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Nexus 5 to be first smartphone with MEMS camera
- JimmaDaRustla 13y agoGood, the Nexus 4 camera is terrible.
- tjbiddle 13y agoYou think? Maybe I haven't been comparing to the right phones - but I'm extremely happy with mine!
- untog 13y agoI have one and I'd definitely regard it as a terrible camera - particularly compared to my friend's iPhone photos.
- freehunter 13y agoMy Lumia 920 needed to go in for warranty repairs so I picked up a Nexus 4 to use while it was being fixed (and because I wanted an Android phone to play around with as well). The photos I took on my Nexus 4 in comparison to the Lumia 920 were laughable. My cousin and I have done some comparisons with the iPhone 4S camera and the Lumia 920 and we don't notice the difference, but the Nexus 4 is really awful in comparison to both of them.
- kamjam 13y agoA Nexus 4 cost $359 at launch here in Canada. An iPhone 5 cost around $700, almost twice the price offline. You can't really compare the 2 products directly. It's like comparing a Ford with a Ferrari. You would be better comparing the iPhone with a Samsung Galaxy S4 since they are similar price points.
- hexley 13y agoIt's a much worse camera than what's in the 4S even.
- kamjam 13y agoYes, I am not arguing that. What I am saying is if you pay peanuts, you will get monkeys. You need to compare a $360 with a $360 phone, and you need to compare a $700 phone (iPhone) with a $700 (Samsung S4/Sony Z1/HTC Onc etc)
- JimmaDaRustla 13y agoKind of like comparing a Ford with a nicer Ford, but the nicer Ford is overpriced.
- JimmaDaRustla 13y agoOdd...I had a Samsung Focus which took better pictures. Seeing some Nokia/iPhone pictures makes it look bad.
- mayneack 13y agoIt was a downgrade in over all picture taking from my galaxy s2. In a large part about the focusing ability.
- Pxtl 13y agoFor $200 they've got to make some compromises somewhere.
- JimmaDaRustla 13y agoAbsolutely. Great phone all around other than that!
- Nogwater 13y agoGenuine question: How much does the camera component on the Nexus 4 cost? How much more is the iPhone 5's camera?
- sandipc 13y agoiFixit supposedly has the iPhone 5 (not 5S) rear camera listed for $40 here: http://www.ifixit.com/iPhone-Parts/iPhone-5-Rear-Camera/IF118-004 http://www.ifixit.com/iPhone-Parts/iPhone-5-Rear-Camera/IF11... I imagine there is a substantial software component cost associated with it too...
- ambiate 13y agoMy Nexus 4 paid for itself on Straight Talk within a month by selling my older phone on craigslist. One of the best decisions I have made in a long time. My wife's Samsung phone is so incredibly foreign to the vanilla Android experience. I have had some recent issues with Google Maps draining my battery, but that was corrected by simply reverting the update. All in all, a great phone. If I destroy it, I can just get a new one for $250. Flops consisted of the wireless battery charge, frictionless glass back that slides, and (original) nubless back that left the speaker against the surface.
- vectorjohn 13y ago> I can just get a new one for $250 Where? I was thinking the same way, not really worrying about my phone, until recently when they lowered the price and cleared out their stock. Hopefully the 5 will be a similar price point because I don't have a backup decent phone at the moment.
- tocomment 13y agoDoes straightalk work pretty well nationwide? How does it compare to major carriers?
- kevhsu 13y agoit's on AT&T's network. So it should be about the same.
- tocomment 13y agoHow can it be so much cheaper than AT&T? It seems almost too good to be true, no? I'm paying double that for way less minutes/data!
- blinkingled 13y agoStraight talk's data isn't really unlimited. It's throttled to EDGE after 2.5Gb. Minutes on the other hand work out well.
- iwasakabukiman 13y agoIt's not anything like Lytro, though. From what the article says, it just takes images rapidly and then you choose the one that's most in focus. Still, being able to focus faster and snap rapid images is a good thing. It makes getting quality pictures easier, especially with kids, who are notoriously blurry.
- turing 13y agoThey don't claim that it's technologically similar to Lytro, just that it can offer similar functionality. To get any idea of what they mean, watch the YouTube demo at the end of the post[1]. At about 1:37 they show off being able to change the point of focus after the fact. http://youtu.be/idtmJBa5u3Q http://youtu.be/idtmJBa5u3Q
- arkitaip 13y agoI am a very happy nexus 4 owner but the camera was obviously sub par; slow focus, dull colors and lack of sharpness were major problems. Glad to see that they're putting more effort on the camera in the nexus 5.
- gtaylor 13y agoThe camera on the Galaxy Nexus was pretty awful, too. It is particularly bad in indoor environments (gets very grainy without the flash, gets super washed out with flash). I'm embarrassed to post photos sometimes because of the bad quality.
- nkoren 13y agoI actually got great results from the Galaxy Nexus -- check out http://www.instagram.com/nathankoren; http://www.instagram.com/nathankoren; all the shots prior to Dec 2012 were with the GN, and many of them are quite good. The main trick was to be extremely diligent about wiping down the lens prior to use, as a bit of grease or dirt on the lens will severely degrade the image. When that phone died, I got a Nexus 4 -- and the camera was enough of a downgrade that I returned it two days later. Have been reasonably satisfied with my Galaxy 3 every since. This MEMS stuff is interesting, but I really do wish that manufacturers would focus on providing larger sensors rather than more megapixels. Almost nobody actually needs 8MP from their phone, however every photograph benefits from a larger sensor.
- spion 13y agoYes! More specifically, all photographs benefit from bigger pixels. Smaller pixels get less light. As a result, they have more noise. In turn this means that the manufacturer has to aggressively squash the photo into the tiniest dynamic range possible to get less noise. Finally this results with lots of overexposed and underexposed areas typical on modern cameras and phones. Its horrible. Lets go back to 3MP and use huge pixels instead.
- _neil 13y agoSeriously awful. All of my instagram shots are blurry/grainy. The upside is that I've had a reason to practice sniper-like breathing techniques. Not that it helps with photo quality. What's weird is that the preview snap might look fine, but what gets saved to the device is always really poor.
- chimeracoder 13y agoWhy is this article tagged "Verizon"? It's all-but-confirmed at this point that Verizon users are going to be left high-and-dry with this Nexus upgrade, for the second time in a row. </rant> - A frustrated Verizon user still using his 2-year-old Galaxy Nexus.
- gtaylor 13y agoI too am a frustrated Verizon + Galaxy Nexus user, but I'll be leaving them in December when my contract is up. They have handled their Android line terribly, and I can't blame Google for not wanting to deal with them. I STILL haven't got Android 4.3 on this "flagship" device, and it's their fault. I can't uninstall their bloatware without rooting, either. Net 10, Straight Talk, and a few others are what I'm looking at now. Going to save a ton of money and get a better device with comparable service.
- chimeracoder 13y ago> They have handled their Android line terribly, and I can't blame Google for not wanting to deal with them. Exactly - I'm frustrated with Verizon, not Google. The only reason I've stuck with them is because I'm grandfathered into unlimited 4G/LTE data. Even then, I'm still toying with the idea of switching to one of the GSM carriers - I can't decide if it's worth walking away from the unlimited data, though.
- wonderyak 13y agoAs someone in the same position that has debated this endlessly in their own head -- its not going to be really 'worth' it. VZW has the best network around, being grandfathered in on unlimited data is a serious boon. When my internet service goes out in my home -- WiFi hotspot and no worries about whether I'm going to be throttled or hit an overage. I hate my GNex but VZW+Unlimited Data is worth more to me. Whatever new phone you get will be just as obsolete in two years as the GNex is now.
- chimeracoder 13y ago
- jister 13y agoLumia 1020 so far has the best camera
- jareds 13y agoI was going to buy a Nexus 4 as an Android device to play with, not as a primary phone. Since they sold out and I don’t feel like spending $350 on a phone I won’t use as a phone, I bought a refurbished $119 Nexus 7 first gen on EBay instead. I’d be happy with a lower spec phone that has a smaller screen running stock Android for around $250 but it appears no such thing exists.
- karma_fountain 13y ago8Gb Nexus 4 is £150.
- AndrewDucker 13y agoAnd sold out.
- jareds 13y agoThat is currently $243.43 and I don't know what is involved in ordering from England and shipping to America. It's out of stock in the United States.
- drzaiusapelord 13y ago>I’d be happy with a lower spec phone that has a smaller screen running stock Android for around $250 but it appears no such thing exists. I'm sure you can get a Galaxy SII or Galaxy Nexus for that price or lower on ebay.
- jareds 13y agoThe Galaxy SII only runs Android 4.1. The Galaxy Nexus only runs 4.3 if you have the proper version of the phone. I doubt either of these phones will get the next big Android upgrade, if I'm buying a phone for $250 I'd like to know it will be supported for at least a year with out having to root it and install a mod to get the newest features.
- dublinben 13y ago
- Splendor 13y agoFast focusing is neat, but I'll wait to see how it compares to current top-end smartphone cameras that offer backside illuminated sensors with larger pixels.
- unicornporn 13y agoI'd say "Lytro functionality" (focus after capture) is perhaps most pointless feature ever in a small sensor camera. The only time one might come across some slightly shallow depth of field to play around with post-capture is when the subject matter is really close (and the background far away). Faster focusing is welcome though.
- kbrower 13y agoGoogle has hired the developer of SynthCam, which is IMO the most interesting computational bokeh app. Combine that with the ability of the mems system and a fast image sensor to capture images at every focus point and estimate depth based on what is in focus in each image. You can then pick what you want blurry and what you want in focus and even how blurry you want the blurry parts to be. I hope they can make this all seamless in the nexus 5.
- beambot 13y ago"First of a kind camera called MEMS" is very disingenuous. MEMS is a series of technologies -- ie. MicroElectroMechanical Systems, and includes a lot of different sensors (eg. accelerometers and gyros). Also, piezoelectric MEMS focusing elements have been available for micro cameras for some time -- definitely not new (though perhaps first mass-market?). Bad reporting.
- jordanthoms 13y agoThis may be a false alarm. The string they found - IMX179 - seems to be actually a Sony sensor part, which is in use on other phones also. (I.E. the Meizu MX3). It appears in the MEMS documentation which is ranked first in Google because their sensor package is based on the IMX179. However, going by the sample shots from the MX3, it looks to be a good sensor - so hopefully it still has a good camera (my nexus 4 camera produces really bad results sometimes).
- benjamincburns 13y agoiMX is also a Freescale application processor series, though unless they've introduced a new line under that product family I don't think it fits their part number scheme.
- sciwiz 13y agoSony's image sensors have had the IMX naming scheme for a few years.
- Osmium 13y agoCan't speak about the camera or if this is just a marketing gimmick or not, but I can say that MEMS technology is really cool. Since the article does a pretty poor job of explaining what MEMS technology can do, it's probably best shown by example, e.g. see this MEMS gear! http://www.sfu.ca/immr/projects/ensc494-01/acoppin/images/Pawl-gear1.jpg http://www.sfu.ca/immr/projects/ensc494-01/acoppin/images/Pa... And an article here with some more images: http://www.physicscentral.com/explore/action/machines.cfm http://www.physicscentral.com/explore/action/machines.cfm What's really fun is when you need to start accounting for, say, the electrostatic interactions between atoms in your gear design! Of course, MEMS devices are probably already in your phone. They're commonly used for accelerometers, e.g. see here http://www.geekmomprojects.com/gyroscopes-and-accelerometers-on-a-chip/ http://www.geekmomprojects.com/gyroscopes-and-accelerometers... Cool stuff!
- alok-g 13y ago>> What's really fun is when you need to start accounting for, say, the electrostatic interactions between atoms in your gear design! They do, though often to avoid device failures. Search for "MEMS Stiction"
- HCIdivision17 13y agoI was going to mention this. Stiction was the bane of my effort fabricating even the simplest components as an undergrad. My favorite part was how you can realistically suggest using diamond ablative layers and the like. Made for fun conversations to listen in on - invariably it sounds expensive and high tech, regardless of if it's just sacrificial carbon.
- hkmurakami 13y agoMy previous employer was a MEMS sensor company. Let me tell you, stiction really is a huge issue for every single player in the industry.
- barista 13y agoGood that Nexus is stepping up its game. After Nokia hit it out of the park with its Lumia 1020 camera, using any other smartphone camera was sub par. Glad that we will have some competition. Of course its not just about focusing speed. Hope the sensor can produce some good images
- NatW 13y agoIn practical terms, my guess is that focusing will: - occur noticeably faster (for potentially faster shots) - use less power (for longer battery life) -- The fast/re-engineered focusing might then enable you to take photos in new modes, e.g: in an "idiot proof" spray, quickly snapping shots at different focus depths very quickly - which you can select from afterwords. I don't personally see much appeal of the 'idiot proof' application yet, (though I could be convinced) but the first two seem like decent improvements.
- axus 13y agoDid the Nexus 5 receive FCC approval before the US government shutdown kicked in?
- andrewpi 13y agoParts of the FCC operate on user fees, thus would be unaffected by the shutdown.
- beyondcompute 13y agoWhen there will be an Android smartphone which is not ugly?
- meerita 13y agoI'm so waiting this phone. Does anyone waiting it? I am an iPhone 5 owner but planning to change this time. After using the Nexus 4 a bit I enjoyed many things.
- Mithaldu 13y agoAssuming the article is right: Will they make sure that the 450ms savings over the 600ms average will be useful enough, by reducing the 8 second time from locked phone to photo shot as well?
- avty 13y agoAnd what is the disadvantage?
- alok-g 13y agoIt is certainly a marketing gimmick to call this a MEMS camera. MEMS here is used just to move the (usual) lens around for focusing the image on the (usual) sensor. Agreed that this may bring advantages, but "MEMS camera" may now deceive thousands of people into thinking it to be a fundamentally different type of camera, which it is not. This is no different than LED TVs where the fundamental component that actually synthesizes the pictures is still LCD, just the back-light uses LEDs instead of CFLs.
- piyush_soni 13y agoProbably not. http://www.androidauthority.com/nexus-5-feature-mems-camera-probably-279222/ http://www.androidauthority.com/nexus-5-feature-mems-camera-...
- zizee 13y agoIs the device actually called the Nexus 5? I have a feeling that people are calling it the Nexus 5, as it is the replacement for the Nexus 4, but that's not how the naming scheme works. Isn't the 4 in Nexus 4 because the screen is 4 inches? Same with the Nexus 7 having a 7 inch screen. When the Nexus 7 replacement came out, it was called the Nexus 7, because it had the same size screen. Does this new device have a 5 inch screen? Pedantic minds need to know!
- zng 13y agoMEMS camera - but no microSD slot.