Camera details

jeffreii

CrackBerry Convert
Apr 20, 2012
798
53
0
Visit site
I hadn't seen this stuff mentioned anywhere until I read the anandtech preview:
AnandTech - The Samsung Galaxy S III Preview

Camera

The next big part of SGS3 is camera. The device bumps up the front facing camera to 1.9 MP with BSI (previously FSI), and keeps the rear facing camera at 8 MP but includes a new sensor. With Francois' help, I ran voodoo report on the SGS3 and we've obtained a lot of information, including the rear camera CMOS, which is an as of yet unannounced S5C73M3 8 MP BSI sensor. Without getting more information, I can't tell you pixel pitch or optical format, but it's clearly a latest and greatest CMOS that Samsung hasn't even made directly public yet.

I took sample photos and a video on the SGS3 and was able to get them to myself - via EXIF data the system is F/2.6, with a focal length of 3.7mm. Obviously on paper that isn't as fast of an aperture as many others are shipping, and I wager that's why it wasn't highlighted in the presentation. The photos I got off aren't particularly great, however the room was indeed dark and hazy with the smoke machines Samsung had going. Samsung also includes a native HDR mode for SGS3, in addition to enabling 3FPS continuous and instant capture modes, and extremely fast camera launch times.

Video is sort of the same story - it's hard to judge quality based on just a short time with a camera in a very dimly lit room with a purple overhead lights (yay white balance nightmare) and demo software. That said, the SGS3 is using among the best encode parameters I've seen on a smartphone to date - 17 Mbps H.264 high profile with CABAC.

I've uploaded the video sample file to the AT servers for you to download. Again I'm reserving judgement until we get final software and something of a more realistic environment to shoot video in, but at least Exynos 4 Quad has a beefy encoder.