A Google Engineer Recreated a DSLR Photo Using a Nexus 6P with Absolute Perfection

Create Image Utilising Nexus 6P

Smartphone cameras have been enhanced beyond our imaginations and from the rough VGA cameras which the earlier phones featured, to the updated Dual Cameras lots that tend to replicate DSLR type portrait shots with perfections, smartphone photography had progressed to great extent.

However there seems to be one segment wherein smartphones are unable to compare up to the DSLRs low light photography and Google has plans of changing it. OEMs tend to advertise low-light photography as a feature in their phone cameras though usually it is more of a trick. An engineer Florian Kainz working on Gcam team of Google, the team behind the legendary camera of the Google Pixel had been challenged by his colleague to develop a night shot of the Golden Gate Bridge which had originally been shot by a DSLR utilising a smartphone camera.

He had accepted the challenge and had managed in creating the image utilising the Nexus 6P together with some post-processing and created an image using smartphone providing us a glimpse of what Google could do in making night-time outdoor photography a real thing with the support of smartphones.

Technique for Shooting Milky Way – Google Pixel

Using a technique he was capable of shooting the Milky Way utilising the Google Pixel from the Californian coast where the nights tend to get very dark and the stars are said to be the only source of light on nights when the moon is not in sight.

But at 9 to 10 megapixels, the subsequent photos did not seem to be as high quality as a DSLR, though the details seemed to be there. With the results of the Pixel together with the Nexus 6P, it is clear that the final frontier of smartphone photography is on the threshold of being penetrated.

Software has been developed by OEM in order to process the images internally, with all the additions together with the subtractions as well as the averaging of the multiple photos to make night point and shoot photography utilising a smartphone, a reality. But one can’t take photos yet the same way with your smartphone and the Google Pixel tends to come the nearest in taking such images though not close enough.

HDR+ Feature

Google is said to utilise the HDR+ feature that swiftly takes 10 short exposure shots and averages them to form an individual image to eliminate blur and noise at the time of collecting adequate light for good photos at practically low-levels though it will still tend to be impractical in very low-light, moonlight landscapes for example, or starlight photos.

To achieve the image, Kainz had installed a custom Android app which enabled him to set the ISO, shutter speed and focus manually. He also utilised a tripod to keep the phone steady. The custom app was to eliminate the maximum 4-second exposure time for taking longer exposure shots in order to lessen the ISO setting and thus reduce the noise.

When the shutter button is pressed, the app tends to wait a few seconds and then takes up to 64 frames with the selected exposure and ISO settings. Thereafter it saves the frames as DNG file wherein these are later exported to a PC to post-process into one.

Motorola’s Newest Phone Moto Z Force Is Rugged and Super Thin

Motorola’s Flagship Handset –Moto Z/Moto Z Force

Struggling smartphone maker Motorola will be releasing two flagship handsets, the Moto Z together with the luxurious Moto Z Force. The two designs portrays the parent company of Moto, Lenovo embracing the modular smartphone trend.Ashton Kutcher, Lenovo product engineer, while pacing the stage at a press event in San Francisco, had called the Moto Z` a redesign of the phone from the ground up’ associating it to ground-breaking Motorola handsets such as the StarTac and Razr.

The handsets did not look as innovative as those market-upending devices. The latest Moto Z is made from military aircraft-grade aluminium and stainless less and is durable yet razor thin. It provides high-end specs, 5.5-inch Quad HD display, and Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor with 4GB of RAM and 32 GB or 64 GB of storage inside together with lightning fast charging. It also has a 13-megapixel camera towards the back as well as a 5-migapixel sensor in front and is simple 5.2mm thick. One can also get more space for pictures, videos and apps by adding a microSD card up to 2 TB. After the first Droid Razr, this is the next phone in that line.

Has ShatterShield Technology

The front facing 5MP camera comprises of a wide-angle lens which seems great in accommodating friends in an image and with an additional flash on the front, the image looks it’s best even in insufficient light. The Z Force is said to have the ShatterShield technology of Motorola which means that even if the phone is dropped on a marble floor or thrown across, it does not seem to break.

The Z Force tends to represent all the best Droid ideas, unbreakable screen, super-thin body as well as the customization of the Moto X. The Moto Moda seems to be the real selling point and on attaching an accessory the 16-pin port towards the back of the phone, the Z tends to become something novel.

A projector known as InstaShare tends to make the phone large though adds a big battery and kickstand, turning the phone into a wall-sized screen. A speaker has mentioned that it is another built with JBL. It is essential to note that Google’s modular smartphone initiative, Project Ara, had begun as a Motorola project. The spirit has not left even if Ara did.


However, the Moto Z phones does not seem to be quite modular the way Project Ara tends to be where Ara phones enables you to swap screens, cameras as well as batteries. The approach of Motorola is somewhat like what LG did with its latest G5, wherein one tends to plug extra modules in an already complete phone.

Moreover, Motorola tends to have an easier switching mechanism and Moto Mods seems to be a better name for the modules than the LG’s `Friends’.The Moto Z will be arriving this summer for Verizon customers, while the others would be getting it later in the year. Motorola has been working with the developers in building mods and envisages everything from huge battery to a laptop dock to a virtual keyboard. The arena is the same as the other modular phone.