“The breakthrough is a different type of sensor that captures what are known as light fields, basically all the light that is moving in all directions in the view of the camera. That offers several advantages over traditional photography, the most revolutionary of which is that photos no longer need to be focused before they are taken.”
Anyone who has tried to take a photo in very low light conditions using the iPhone 4’s LED flash is familiar with this issue: the photos come out with a yellow tint.
The Apple discussion forums are abuzz with posts on the issue, with most users suspecting a white balance problem.
Yesterday, the excellent Camera+ app received an update allowing, amongst other things, for the LED to be left on continuously when taking photos. The results? Perfectly white balanced images, without a trace of yellow.
So what gives? Well, I have a theory: the issue with the LED is not one of white balance, but of timing. In very low light situations, the iPhone 4’s camera shutter needs to remain open for longer in order to capture the shot. For some reason however, the LED flash appears to turn off just before the shutter closes, possibly casting a yellow tint over the image as it cools down - or in any case throwing the camera’s white balance out of whack.
As Camera+ demonstrates, if the LED flash is kept on before, during and after the photo is taken, the camera captures a perfect image.
What this suggests is that Apple should be able to fix the problem in software, simply by keeping the flash on just a fraction of a second longer. Until then, Camera+’s solution, while a potential battery killer, provides a neat little workaround for shooting in low light situations.
Love that miniature effect in your photos? Got two and a half thousand euros lying around? Them Canon’s latest tilt-shift lenses might be for you. One regular, one fisheye. Both very, very pricey.
On the other had you could convincingly fake the tilt-shift effect using this photoshop tutorial, but the knowledge of your deception may make you feel all dirty inside.
Reviewing technology with an occasional sprinkling of art and humour.
