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I do wish a phone company would offer a phone that does _no_ real processing of the image. Phone photos look fine on a phone, but the moment you enlarge them th

I do wish a phone company would offer a phone that does _no_ real processing of the image. Phone photos look fine on a phone, but the moment you enlarge them they really are extremely weird, in my experience. Personally I would love the utility of a modern camera along the lines of old Leicas; simple, manual, compact, and with good quality if you know what you're doing. I suppose there are modern Leicas but god; that price inflation. Also lovely to see an article by Scalzi on here, one of my all-time favourite authors.

rsynnott 6y ago
While phone vendors are unlikely to offer it as a first party feature, Apple has APIs to get raw sensor data and various third party photo apps will do that for you if you want. I assume it’s the same in android land.
m000 6y ago
> a modern camera along the lines of old Leicas Fujifilm X series. X-100F currently retails for $1000. You can get the (still fantastic) X-100T for around $500 refurb.
- robotmay 6y ago
  I think my dad has both of those cameras actually, and I agree that they're really excellent. He only totes around his big Nikon when he needs the really large lens now. Must admit that I sorta forgot he owned them.
ISL 6y ago
My Pixel is configured to save a raw image as well as the jpeg. I believe you can do this with most phones. The DNG files have at least a stop or two of editing latitude from the Pixel 3a. If you want the feel of a Leica, check out the X100 series from Fujifilm. They are excellent in every version, so you can choose your price on the used market. The only caveat is that the 35mm-equivalent focal length needs to resonate with you.
ValentineC 6y ago
> I do wish a phone company would offer a phone that does _no_ real processing of the image. iOS has offered 3rd party apps access to raw sensor data since late-2017 or so: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/avfoundation/cameras_and_media_capture/capturing_still_and_live_photos/capturing_photos_in_raw_format https://developer.apple.com/documentation/avfoundation/camer...
khyryk 6y ago
By extremely weird, I'm guessing you mean lacking in detail. The tiny sensors can't resolve as much detail so cropping with phone pictures will hit a wall much faster than, say, a 24MP APS-C sensor. The trade-off here is that you can't really shove a Sony A5100 with its lens on into a pants pocket like you easily can with any smartphone. I've pulled out a phone and taken once-in-a-lifetime pictures within 3 seconds -- good luck doing it with a packed-away bigger camera. This is part of why you see so many wide angle and macro shots these days: they're the ideal scenarios for phone pictures. Phone sensors are finally starting to creep up in size from the common 1/2.55" sensors. I suspect should they reach the 1" size, the resolution of detail will dramatically improve. It looks like the S20 Ultra has a 1/1.33" already, but I haven't tried it myself.
- robotmay 6y ago
  Ah I mostly meant more in terms of the denoising, HDR-ish effects, and the like, but I do agree that the sensors are also partly to blame there. I imagine the small size increases the need for noise reduction processing.

rsynnott 6y ago

While phone vendors are unlikely to offer it as a first party feature, Apple has APIs to get raw sensor data and various third party photo apps will do that for you if you want. I assume it’s the same in android land.

m000 6y ago

> a modern camera along the lines of old Leicas Fujifilm X series. X-100F currently retails for $1000. You can get the (still fantastic) X-100T for around $500 refurb.

robotmay 6y ago
I think my dad has both of those cameras actually, and I agree that they're really excellent. He only totes around his big Nikon when he needs the really large lens now. Must admit that I sorta forgot he owned them.

ISL 6y ago

My Pixel is configured to save a raw image as well as the jpeg. I believe you can do this with most phones. The DNG files have at least a stop or two of editing latitude from the Pixel 3a. If you want the feel of a Leica, check out the X100 series from Fujifilm. They are excellent in every version, so you can choose your price on the used market. The only caveat is that the 35mm-equivalent focal length needs to resonate with you.

ValentineC 6y ago

> I do wish a phone company would offer a phone that does _no_ real processing of the image. iOS has offered 3rd party apps access to raw sensor data since late-2017 or so: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/avfoundation/cameras_and_media_capture/capturing_still_and_live_photos/capturing_photos_in_raw_format https://developer.apple.com/documentation/avfoundation/camer...

khyryk 6y ago

By extremely weird, I'm guessing you mean lacking in detail. The tiny sensors can't resolve as much detail so cropping with phone pictures will hit a wall much faster than, say, a 24MP APS-C sensor. The trade-off here is that you can't really shove a Sony A5100 with its lens on into a pants pocket like you easily can with any smartphone. I've pulled out a phone and taken once-in-a-lifetime pictures within 3 seconds -- good luck doing it with a packed-away bigger camera. This is part of why you see so many wide angle and macro shots these days: they're the ideal scenarios for phone pictures. Phone sensors are finally starting to creep up in size from the common 1/2.55" sensors. I suspect should they reach the 1" size, the resolution of detail will dramatically improve. It looks like the S20 Ultra has a 1/1.33" already, but I haven't tried it myself.

robotmay 6y ago
Ah I mostly meant more in terms of the denoising, HDR-ish effects, and the like, but I do agree that the sensors are also partly to blame there. I imagine the small size increases the need for noise reduction processing.