in up to 3.6x on stills and 12x on clips without compromising the quality, hence the term lossless digital zooming. The zoom limit is reached once the selected area has become the same size as the sensor.
You can check out our gallery which contains the photos we took using the Nokia 808 at different zoom lengths.
PureView Pro technology
Resolution, Pixel Oversampling and Lossless Digital Zooming are the three key aspects behind the PureView Pro technology. And now that we have a bit of an overview of how each facet contributes to provide unprecedented image/video quality, let’s now look at the correlation between these three aspects.
Resolution and Zoom dictates the amount of oversampling the camera can apply to an image. If you look at the graph earlier, you’ll notice that the input to output oversampling ratio is at its highest when shooting at the lowest output resolution without zoom (14:1 @2MP) and decreases significantly as the resolution gets higher (8:1 @5MP, 5:1 @8MP and 1:1 @38MP) and the more we zoom in (2x, 3x and 3.6x). Speaking of zoom, resolution also affects the amount of zoom that users can do with the camera. At 2MP, users can zoom in up to 4x, but decreases as the resolution goes higher (5MP = 3x, 8MP = 2x and 38/36MP = 0x).
In essence, shooting at a lower output resolution with the Nokia 808 gives users the best balance between zoom and oversampling as compared to shooting at the camera’s highest resolution. We’re not saying that the images taken using the camera’s Full Resolution is less pleasing than the ones captured at a lower output resolution. However, a lower output resolution allows users to be more creative with their shots.
Conclusion
It took Nokia more than half a decade to come up with PureView technology, but we have to say that it’s definitely worth the wait. Once again, they’ve outdone themselves as well as their competitors with this remarkable imaging technology.
Nokia’s flagship devices have been known for its outstanding camera and the Nokia PureView 808 is a testament to that. It’ll be interesting to see what the Finnish company has in store for shutterbugs in the coming years and how they can apply the technology to their Lumia handsets the same as they did with the 808 or maybe even better.
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