Thursday 9 January 2014

Apple"s iPhone 6 camera could rival digital SLRs after firm buys professional ...


  • SnappyCam adds professional photography features to smartphones

  • This includes ‘burst mode,’ that lets users take multiple images in one go

  • Apple added many of SnappyCam’s tools to the camera in its iPhone 5S

  • Firm has now bought the 69p iOS app for an undisclosed amount


By

Victoria Woollaston



10:09, 6 January 2014


|


12:04, 6 January 2014



Apple proved a smartphone camera can rival some of the features of professional devices when it released its iPhone 5S, and now the firm has taken a step further by acquiring photography app SnappyCam.  


Reports claim the Californian-tech giant bought the popular, high-end photography app over the new year, but the cost of the deal has not yet been announced.


The 69p app, which has since been removed from the app store, features a professional ‘burst mode’ and up to six times zoom.


Reports claim Apple has bought the popular, high-end photography app SnappyCam for an undisclosed amount. The 69p app, which has since been removed from the app store, features a professional


Reports claim Apple has bought the popular, high-end photography app SnappyCam for an undisclosed amount. The 69p app, which has since been removed from the app store, features a professional ‘burst mode’ and up to six times zoom




APPLE WINS PATENT FOR 3D IMAGES


An Apple patent filed in November detailed a system capable of capturing low-resolution images that can be refocused even after they’ve been taken and processed.


It would do this by capturing the whole light field of an image, similar to the technology seen in Lytro cameras, meaning the shots appear in 3D rather than 2D.


According to patent papers,

which were originally filed in 2011, photographers could take an image

and change the main area of focus numerous times to produce different

shots.


These images would be taken through what’s called a microlens array.


According

to Apple’s patent, this array would be detachable and could be removed

when the user wanted to take a traditional high-resolution photo.


Burst mode lets users take multiple photos in one take and then select the best image.


It’s predominantly used in professional photography to capture action shots in sport, for example.


However, since the likes of Samsung and Apple have introduced the feature in their latest handsets, it is becoming more popular among amateur photographers.


Apple added burst mode to its iSight camera with the release of its iPhone 5S last year. It can capture 10 photos per second.


By comparison, SnappyCam’s burst mode can capture 20 photos per second. This is because it captures between 20 and 30 frames per second, and in certain models of phone is said to be capable of up to 60 frames per second.


SnappyCam also captures these images at a full resolution of 8-megapixels.


Elsewhere, Apple’s iPhone 5S zoom is only half the capability of SnappyCam’s. 


Apple


Apple’s vice president of worldwide marketing Philip Schiller, pictured, unveiled the improved iSight camera of the iPhone 5S last year. Apple added burst mode to this camera, which captures 10 photos per second. By comparison, SnappyCam’s burst mode can capture 20 photos per second



SnappyCam, pictured, topped the Apple


SnappyCam, pictured, topped the Apple’s App Store list in 16 countries during 2013



Samsung’s S4 shoots up 20 pictures continuously at full-sensor resolution, but each photo is taken at 0.1333 seconds apart, according to SnappyCam, which averages out at 7.5 photos per second.


By acquiring SnappyCam, Apple may be looking to add the app’s super-fast and professional features to future models of its iPhone and iPad.


The acquisition could also improve Apple’s video recording capabilities.


It added slow-motion video to its iPhone 5S that  records at 120 frames per second and SnappyCam could help improve the quality of this, too.


In a statement, an Apple spokeswoman said: ‘Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans.’


SnappyCam topped the Apple’s App Store list in 16 countries during 2013 and is run by its founder John Papandriopoulos.



 






Comments (90)


Share what you think



The comments below have not been moderated.





Ishkandar,


London,


2 days ago


I want to take good pictures, I use a proper camera with optical zoom lenses (note, changeable, multiple lenses), not a dinky toy with pixel enhancements !!! Then again, how many professional photographers do you see using an Apple device to take professional-level photos ?? It’s mostly fanbois and their my-device-is-better-than-your-device that go for such silliness !





Andrew,


London, United Kingdom,


2 days ago


Hmmmmmm………. do the maths……typically, an 8MP photo comes out at over 2MB. 60 shots a second suggests that the phone can process and write over 100MB/S to it’s memory. Does anybody seriously believe that is possible?






the minority have,


the biggest say, United Kingdom,


2 days ago


Yeah ok DM a camera phone and a 69p app rivaling a Dslr.. what have you been smoking? next you will be telling me the ioverhypedphone will rival the Pentax 645D….a camera phone will never match the performance basic Dslr





maddog_uk,


Banbury,


2 days ago


Boring….Apple copy from other manufacturers as usual. The Nokia Lumia 1020 already has a 41mp camera. A samsung S4 takes 13mp burst shots….so where’s the story !!!

Iphones are well designed but are way behind on technology. I see there’s also a story about the new screen for iphone…whoppeeee. The S4 already has ‘wave’ where you don’t need to touch the screen.





honi soit qui mal y pense,


Avalon,


2 days ago


I had Burst Mode on my Sony phone five years ago DM ! It’s nothing new but is ideally suited to a phone application. How it’s taken Apple this long I find incredible and just to keep my comment balanced I have an iPhone 4S.


- cologne2792, Axminster, United Kingdom, 06/01/2014 17:07


…and I’ve got a Porsche Turbo!





Rick,


Lincoln, United Kingdom,


2 days ago


seriosuly what would you rather get to take pictures like a SLR camera, pay apple over £500 for a phone or get a decent SLR camera for half that price that will give better pictures






ddwindy,


London,


2 days ago


Paul, Bilbao, 59 minutes ago

Mirrorless camera fone with a good micro zoom lens and full frame sensor, Sony is the leader in this field with their new Sony A7 camera, this technology will find it´s way into smartfones for the biggest advance in fone camera tech. As previously commented digi zoom is no zoom, only partial enhancement with great loss of definition pixels.


———————————- the biggest problem will be that you are left with a Sony Phone at the end of it though!!!





Paul,


Bilbao,


2 days ago


Mirrorless camera fone with a good micro zoom lens and full frame sensor, Sony is the leader in this field with their new Sony A7 camera, this technology will find it´s way into smartfones for the biggest advance in fone camera tech. As previously commented digi zoom is no zoom, only partial enhancement with great loss of definition pixels.





Evil NP,


HK, Hong Kong,


2 days ago


Maybe for your everyday user this would be a better choice than spending money on a DSLR, but as someone whos into photography, a smartphone with its crappy lenses and crappy software is in no way going to replace a DSLR with even just average glass attached…





Matt1983,


London, UK,


2 days ago


I’m sure the Apple fanboys will eat up that headline. The rest of us, not so much.


- txag, USA, United States, 06.01.14 15:36======== Apple fans don’t care, it’s the Apple haters with the inferiority complex…



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