For any photographer who can remember when smartphone cameras produced low-res, fairly pixelated images that were small in both size and quality, the launch of the Honor View20 - a smartphone boasting a 48-megapixel camera - will be simply mind-blowing.
Honor previewed the phone ahead of its official launch. Image from Honor
Honor explained that the smartphone is capable of that ultra high-resolution thanks to a Sony IMX586 sensor, which is paired with a Kirin 980 processor engine to set new standard in smartphone photography. Along with the 48-MP rear camera, the Honor View20 will also feature a ‘world-first, in-screen front camera design, achieved by an extremely complex 18-layer technology stack that carefully embeds the front camera in the display area of the screen’. Although the Honor View20 has been previewed, it will be officially launched on December 26 when hopefully more details about specs and pricing will be forthcoming.
A collection of images taken by Cheng Yanan using the Honor View20 were shared on the Honor website.
The launch however seems to have kickstarted a new age of high-megapixel smartphone cameras and Xaomi also hit the headlines this week when the brand’s co-founder and president shared an image on social media platform Weibo that showed what looks like a smartphone, emblazoned with ‘48MP’. Other sites reported that the device will be here soon, perhaps in January 2019.
Xaomi may not be as well known in Europe as Samsung or Apple, but the successful brand already boasts a number of smartphones that photographers should take note of, including the Mi 8 Pro, which features a cameras that netted over 100 points from its DxO test and the Poco, which features a 20-megapixel front camera.
Xaomi already offers some excellent high-resolution smartphones.
As we’re seeing in the DSLR and full-frame mirrorless market, the megapixel wars seem to be well and truly back on as sensor technology reaches new heights and this is proving to be the same deal for smartphones. What do you think about smartphones featuring big-megapixel sensors - will a smartphone ever replace your DSLR?
. digitalrev.com2018-12-13 03:00