Nokia PureView Q&A with Damian Dinning

Published by Heidi Lemmetyinen on March 1, 2012

Damian Dinning

BARCELONA, Spain - We’ve had a lot of questions from our readers about the technology in Nokia 808 PureView. We asked our favourite camera expert, Damian Dinning, to provide some answers.

Q: How much full HD video can you record with a full battery without having to recharge? Does it matter whether the phone is offline/online?


A: We have not yet finalised battery performance measurements but our expectation that the amount of shots and video you can record in relation to battery life will be similar to the Nokia N8

Q: What is the longest video clip you can record on a 32Gb memory card with the best possible picture and sound quality?

A: The maximum length single video clip you can record in 1080p @30fps is approximately 27minutes depending on the recorded content. This equates to approximately 150mb per minute of video recorded.

Q: How fast is it to swap memory cards?

A: Swapping memory cards requires removal of the back cover and battery

Q: Can you explain this “oversampling” idea in layman’s terms? How can seven pixels make one?

A: Please see the white paper on the topic. We capture the information you want to keep from the 7 pixels, the detail and filter the information you don’t want, the noise. The results in significantly less noise (in many situations no visual noise at all) whilst retaining industry leading amounts of detail.

Q. Does the camera interface remember your settings from one use to the next? Having to re-set the settings can be annoying.

A. If you are using creative it always returns to exactly where you were as standard.

Q. Why was this introduced in a Symbian phone and not a Lumia?

A. The technology behind the 808 was a five-year development project. We wanted to bring this technology to the market as soon as we could to start delighting people with a passion for high quality pictures and videos.

Q. Will PureView appear in other products, such as Nokia Asha or Nokia Lumia phones in the future?

A. Aspects of this technology will be used in future products yes.

Q. Will it be possible to add a raw format?

A. RAW  in a digital camera is easier to handle as typically images have to pass through a PC, whereas RAW on a smartphone brings a whole host of end to end experience challenges, which result in some kind of compromise in the experience somewhere. We do however provide full resolution images that correspond to the aspect ratio in use as well as a reduced compression setting.

Q. How did you manage to get a phone to do so much processing that it can process 34 megapixels into 1080p/720p/nHD up to 30 times per second?

A. Please see the white paper.

Q. Why does the camera bulge out so much from the back of the phone?

A. This is due to the extremely large sensor and the optics required to match the resolving capability of the super high resolution sensor.

Q. What is the battery capacity on this? If you’re out all day taking photos using this camera, doesn’t it drain the battery?

A. We have not yet finalised battery performance measurements but our expectation that the amount of shots and video you can record in relation to battery life will be similar to the Nokia N8

Q. Is there any Nokia made equipment, tripods etc. that will help make make this phone a perfect filming device?

A. There is a tripod adaptor allowing you to mount the 808 to any tripod, portable USB charger and a dedicated case with a removable cap to protect the camera.

Q. Is the phone made out of polycarbonate?

A. Yes, but with a ceramic-like finish. Other materials used include stainless steel for the buttons and switches and camera bezel and Gorilla glass for lens protection and for the display.

Nokia-808-PureView

Comments

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  • Anonymous

    So much win!

  • Anonymous

    So much win!

  • Anonymous

    So much win!

  • Anonymous

    So much win!

  • Anonymous

    So much win!

  • Anonymous

    So much win!

  • Anonymous

    So much win!

  • Anonymous

    So much win!

  • Anonymous

    So much win!

  • Anonymous

    So much win!

  • Anonymous

    So much win!

  • http://twitter.com/owenzhao Owen Zhao

    Why does Nokia not add support for exfat filesystem so we can record clips larger than 4Gb? It is a piece of cake for Nokia and benifits every comsumer. It is a shame still having the file size issue in a smart phone in 2012.

    • Anonymous

      Even professional videographers only record a few minutes of video at a time.  If you are copying huge vids on then compress them with something like handbrake first.

    • Anonymous

      Even professional videographers only record a few minutes of video at a time.  If you are copying huge vids on then compress them with something like handbrake first.

    • Anonymous

      supposedly there are more taxes/fees/regulations if you record pass a certain point (as you are then classified as a camcorder) that’s supposedly why dslrs also have a limit

      although im not sure about that just basing it off of what i heard on MNB (mynokiablog)

      • Anonymous

        Unless it’s bought in the USA, where this limit does not exist for point and shoot camera phones that offer HD video.  I bought a Lumix ZS-3 a few years ago for this reason; it’s European cousin (TZ-7) had the 4 min limit.

        • Anonymous

           ah that’s interesting to hear

          hopefully nokia brings the phone to North America… although last year they stated for 2012 their plan was Lumia devices only and no more Symbian/Maemo(n9)

    • Anonymous

      supposedly there are more taxes/fees/regulations if you record pass a certain point (as you are then classified as a camcorder) that’s supposedly why dslrs also have a limit

      although im not sure about that just basing it off of what i heard on MNB (mynokiablog)

  • http://twitter.com/owenzhao Owen Zhao

    Why does Nokia not add support for exfat filesystem so we can record clips larger than 4Gb? It is a piece of cake for Nokia and benifits every comsumer. It is a shame still having the file size issue in a smart phone in 2012.

  • http://twitter.com/alvetica Al Pavangkanan

    Can’t wait to buy an 808 Pureview

  • Pingback: Nokia 808 PureView is Polycarbonate with Ceramic finish, stainless steel buttons and gorilla glass screen. : My Nokia Blog

  • Anonymous

    Glad to hear corners weren’t cut on build material when compared with other top of the line Nokia devices

    • Anonymous

       What?

      • Anonymous

         it looked like the 808 was just made like the cheaper nokia phones models and it was a concern nokia cut all corners in putting the phone together (as Elop h8s symbian :P) but the build materials are the same as the n9/lumia 800/900s

      • Anonymous

         it looked like the 808 was just made like the cheaper nokia phones models and it was a concern nokia cut all corners in putting the phone together (as Elop h8s symbian :P) but the build materials are the same as the n9/lumia 800/900s

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_XMKVRHPP7Y5QGLN44UY7HPPOZQ NobleScarlet

    27 mins given 150 MB/min?
    Which means.. only 4,050MB per file can be saved? They still did not manage to go past the 4GB limit? FFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU~

    • Anonymous

       It is a Fat32 limitation, not Nokia’s.

      • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_XMKVRHPP7Y5QGLN44UY7HPPOZQ NobleScarlet

        Yeah, I know. Too bad though…

        I was expecting NTFS because of Microsoft.. Too bad though.. That would’ve made this phone epic! ^^

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_XMKVRHPP7Y5QGLN44UY7HPPOZQ NobleScarlet

    27 mins given 150 MB/min?
    Which means.. only 4,050MB per file can be saved? They still did not manage to go past the 4GB limit? FFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU~

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  • Ashutosh Sharma

    Hi Nokia, I have one request, It is a great product – that is for sure, but please give it a larger battery – Like the one used in Lumia 900(1830 mAH). It is understood that Symbian is not that much resource hungry, but having more juice always helps..

    • Anonymous

      It’s removable…unlike the larger battery on the Lumia 900.

      • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_XMKVRHPP7Y5QGLN44UY7HPPOZQ NobleScarlet

         yeah, but still. a larger (capacity) one is always better. :)

        • Damian Dinning

          But that would make the product bigger, some may accept that but I suspect most would not. We wanted to provide extremely competive power consmption whilst also providing a device whihc ix extremely comfortable in the hand.

          The 808 does have a removable battery and we have portable battery chargers too, so you can charge even when away from a mains power supply. As for battery development in some of the other posts we are ALWAYS working with our partners in this area but development is limited by the laws of physics and chemistry capability and availability.

    • Anonymous

      It’s removable…unlike the larger battery on the Lumia 900.

  • Ashutosh Sharma

    Hi Nokia, I have one request, It is a great product – that is for sure, but please give it a larger battery – Like the one used in Lumia 900(1830 mAH). It is understood that Symbian is not that much resource hungry, but having more juice always helps..

  • Pingback: My Blog » » Nokia 808 PureView is Polycarbonate with Ceramic finish, stainless steel buttons and gorilla glass screen.

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  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_KIEAHRYYECRI7SLP7GZI6LI7TQ IA

    Here are some tips for making a successor of the Nokia 808 PureView (if there ever is one!).

    1) Easily accessible microSD slot on the side of the phone without a need to remove the back cover and battery. Hot-swappable storage during a shooting spree is a good thing.

    2) Gorilla Glass 2: maybe that’ll reduce the overall thickness of the phone by 1-2mm.

    3) Dual SIM. It isn’t just for poor people’s feature phones.

    4) USB 3.0: for faster charging and data transfer speeds.

    5) Camera: Panorama mode and slow-motion video recording (capture the flash of a lightning during a storm).

    6) Port Skype to Symbian. Microsoft was generous enough to port Mail for Exchange to S40… so why not port Skype to Symbian and make better use of the front camera?

    —————

    And this is a rant about batteries. There should be more R&D done on batteries to find a longer-lasting, more cost efficient battery. It’s already the second decade of the 21st century and we are still using Lithium-based batteries. Batteries need to get better, not just bigger. This is even more pertinent if you’re going to adopt Windows, because I doubt Windows is as light on the battery life as Symbian or S40. All manufacturers need to collaborate on this.

    • Anonymous

      do you have any knowledge about engineering economics???  these would double the price of the device…………   you may afford a device by 900-800$  but the most of people do not wanna spend over 400$ ,,,, 

    • Anonymous

      do you have any knowledge about engineering economics???  these would double the price of the device…………   you may afford a device by 900-800$  but the most of people do not wanna spend over 400$ ,,,, 

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_KIEAHRYYECRI7SLP7GZI6LI7TQ IA

    Here are some tips for making a successor of the Nokia 808 PureView (if there ever is one!).

    1) Easily accessible microSD slot on the side of the phone without a need to remove the back cover and battery. Hot-swappable storage during a shooting spree is a good thing.

    2) Gorilla Glass 2: maybe that’ll reduce the overall thickness of the phone by 1-2mm.

    3) Dual SIM. It isn’t just for poor people’s feature phones.

    4) USB 3.0: for faster charging and data transfer speeds.

    5) Camera: Panorama mode and slow-motion video recording (capture the flash of a lightning during a storm).

    6) Port Skype to Symbian. Microsoft was generous enough to port Mail for Exchange to S40… so why not port Skype to Symbian and make better use of the front camera?

    —————

    And this is a rant about batteries. There should be more R&D done on batteries to find a longer-lasting, more cost efficient battery. It’s already the second decade of the 21st century and we are still using Lithium-based batteries. Batteries need to get better, not just bigger. This is even more pertinent if you’re going to adopt Windows, because I doubt Windows is as light on the battery life as Symbian or S40. All manufacturers need to collaborate on this.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_KIEAHRYYECRI7SLP7GZI6LI7TQ IA

    Here are some tips for making a successor of the Nokia 808 PureView (if there ever is one!).

    1) Easily accessible microSD slot on the side of the phone without a need to remove the back cover and battery. Hot-swappable storage during a shooting spree is a good thing.

    2) Gorilla Glass 2: maybe that’ll reduce the overall thickness of the phone by 1-2mm.

    3) Dual SIM. It isn’t just for poor people’s feature phones.

    4) USB 3.0: for faster charging and data transfer speeds.

    5) Camera: Panorama mode and slow-motion video recording (capture the flash of a lightning during a storm).

    6) Port Skype to Symbian. Microsoft was generous enough to port Mail for Exchange to S40… so why not port Skype to Symbian and make better use of the front camera?

    —————

    And this is a rant about batteries. There should be more R&D done on batteries to find a longer-lasting, more cost efficient battery. It’s already the second decade of the 21st century and we are still using Lithium-based batteries. Batteries need to get better, not just bigger. This is even more pertinent if you’re going to adopt Windows, because I doubt Windows is as light on the battery life as Symbian or S40. All manufacturers need to collaborate on this.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_KIEAHRYYECRI7SLP7GZI6LI7TQ IA

    Here are some tips for making a successor of the Nokia 808 PureView (if there ever is one!).

    1) Easily accessible microSD slot on the side of the phone without a need to remove the back cover and battery. Hot-swappable storage during a shooting spree is a good thing.

    2) Gorilla Glass 2: maybe that’ll reduce the overall thickness of the phone by 1-2mm.

    3) Dual SIM. It isn’t just for poor people’s feature phones.

    4) USB 3.0: for faster charging and data transfer speeds.

    5) Camera: Panorama mode and slow-motion video recording (capture the flash of a lightning during a storm).

    6) Port Skype to Symbian. Microsoft was generous enough to port Mail for Exchange to S40… so why not port Skype to Symbian and make better use of the front camera?

    —————

    And this is a rant about batteries. There should be more R&D done on batteries to find a longer-lasting, more cost efficient battery. It’s already the second decade of the 21st century and we are still using Lithium-based batteries. Batteries need to get better, not just bigger. This is even more pertinent if you’re going to adopt Windows, because I doubt Windows is as light on the battery life as Symbian or S40. All manufacturers need to collaborate on this.

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  • http://www.facebook.com/scsidan Danie Du Toit

    I really wish, for the well being of Nokia, you would reinvest in the symbian/meego platforms. I’m not saying to kill of the windows phone as a nokia os, but like many other handset manu’s keep your options open.

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  • Anonymous

    Congratulations to Nokia, Damien and your entire team. Congratulations also for choosing name PureView. Great work indeed.

    When you released N9, it brought a lot of improvements in software like autofocus in video, cleaner UI etc. Most of it eventually came in through various camera software updates and later through Belle.

    Do you have similar plans to give us N8 users the technology you have developed for PureView? or is already using similar oversampling technique while capturing lower resolution photograph?

    Also, it would be good idea to include 1920×1080 still mode (in future camera updaes for N8) as that is most commonly used resolution to view the pics.

    Thank you!

  • Anonymous

    Please reconsider Nokia… just make RAW an option. Those who want it will be able to process it, you should not worry about that. It’s the reason why I only buy Canon point & shoots, because there I can use a hacked firmware that will give me RAW.

    The only (big) problem with this is that 41 MP RAW files are obviously huge.

    Also, please consider making this exact phone, with WP7. (And a higher res screen, of course). Not just using “some technologies” in WP7 phones. This camera module, as it is, in a proper WP7 device.

    • Damian Dinning

      These are the primary challenges with RAW support.

       

      1. This is a smartphone, you therefore need to have JPEG and RAW capture.
      Apart from the very large RAW file which takes longer to save you also need to
      capture a second different image the 16:9 or 4:3 crop. The impact to shot to shot performance is
      considerable given the resolution.

       

      2. Due to our sensor configuration, a full 41MP image would have dark corners
      as the corners of the sensor extends beyond the optical circle. In the
      34/38MP images you don’t see this but in the full frame RAW you would. This
      would no doubt (whilst some may accept it)  create complaints/suggestion
      something is wrong despite it being designed this way.

       

      In addition to these two principle reasons there are a number of other
      technical challenges which require a completely new architecture. If this was just a camera it would not be an issue but
      given you need to be able to share files etc there are a number of usability
      challenges which are not so obvious on the surface. For some these may not be an issue, but we also need to consider a variety of different capabilities and experience levels.
       

    • Damian Dinning

      These are the primary challenges with RAW support.

       

      1. This is a smartphone, you therefore need to have JPEG and RAW capture.
      Apart from the very large RAW file which takes longer to save you also need to
      capture a second different image the 16:9 or 4:3 crop. The impact to shot to shot performance is
      considerable given the resolution.

       

      2. Due to our sensor configuration, a full 41MP image would have dark corners
      as the corners of the sensor extends beyond the optical circle. In the
      34/38MP images you don’t see this but in the full frame RAW you would. This
      would no doubt (whilst some may accept it)  create complaints/suggestion
      something is wrong despite it being designed this way.

       

      In addition to these two principle reasons there are a number of other
      technical challenges which require a completely new architecture. If this was just a camera it would not be an issue but
      given you need to be able to share files etc there are a number of usability
      challenges which are not so obvious on the surface. For some these may not be an issue, but we also need to consider a variety of different capabilities and experience levels.
       

      • Anonymous

        Perhaps have it something like in the N9 which had a developer mode – have a software toggle buried deep in the settings to enable RAW with an associated warning. Sounds like a better way than leaving off RAW support altogether. 

  • Anonymous

    Please reconsider Nokia… just make RAW an option. Those who want it will be able to process it, you should not worry about that. It’s the reason why I only buy Canon point & shoots, because there I can use a hacked firmware that will give me RAW.

    The only (big) problem with this is that 41 MP RAW files are obviously huge.

    Also, please consider making this exact phone, with WP7. (And a higher res screen, of course). Not just using “some technologies” in WP7 phones. This camera module, as it is, in a proper WP7 device.

  • Anonymous

    Please reconsider Nokia… just make RAW an option. Those who want it will be able to process it, you should not worry about that. It’s the reason why I only buy Canon point & shoots, because there I can use a hacked firmware that will give me RAW.

    The only (big) problem with this is that 41 MP RAW files are obviously huge.

    Also, please consider making this exact phone, with WP7. (And a higher res screen, of course). Not just using “some technologies” in WP7 phones. This camera module, as it is, in a proper WP7 device.

  • Anonymous

    Please reconsider Nokia… just make RAW an option. Those who want it will be able to process it, you should not worry about that. It’s the reason why I only buy Canon point & shoots, because there I can use a hacked firmware that will give me RAW.

    The only (big) problem with this is that 41 MP RAW files are obviously huge.

    Also, please consider making this exact phone, with WP7. (And a higher res screen, of course). Not just using “some technologies” in WP7 phones. This camera module, as it is, in a proper WP7 device.

  • Anonymous

     I have a question about the depth of field (bokeh effect) on the 808.

    Is this effect only possible when subject is very close to lens or is it possible to shoot say a head and shoulder style portrait and throw the background out of focus?

    also, can you achieve the same effect when shooting video?

    Now that would be quite something!

    Many thanks!

  • http://www.facebook.com/szczurek Mateusz Szczurek

    Damian, could you please elaborate on the new video camera
    options compared to N8. You write about 24, 25, 30fps (I hope you mean 23.976 and 29.97), and heard about manual ND filter (now THAT’s really nice).
    What about manual white balance, exposure and focus lock? With sensor that big, focus errors might start to be an issue for filmmaking. Any hope for contrast/saturation profiles?

    Could you also tell if rolling shutter has been a major challenge. That used to be a big problem in N95, less so in n8. (CMOS scanning speed?).

    I hope you manage to release the phone before July – I’m going
    cycling in Tajikistan and for once it would be nice not to drag EOS 5D with me.

  • http://www.facebook.com/szczurek Mateusz Szczurek

    Damian, could you please elaborate on the new video camera
    options compared to N8. You write about 24, 25, 30fps (I hope you mean 23.976 and 29.97), and heard about manual ND filter (now THAT’s really nice).
    What about manual white balance, exposure and focus lock? With sensor that big, focus errors might start to be an issue for filmmaking. Any hope for contrast/saturation profiles?

    Could you also tell if rolling shutter has been a major challenge. That used to be a big problem in N95, less so in n8. (CMOS scanning speed?).

    I hope you manage to release the phone before July – I’m going
    cycling in Tajikistan and for once it would be nice not to drag EOS 5D with me.

  • Samarth Singh

    I did not like the removal system of memory card… It was better in the N8: enter file manager, chose “remove” and remove the card.

    And battery being removable is ok-ok. “Doesn’t matter much” kind of opinion. But maybe other owners did complain about it, I think.
    But being an N8 successor, you should’ve ensured maximum similarities with N8 (actually there are a lot but the memory card hotswap?!).

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  • http://www.facebook.com/akay.parkar A-kay Parkar

    Is the camera lens protected by Gorilla Glass? Like it was on n8..

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  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1657462646 Raphael Marcel R. Ocampo

    how about free video call using skype or yahoo messenger? is it compatible….if yes hows the battery life??  movies connecting to tv via hdmi… good? 

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