Cell phone cameras have undoubtedly advanced to levels that make them legitimate photographic instruments in the right circumstances. ASUS is continuing to push the envelope with their new Zenfone AR, which can shoot massive 92-megapixel photos.
Unveiled at CES 2017, the Zenfone AR is a powerhouse built for augmented reality, but with that comes some fairly impressive photographic capabilities. The phone contains four cameras: a standard front-facing camera and three on the back. The three on the back include a 23-megapixel camera, a second for motion tracking, and a third for depth sensing, allowing the phone to create three-dimensional models of its environment. Coupled with Tango and Google Daydream, it should be a lot of fun for AR and VR enthusiasts.
Perhaps more interestingly for photographers, however, are the complete camera specifications:
- 23 MP sensor
- f/2.0 lens
- 0.03 s laser and phase detection autofocus
- 5 cm minimum focusing distance
- Optical (4 stops) and electronic image stabilization
- 4K video
- 92 MP "Super Resolution" mode
While it's not clear how the Super Resolution mode works, whether that be through sensor-shifting or some other means, it'll be interesting to see files from the camera. The phone also features a 2560x1440 5.7-inch Super AMOLED display, a Snapdragon 821 CPU with advanced cooling, coupled with an Adreno 530 GPU and 8 GB of RAM. Altogether, the Zenfone AR could be an interesting choice for photographers looking for a capable cameraphone.
ASUS Engineers: (To CEO) Sir, we're finalizing the design on our latest smartphone and wanted to know your thoughts.
CEO: (Takes paper, glances at specs. Slowly nods head and places glasses back on desk). We need more megapixels.
ASUS Engineers:... Alright, but how many-
CEO: All of them. All the megapixels.
LOL
A month later: "The users love it, but the complaint is: 'I took three photos and ran out of storage.'"
Just download more RAM
I'm still laughing at this. lol
Looks pretty cool
megapixels do not = great quality.
plain and simple, it's still a tiny tiny lens and a tiny tiny smartphone sensor.
Doesnt mean it cant take nice photos on the run though, smart phone cameras become more powerful with every new phone release. Just don't get blinded by the numbers game.
probably sensor shift.. 4 x 23 = 92
this would at most help bayer demosaicing, though
There is already an App, called Hydra, in the App Store which combines multiple shots to achive a high megapixel photo. It does this be taking a burst of photographs as you hand hold your phone and combining them into a high res image. So it is probably a similar method.
Looks like i'll be holding off on the Samsung S7 Edge upgrade. After enjoying the Nokia Lumia 1020, this looks like the next step up. The Lumia lacked the Android system and this solves it!
Now we can all print out photos the size of Peter Lik's
do we know at what bit rate it shoots in 4K?
Not at the moment, unfortunately!
darn if you know keep us updated. great story Alex
Screw the camera I like that it has a cooling system.