More on the Nokia Lumia 920 Pureview Camera, Lens Stabilization

By George Ponder
last updated

The Nokia Lumia 920 will have a 8.7megapixel Pureview Camera that is also fitted with floating lens technology.  What is floating lens technology?

As Nokia's Kevin Shields mentioned in today's New York event, the key to taking good pictures is light.  There are two basic ways to get more light with a camera.  First, create a larger opening for light to pass through.  The Nokia Lumia 920 will be fitted with a f2.0 aperture lens which allow more light to the camera sensor than the current Lumia Windows Phone models.

The second way to get more light is to leave the shutter open longer.  To do this, you run the risk of camera motion blurring the subject.  To help reduce this motion blur, the Lumia 920 will have image stabilization through floating lens technology.  Essentially the entire optical assembly will be suspended and stabilized by springs.  It will keep the lens steady for low light pictures.

Here's a quick example that was given... the first taken with a competitor's smartphone.

and the same shot taken with the Lumia 920 Pureview Camera.

It may not be a 41 megapixel camera but the Lumia 920's camera is very impressive.

George Ponder
George Ponder

George is the Reviews Editor at Windows Central, concentrating on Windows 10 PC and Mobile apps. He's been a supporter of the platform since the days of Windows CE and uses his current Windows 10 Mobile phone daily to keep up with life and enjoy a game during down time.

40 Comments
  • Edit:  Never mind, found it.
  • Cool.. But lack of microsd card slot??? Hufh!!! Wtf..
  • Yeah that's a bummer. 32 gigs isn't a sloucher though. And when I used window phone I found skydrive took care of most of my storage needs.
  • I believe he mentioned that the entire camera sensor is stabilized. I may have heard wrong though
  • That is correct. The entire sensor is stabilized. Pretty darn impressed. Those low light shots are insane.
  • It has a BSI Sensor. :) That should make Daniel happy.
    Nokia PureView camera
    Touch focus
    Landscape orientation
    Geo-tagging
    Auto and manual white balance
    Still image editor
    Optical Image Stabilization
    Lenses applications
    Sensor size 1/3 inch
    Sensor type: BSI
    True 16:9 sensor
    Pixel size 1.4 µm
    http://www.nokia.com/global/products/phone/lumia920/specifications/
  • Beat me to it!  Looks like Nokia learned their lesson with the 900.  Or, they just couldn't get BSI sensors in time for the 900.  Either way, glad the 920 will have that and a larger apature size.
  • It'll make a lot of people happy... thanks for catching that.  
  •  
    bhahahaahha… no microSD ? what? Again? What a joke!
    Lame camera with no hump and xenon flash. I dont want stupid ass features like NFC or wireless charging when you have to remove microSD card support… are so stupid Nokia?
     
    Ativ S 64GB is looking better and better for replacing my Zune 80GB: removable battery and 32GB microsd here I come
     
    This 920 is just the Lumia 900 production ready. That is after the beta.
     
    Soon they will release a 8GB Asha phone with microsd support that will have more capacity that their flagship phone.
     
    Stick a fork on these Finns. They are done.
  • You do realize that the MIcroSD feature will not "bridge" the two storage devices together, right?  So, while you would have 64GB of storage, you won't be able to store 64GB of music.  32GB is MORE than enough for the vast majority of customers.  But, if the ATIV is what you want because of the MicroSD slot, then more power to ya.
  • It wont "bridge" space together but, couldn't I store my music A to F on the internal and F-Z on my MicroSD ? Does it really make a difference then ?
     
    16gb sounded like a lot when the first models came out but, after about 3-6 months, I learned that was not true...and I found that I could use 64gb or even 128gb but, with out the "WP8 standard" of SDcards,. it's a problem.
     
    The Lumia 920 looks great no question but, No SDcard and NO removable battery might be a deal breaker for me too.
  • You're a very negative person. Bwahah ?! Seriously?
  • Before you go and call a global corporation"stupid", perhaps you should learn how to write complete sentences.
  • He posted this exact same comment on the verge, just looking to get a rise. Stick a fork in him....several times
  • on the verge,on engadget,on wmpoweruse and other sites aswell. seems he is justr a troll.
  • Its just Ricardo Dawkins. Nothing to see here. Move along.
  • Wow, what's your problem. Go back to the cave please.
  • Wow, that IS impressive!  I wonder if the "competitor" camera is the Lumia 900!
  • Seemed to me it was a Samsung Galaxy S3
  • What's the difference between floating lens and normal stabilization?
  • I think this explains the difference, there is even a section on floating lens stabilization:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_stabilization#Optical_image_stabilization
  • Two well designed devices. To me this feels like 710 -> 820 and 800 ->920 so  we are yet to see the sucessor to the 900 which I expect will come next year when the quadcore models arrive. Also I'd expect to see a larger sensor and screen then..  But the 920 will do just fine for me right now.. and I want it yellow please..
    Too bad it seems it's going to be another 6-8 weeks of waiting.
  • "... we are yet to see the sucessor to the 900 which I expect will come next year when the quadcore models arrive..."
     
    So because the 920 doesn't have a quadcore it's not the succesor of the 900? Dude, please.
     
    I wonder what people will complain about if/when quadcore smartphones become the norm.
     
    *sigh*
  • Damn phone doesn't have Octa cores and 100mpx camera sensor or 1tb removable memory or 500ppi resolution or a battery that lasts a whole month of heavy usage or......haters gonna hate
  • +111:)
  • Oh no. I can't believe it doesn't have no microSd... the more you understand just how lacking the "new" phone and window 8 OS is the more you understand why the stock is crashing over 10% today. Very bad showing and looks like I will be buying another phone.
  • “Nokia looked like they launched a camera today, not a smartphone"
     
    http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2012/09/05/1147421/nokia-looked-like-they-launched-a-camera-today-not-a-smartphone/
    It's true which is why they spent 30 mins on the camera vs the window 8 OS which isn't that good.
     
     
  • Microsoft was keeping all the goodies on the OS to themselves to announce w/o Nokia I assume
  • Ben the PC guy has just posted a photo taken with the lumia 920 and it suucckkssssss
    https://twitter.com/BenThePCGuy/status/243383116918571008/photo/1/large
  • Yea, it isn't great, but you have no idea what kind of lighting conditions that pic is taken in. Too bad Ben couldn't get a comparison photo with another device.
  • what r u talking about! my samsung focus 1st gen can take better pics inside of a building on the same lighting conditions!
  • It all sounds good, but what good is image stabilization when it comes to fast moving objects and objects that just don't stay still like children (which is what parents would use them for). Low light situations I get, but fast moving, I think the 808 PureView tech still is better. Its good Nokia, but not great.
  • People complaining about no microSD....you do realize you'll have Skydrive instead, right?
  • People will always find something to complain about. I'm bummed about no microSD, but honestly, I haven't had it since my Samsung Omnia WinMo phone, and I haven't missed it yet. I guess it is needed by some people though.
  • you obviously don't use skydrive..... wp uploads a low def version of the pics you take to skydrive, just try it at least once so u can see
  • WP8 has the option to upload full size images.
  • The Skydrive app also uploads at full red does it not?
  • Res rather..
  • I really could give a crap about a removeable microSD card. I had a Droid X for almost 2 years that had a 16GB card and never in that time had I wanted to take it out or upgrade it. 920 won't need the removeable card, that is what skydrive is for or simply download your media to a PC and start over again.
  • For anyone complaining about the lack of xenon flash, Nokia claims to use "next generation LED" technology - something about using a "pulse flash burst" that "provides a similar capability to xenon flash".
     
    PDF alert:
    http://i.nokia.com/blob/view/-/1824212/data/2/-/Download-pureview-820.pdf
     
    The pdf also claims that low light performance was one of the original goals of Pureview.