Damian Dinning Discusses the 808 PureView Pro approach v the Lumia 1020: Intro (part 1 of 3) ...
Damian Dinning is currently Senior Product Manager for 'Connected Car' at Jaguar Land Rover in the UK. Until last November he was Nokia's long-time imaging chief. His imaging team at Nokia brought the landmark (Symbian) Accenture Belle 808 PureView Pro and the PureView II Lumia 920 with OIS to market.
Damian provided the PureViewClub with the following thoughts on the Lumia 1020 which his team was developing when he left Nokia to join Jaguar so he wouln't have to relocate his family to Finland. He notes:
In case you’re wondering, I’m posting this because I wanted to, not because anyone at Nokia asked me to or any other conspiracy theory your imagination may conjure up ;)
Damian comments on things that could and probably will be be improved in Lumia software since the overall platform is much more receptive from a software rather than firmware perspective to that than it would have been in the 808 PureView Pro. It's now simply a great platform for future imaging software development and tuning.
>> Damian Dinning’s feedback on the Lumia 1020
Marc Wielaert
The PureViewClub
17 September 2013
pureviewclub.com
It’s relatively easy to see how ambitious the development of the original Nokia 808 PureView was. A super-large 41mp sensor, in a phone!? Reportedly so mad in fact that tech bloggers didn’t run with leaks they received apparently, because they considered such rumours of a 41mp phone as so far beyond belief it was a story without any form of credibility!
I fondly remember some of the initial reactions. Perhaps my favourite being that of a CEO of a well-known far-east based company who visited the Nokia booth immediately after the announcement at MWC. After taking a few minutes to carefully study the performance he then slammed the device down on the counter, uttered an expletive term (I won’t mention here on Marc’s site) and then promptly stormed off with his entourage trailing behind him!
When it came to considering development of its follower, the team were certainly not short of ambition either. They knew it would need to be thinner given the trend for thinness [at times, a somewhat ridiculous infatuation] in the industry, but also knew that there would be a natural expectation for it to also be ‘better’. Added to this, the knowledge that the Lumia 920 would be entering the market before and with OIS, would naturally lead to the expectation that OIS would also be included in this follow-on product.
In summary, the team would need to deliver a slimmer product with the design language that has become a Lumia trademark, which would therefore dictate a smaller camera module, yet one which would meet or exceed the cumulative expectations set by both the Lumia 920 and 808 PureView – so no small task!
I was privileged to have been involved in the initial concept creation for the Lumia 1020. Initially, I had in mind the camera being integrated into the overall product design more along the lines of the 920. This was based on my view at the time that these are smartphones which are ever evolving to also include fantastic cameras, but are NOT cameras. An important distinction to me at the time.
However, over the years I’ve learnt that it’s important to also remain open minded for as long as possible, before reaching a conclusion.
The original models, often referred to as wax models, have little/no colour and can be quite rough in texture because of the way they are ‘printed’. As a consequence they really focus your consideration of the concept on form and size more than anything else. Initially I was sceptical whether this proposed design direction was appropriate, given it was placing so much emphasis on the camera by employing some strong traditional camera design overtones.
Before concluding the direction, models were commissioned with a far higher quality finish in a variety of principle proposed colours. A number of select individuals got to view these before I had had the opportunity myself. Following those reviews I had heard reports of those that had seen them describing the design of one of the models design intent as ‘iconic’.
It was a few days before I had the opportunity to see for myself what others had already seen. These models are ridiculously expensive and are therefore wrapped in soft cloths and transited in individual custom made boxes to perfectly fit their specific form to ensure they are fully protected as they go on their travels. In some cases I’ve even known them handled with white cotton gloves as the decals can be extremely fragile.
I clearly remember my eyes lighting up as the product manager carefully removed one of the models finished in yellow from its protective hiding place. I instantly knew I had to have one… and in yellow!
When Nokia kindly sent me a yellow Lumia 1020 recently I was as blown away by the form and the colour as I was all those many months ago. For me, the black is too understated given what’s within, and the white is fast becoming the new silver, kinda boring.
Despite my departure from Nokia I’ve had a number of people asking for my view on the Lumia 1020, especially compared to the previous benchmark, the 808 PureView. I can imagine this site has a lot of followers who want to be reassured in one way or the other: either my current 808 is better than the 1020 and therefore will continue to be happy in the knowledge it’s still the best, or that the 1020 would be a worthy investment.
In case you’re wondering, I’m posting this because I wanted to, not because anyone at Nokia asked me to or any other conspiracy theory your imagination may conjure up ;)
I’m going to comment principally on image and video quality, but before I do I just wanted to comment on the excellent work Nokia has done around the ‘Pro Cam’ lens, my personal view is that this is a real benchmark camera interface.
I’m a big believer in attention to detail. For example the rotating user interaction elements as you change the device orientation, the little clicks you hear as you slide the rings from one setting to another, not to mention the the additional controls such as shutter speed (along with guidance if the settings aren’t going to potentially workout and the live updating of the ISO as you change the shutter speed) as well as manual focus.
The tutorial feature also deserves high praise. That’s a benchmark right there, love the interactive element and being able to see real results change as you flick through the settings, fabulous!
I also like the ability to reset all settings by sliding out the on-screen shutter key. Although, personally I’d like this to reset to my default settings rather than a Nokia decided default.
This is a great platform experience for further development. I therefore couldn’t resist the temptation to share some thoughts on future development possibilities with my old friends at Nokia, which I’ve already done :-)
As a quick summary before getting into detail, I generally like the results from the 1020. Having said that, some additional options would accommodate a wider range of users’ preferences. With this in mind, read on (in the post that follows) ...
Continued: Part 2 of 3 follows in next post.
- Eric - |
