Smartphones doing it again?

[thenoilif]

A common rebuttal to smart cameras eventually replacing ILCs is the physics behind the glass lens.

Well, what if you forgo the glass all together?

Huawei has patented a liquid lens mount and rumor has it that it will appear in soon in one of their phones.

https://www.huaweicentral.com/liquid-lens-next-big-camera-tech-to-come-with-p50-series/

So no more changing out of lenses and with one single liquid lens, you can have the full range of aperture and focal lengths with instantaneous AF capability by just sending an electrical current to the solution.

Amazing.

 

[mamallama]

A common rebuttal to smart cameras eventually replacing ILCs is the physics behind the glass lens.

Well, what if you forgo the glass all together?

Huawei has patented a liquid lens mount and rumor has it that it will appear in soon in one of their phones.

https://www.huaweicentral.com/liquid-lens-next-big-camera-tech-to-come-with-p50-series/

So no more changing out of lenses and with one single liquid lens, you can have the full range of aperture and focal lengths with instantaneous AF capability by just sending an electrical current to the solution.

Amazing.

I heard Apple was working on the same concept - sort of a gel lens.

 

[Ron Poelman]

then we'll talk flexible lenses; a concept which no mainstream camera manufacturer of the last 100 years never thought of at all, apparently. :-O

 

[Lee Jay]

So no more changing out of lenses and with one single liquid lens, you can have the full range of aperture and focal lengths with instantaneous AF capability by just sending an electrical current to the solution.

Amazing.

It would be amazing, hence why it's been talked about for decades. Unfortunately the article you linked to said nothing of the sort.

 

[mamallama]

then we'll talk flexible lenses; a concept which no mainstream camera manufacturer of the last 100 years never thought of at all, apparently. :-O

They may have thought of it , but only recently has the technology to pull it off been available.

 

[thenoilif]

So no more changing out of lenses and with one single liquid lens, you can have the full range of aperture and focal lengths with instantaneous AF capability by just sending an electrical current to the solution.

Amazing.

It would be amazing, hence why it's been talked about for decades. Unfortunately the article you linked to said nothing of the sort.

The lens already exists.

https://www.epo.org/news-events/events/european-inventor/finalists/2013/berge/feature.html

And Huawei has a patent for a mount so seems to be on the way.

 

[thenoilif]

then we'll talk flexible lenses; a concept which no mainstream camera manufacturer of the last 100 years never thought of at all, apparently. :-O

They didnt think of Instagram either and that has destroyed their industry. Let's face it, the ILC camera makers aren't exactly the most forward-thinking.

 

[davidedric]

A common rebuttal to smart cameras eventually replacing ILCs is the physics behind the glass lens.

Well, what if you forgo the glass all together?

Huawei has patented a liquid lens mount and rumor has it that it will appear in soon in one of their phones.

https://www.huaweicentral.com/liquid-lens-next-big-camera-tech-to-come-with-p50-series/

So no more changing out of lenses and with one single liquid lens, you can have the full range of aperture and focal lengths with instantaneous AF capability by just sending an electrical current to the solution.

Amazing.

We've all got (or had!) two of them. The problem is that they need the human brain to make sense of what they see.

 

[Donald B]

So no more changing out of lenses and with one single liquid lens, you can have the full range of aperture and focal lengths with instantaneous AF capability by just sending an electrical current to the solution.

Amazing.

It would be amazing, hence why it's been talked about for decades. Unfortunately the article you linked to said nothing of the sort.

The lens already exists.

https://www.epo.org/news-events/events/european-inventor/finalists/2013/berge/feature.html

And Huawei has a patent for a mount so seems to be on the way.

amazing ;-) so why do we need 15 optical lens elements crammed into a single lens ? when 1 would do ;-)

Don

 

[Lee Jay]

So no more changing out of lenses and with one single liquid lens, you can have the full range of aperture and focal lengths with instantaneous AF capability by just sending an electrical current to the solution.

Amazing.

It would be amazing, hence why it's been talked about for decades. Unfortunately the article you linked to said nothing of the sort.

The lens already exists.

https://www.epo.org/news-events/events/european-inventor/finalists/2013/berge/feature.html

Which also has nothing to do with the link you provided in the OP

And Huawei has a patent for a mount so seems to be on the way.

I'll believe it when I see it.

Even if it did exist it couldn't replace all the lenses I have for my SLR. Too small.

 

[thenoilif]

So no more changing out of lenses and with one single liquid lens, you can have the full range of aperture and focal lengths with instantaneous AF capability by just sending an electrical current to the solution.

Amazing.

It would be amazing, hence why it's been talked about for decades. Unfortunately the article you linked to said nothing of the sort.

The lens already exists.

https://www.epo.org/news-events/events/european-inventor/finalists/2013/berge/feature.html

And Huawei has a patent for a mount so seems to be on the way.

amazing ;-) so why do we need 15 optical lens elements crammed into a single lens ? when 1 would do ;-)

Don

Most people don't.

Also, because of the way glass is made. Water can be made much clearer than glass and for a fraction of the cost.

 

[Klaus dk]

As we now see film photography becoming the latest trend, we'll see our ILC cameras come back into fashion a few decades from now, so we're already ahead of the curve.

Lets not forget that we accquire our photographic devices for making pictures, not to impress others.

Good luck and good light.

 

[robgendreau]

So no more changing out of lenses and with one single liquid lens, you can have the full range of aperture and focal lengths with instantaneous AF capability by just sending an electrical current to the solution.

Amazing.

It would be amazing, hence why it's been talked about for decades. Unfortunately the article you linked to said nothing of the sort.

The lens already exists.

https://www.epo.org/news-events/events/european-inventor/finalists/2013/berge/feature.html

Which also has nothing to do with the link you provided in the OP

And Huawei has a patent for a mount so seems to be on the way.

I'll believe it when I see it.

Even if it did exist it couldn't replace all the lenses I have for my SLR. Too small.

Then seeing is believing: https://www.edmundoptics.com/knowledge-center/application-notes/imaging/liquid-lenses-in-imaging/

They've been used in technical and scientific equipment for a while. I think the problem is that they are small, and hence less effective with larger sensors. Not sure what size the equipment is in the link, but probably no bigger than cell phone size. And I didn't check, but of course cost of production is another factor.

So dunno if we'll be mounting aquariums up front any time soon on our DSLRs.

 

[Smaug01]

I won't be buying anything Huawei knowingly though. I don't like their business practices.

 

[Lee Jay]

So no more changing out of lenses and with one single liquid lens, you can have the full range of aperture and focal lengths with instantaneous AF capability by just sending an electrical current to the solution.

Amazing.

It would be amazing, hence why it's been talked about for decades. Unfortunately the article you linked to said nothing of the sort.

The lens already exists.

https://www.epo.org/news-events/events/european-inventor/finalists/2013/berge/feature.html

Which also has nothing to do with the link you provided in the OP

And Huawei has a patent for a mount so seems to be on the way.

I'll believe it when I see it.

Even if it did exist it couldn't replace all the lenses I have for my SLR. Too small.

Then seeing is believing: https://www.edmundoptics.com/knowledge-center/application-notes/imaging/liquid-lenses-in-imaging/

That's fixed-focal length, fixed-aperture. Look what was said above, "you can have the full range of aperture and focal lengths with instantaneous AF capability by just sending an electrical current to the solution." We don't have that.

 

[The Davinator]

A common rebuttal to smart cameras eventually replacing ILCs is the physics behind the glass lens.

Well, what if you forgo the glass all together?

Huawei has patented a liquid lens mount and rumor has it that it will appear in soon in one of their phones.

https://www.huaweicentral.com/liquid-lens-next-big-camera-tech-to-come-with-p50-series/

So no more changing out of lenses and with one single liquid lens, you can have the full range of aperture and focal lengths with instantaneous AF capability by just sending an electrical current to the solution.

Amazing.

Still simply trying to address quality issues that don’t exist with dedicated cameras. The best lens in front of inferior sensors will still provide inferior results. For day to day snaps in good light, they are adequate for the needs of the undiscerning. The second the light drops, or quality output is needed, it still fails.

Liquid lenses as a concept like this have been around for decades...but the quality still will never match a highly corrected multiple element lens matched with a vastly superior sensor in an ILC.

 

[mfinley]

Uh oh, no more going out in freezing weather?

 

[sybersitizen]

... with one single liquid lens, you can have the full range of aperture and focal lengths with instantaneous AF capability by just sending an electrical current to the solution.

We know about liquid lenses, and we know they can provide fast AF.

Show us any link stating that one single liquid lens can supply 'the full range of aperture and focal lengths' (whatever that's supposed to mean).

 

[jimhughes]

The smartphone makers can throw truly cosmic amounts of money at camera development. Although I don't think a do-it-all lens smaller than a raindrop is coming this year, more big technology advances are no doubt on the way.

My take on this is that for images to be seen as "photography" they need to look 'intentional', as though some thought and effort went into them. The future of photography can't be just better gear producing better image quality.

I recently wrote a blog post expanding on this idea, if anyone finds it interesting.

https://jimhphoto.com/index.php/2020/02/29/not-taken-by-a-phone/

--
www.jimhphoto.com

 

[mamallama]

The smartphone makers can throw truly cosmic amounts of money at camera development. Although I don't think a do-it-all lens smaller than a raindrop is coming this year, more big technology advances are no doubt on the way.

My take on this is that for images to be seen as "photography" they need to look 'intentional', as though some thought and effort went into them. The future of photography can't be just better gear producing better image quality.

Why do you think the future of photography might be any different from photography past in regards to looking intentional?

I recently wrote a blog post expanding on this idea, if anyone finds it interesting.

https://jimhphoto.com/index.php/2020/02/29/not-taken-by-a-phone/