[Pavel]

Nokia 808 is in my view a revolutionary product that may prove to be a disruptive technology in photography. Basically, the phone uses a sensor with 40+ Mpx (More than Nikon D800). Now that alone is revolutionary in a phone. But that is not what I find intriguing. They have used this pile of pixels (using binning) to reduce noise (as Fuji and others did before) and for digital zooming (or cropping, as many others did before). The result is something using a good quality prime in a very compact package to provide a low noise camera with zoom capability while maintaining very good image quality. This second part is critical. Cell phones and even most cameras traditionally had very few pixels and so binning and cropping had a large impact on image quality. In Nokia 808, the penalty is much less, thanks to huge resolution of the sensor. I therefore consider 808 a revolutionary product even as I freely admit of not being interested to buy this flawed gem (see the review in DPReview). In a long run, the implementation does not matter. The concept does.

Now before Matthew will jump in to say so, let me reiterate that the technology is not new in its elements. The new part is putting all these pieces together (binning and cropping with huge resolution, small package and low cost).

I think that this approach has a potential to change not only cell phone cameras, but most cameras. With the resolution of D800, the sensor resolution is beginning to be extremely demanding of lens quality and only the best glass matches the resolution of the sensor. As the capability to produce still higher resolution sensor becomes possible, the question will arise on how to make the use of all these pixels. Many companies can not compete with Nikon and Canon because they do not have the skills or resources to duplicate the range of lenses these companies have. However, with digital zooming a small number of top notch and inexpensive primes (such as those from Samyang) could replace majority of expensive and complex zooms from Nikon/Canon.

This provides an opening to an ELECTRONICS company with little expertise in lens production to enter the camera market. For users, this could mean a small number of fast, small and inexpensive lenses could replace large bulky and costly systems from Nikon and Canon without a loss of image quality. To achieve that, the key would be to have ultra highres sensor. Not available now, but it may be in a few years!

[matthew]

I'm far from disagreeing – you may have understated things somewhat. The amazing thing to me is that this phone has a bigger sensor than most point-and-shoot cameras. So it's not 40Mpx jammed into a teeny-tiny sensor, which is what I had expected, but rather one that has been given priority in the handset's design. That's huge, for all kinds of reasons: the technical ability to do it, as well as the recognition of how phones are increasingly important as cameras and their integration into people's lives.

The D800 made me a believer in massive megapixel counts, and now the Sony RX100 shows that it's a good idea in smaller sensors, too.

Even though I'm not going to buy this particular phone, the idea that my next one will have an 8-10Mpx sensor is laughable.

While I wouldn't consider my iphone for 'serious' photography, that's also true of my Canon S100. (Although I do have one photo from it that I want to print, out of 2900 taken to date.) But I do use my phone to take photos that I need to use promptly, either through Twitter or email. If someone (cough*apple*cough) could combine its communication and built-in post-processing abilities with the photo quality of my little Canon – or, be still my heart, the Sony RX100 – I'd use that combination for anything and everything that doesn't strictly need my D800. That would be wonderful…

[shuttertalk]

Great discussion and I agree - the sensor is one thing but the other part of the equation is optics. Unfortunately they need a lens assembly that won't make the phone look big and ugly so that means compromises...

Ultimately DLSRs are not so constrained so they will always produce the best IQ.

That being said, I use my iPhone for photos regularly and don't have any qualms about it. The IQ is fantastic enough for posting on facebook and in a pinch, even photo books and prints.

[Pavel]

The point I was trying to make seems to get lost. I see the Nokia not just a precursor for other phones (that is obvious). I see the concepts (ultra-high pixel count + a digital zooming to "connect" few well spaced good quality fast primes + binning) migrating to serious cameras (mirrorless, DSLRs, fixed lens)