Samsung and Olympus Cameras are Not Partnering on a Smartphone

Samsung has been repeatedly linked with Olympus cameras, now known as OM Digital, in what was speculated to be a partnership in an upcoming smartphone. PetaPixel confirms this to be false.

The original rumor tying the two brands together started in April when a rumor suggested that Samsung was looking to add sensor-shift stabilization into its next Galaxy flagship smartphone. In it, the Olympus brand was tied to Samsung through what looked to be a similar camera partnership to what Vivo has done with Zeiss and OnePlus has done with Hasselblad.

As per the info I got, both Samsung and Olympus held talks about a possible partnership. The current status and extent of this partnership is not exactly clear. They could work on a special edition Fold or we could see this happen on 'H3' (S22 Ultra)https://t.co/y4ykWKIIR7

-- Yogesh Brar (@heyitsyogesh) April 7, 2021

OM Digital had said that it planned to collaborate with other companies that were not in the camera and lens space at CP+ earlier in 2021, but as PetaPixel reported in April, there were reasons to immediately doubt the authenticity of the rumored Samsung and Olympus brand partnership.

At the time, Samsung was reportedly working on a new Exynos 2200 processor that was codenamed "Olympus," which was could have been mistranslated to suggest that the two brands were working together.

Of note, that processor is rumored to be necessary to support a 200-megapixel sensor, which happens to be the resolution of Samsung's new HP1 sensor that it announced earlier this month and provided a deeper dive into this week.

The hope that a vastly improved camera system led by OM Digital under the Olympus name fueled continued hype, however, as two different renders were produced by LetsGoDigital that showed what such a partnership might look like.

Ironically, it was LetsGoDigital that this week was told that the rumored partnership was not to be. The publication recently confirmed that it had spoken to an OM Digital representative who said that there was no planned collaboration between the two brands. PetaPixel has confirmed this report, as an OM Digital Solutions representative has said that the team in Japan has definitively stated that no such partnership with Samsung exists.

It should be noted that OM Digital cannot speak for Olympus as the two companies are no longer affiliated. However, it is unlikely that Olympus would be the partner for Samsung and not OM Digital which controls all of the consumer camera and lens-related assets.

This denial is of note as very few manufacturers will ever choose to comment on projects that are in progress or even make statements with regard to rumors, so the strong statement to both LetsGoDigital and PetaPixel should put the expectation of a Samsung and OM Digital partnership to bed.

#equipment #mobile #news #200megapixel #200mp #ibis #olympus #omdigital #partnership #render #rumor #samsung #samsunggalaxy #samsunggalaxys22 #samsunggalaxys22ultra #samsungolympuspartnership #sensorshift #smartphonephotography #smartphones

Render of Samsung Galaxy S22 Renews Olympus Partnership Speculation

Samsung made waves with its Galaxy S21 smartphone launched last year thanks to notable improvements to its camera system. Multiple rumors have speculated the smartphone manufacturer would partner with Olympus in the S22 Ultra, and a new render of what that might look like has renewed that speculation.

In early April, rumors that Samsung would be partnering with Olympus -- or more accurately, OM Digital Solutions -- sprung up. And while Olympus said that it would collaborate with other companies that aren’t in the camera or lens industry at CP+ earlier this year, there were reasons to doubt the veracity of these reports. As also reported by Sammobile , Samsung is reportedly working on a new Exynos processor that is codenamed “Olympus,” so seeing the names appear together in rumors may simply the result of a bad translation or misunderstanding.

Still, an early rendering published by LetsGoDigital showed what that partnership might look like.

Additional reports about the alleged partnership have been absent in recent months, but LetsGoDigital may spark renewed interest thanks to a set of very convincing new renders combined with a well-produced promo video all made by TechnizoConcept.

LetsGoDigital says that because of the silicon shortage, fans should not expect a Note 21 this year, which is why the manufacturer is expected to package the popular S Pen with the Galaxy S22. More than that, Samsung will have its efforts focused on making the S22 Ultra even more impressive due to the lack of a Note smartphone.

"Samsung seems to have big plans for the camera this time," the publication says. "Stories have been circulating for some time that the South Korean manufacturer has started a collaboration with the Japanese company Olympus."

LetsGoDigital says to expect the partnership with Olympus to feel similar to how OnePlus works with Hasselblad, Huawei with Leica, and Sony with Zeiss. The result is rumored to be a massive rear camera array that features one giant main camera and three additional cameras. While the publication admits taht very little is known about the camera configuration of the S22 Ultra at the time of publication, the company predicts Samsung will use the Exynos 2100 chip that can support 200-megapixel sensors. As such, the giant main camera is presumed to be a 200-megapixel and will be combined with an ultra-wide and two telephotos.

The full report on LetsGoDigital discusses other features that it thinks might make its way into the new Galaxy S22 Ultra, but this is the second render that points to a giant main camera among a group in the large camera notch. It remains to be seen if this comes to pass.

Image credits: Renders by TechnizoConcept and shared with permission from LetsGoDigital.

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Canon Patents IBIS-Powered AA Simulation Tech, Similar to Pentax

![image](https://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2021/05/Canon-Patents-IBIS-Powered-AA-Simulation-Tech-Similar-to-Pentax-800x420.jpg" width=)

Canon has applied for a patent that would allow a camera to use its in-body-image-stabilization (IBIS) to approximate the effects of an anti-aliasing filter. The idea is similar to how sensor-shift multi-shot works, but in reverse.

The application -- which was found by Northlight Images and shared by Canon Rumors -- notes that Canon is proposing a way for the sensor to shift during image capture in such a way that it approximates how an anti-aliasing filter works.

As Northlight Images writes, the idea "uses fine movement of the sensor stabilization system to perform one of the jobs of the anti-alias filter for the AF system and address problems of sampling and spatial aliasing. A version for DPAF and contrast AF is discussed… The fine control of sensor positioning is also part of a multishot super-resolution solution, where a traditional AA filter might also get in the way."

If this idea sounds familiar, it is because it is a technology that Pentax has been using in its cameras for several years, including the most recently announced K-3 Mark III. The video below shows how the technology works:

Basically, unlike sensor-shift high-resolution photo modes that use a camera's image stabilizer to capture more data and compile a high-resolution image in-camera, this feature would quite literally do the opposite and move the sensor to effectively blur the image slightly and give the appearance of an anti-aliasing filter.

As Ricoh explains:

Based on original ideas and innovative technology, Pentax has developed the world’s first AA filter simulator, which reproduces the effects created by an optical AA filter. By applying microscopic vibrations to the CMOS sensor during exposure, the K-3 minimizes false color and moiré. You have a choice of three settings to obtain the desired effect: “TYPE 1” to attain the optimum balance between image resolution and moiré; “TYPE 2” to prioritize moiré compensation, and “OFF” to prioritize image resolution. Thanks to this innovative feature, the K-3 offers the benefits of two completely different cameras — the high-resolution images assured by an AA-filter-free model, and minimized false color and moiré assured by an AA-filter-equipped one. You can switch the AA filter effect on and off as you wish.

This feature is not magic, however, and has limitations. Using a camera's image stabilizer on a pixel-level like this while shooting has some tradeoffs. For example, Ricoh states that the AA-filter effect is "more evident" when a shutter speed of 1/1000 second or slower is used, which dramatically reduces the feature's usability in anything other than brightly lit conditions.

For those unfamiliar, anti-aliasing filters -- also known as optical low-pass filters -- were designed to deal with a situation where the spatial frequency of what a digital camera is trying to photograph was smaller than the pixel spacing on a sensor. This is most commonly found when taking photos and videos of tight patterns on fabrics or wide-angle shots of buildings where windows are particularly close together. The resulting visual discrepancy is referred to as moire, which is a French term that means "watered textile" and accurately describes what the visual effect looks like: wavy water. An optical low-pass filter was placed in front of the image sensor in a majority of digital cameras up until the last several years and would make the moire less noticeable or have it disappear entirely. The side effect, however, was a drop in perceived sharpness.

Chart from Canon's patent.

Pentax and now Canon are not the only companies that have tried to come up with ways to give photographers a way to turn the idea of an anti-aliasing filter on and off. Sony pioneered a digital low-pass filter technology into its RX1R Mark II camera.

"Splitting of incident light flux is controlled by varying voltage to the liquid crystal between low-pass filter one and low-pass filter two in order to activate, deactivate, and modify low-pass filter effect. LPF bracketing simplifies comparison of LPF effects," the company writes.

Because it was electrically controlled and responded nearly instantaneously, photographers could configure how it would work and even apply an "auto" mode to it. It's unclear as to why this feature is only in a fixed lens camera and not found in any of Sony's Alpha cameras, and that may be related to the fixed-lens nature of the RX1R Mark II.

Another reason it might not be in other cameras is the need for an optical low-pass filter is disappearing.

It used to be that anti-aliasing filters were quite common, but in the most recent releases by most manufacturers, it is not a feature that even makes it onto the public-facing specifications sheet. This is because as cameras grow in resolution and have smaller and smaller pixels, the incidence of moire even without an anti-aliasing filter has fallen dramatically. Basically, it has become less likely that the subjects photographers are taking pictures of have a spatial frequency that is smaller than the distance between pixels on modern sensors.

As a result, some may find it a bit odd to see Canon attempt to patent a technology to address a problem that has been shrinking in importance over the last few years. Additionally, since Pentax clearly already uses a similar technology, Canon's patent has to obviously do something different in order to get around the fact a competitor has been using a similar idea in the market for almost a decade. You can read the full patent application here.

#equipment #news #technology #antialiasing #canon #canonpatent #ibis #inbodyimagestabilization #opticallowpassfilter #patent #pentax #ricoh #sensorshift #sony

Samsung Rumored to Add IBIS to Phones Through Olympus Partnership

Samsung is reportedly working on adding sensor-shift stabilization to its smartphones, similar to what the iPhone 12 Pro Max does on its wide lens. While Samsung has used optical stabilization for some time, it has yet to add this particular stabilization feature.

Normally referred to as In Body Image Stabilization (IBIS) when referring to full-size cameras, sensor-shift stabilization has been very common in mirrorless cameras for some time (and has even made its way into some DSLRs). Especially when paired with optical stabilization, IBIS allows for cameras to achieve much higher levels of stabilization, making for smoother video clips and allowing for longer hand-held exposures in still photography.

According to Sammobile, Samsung is working on adding the feature to its future smartphones, coming perhaps as soon as the Galaxy S22 line or even, as other rumors suggest, the next Fold. While it is very likely we'll see Samsung introduce this feature, as it is one of the few places that Apple is offering a camera capture technology not found in an Android device, this report is finding itself bleeding into another popular rumor: Samsung is allegedly working with OM Digital (also still known as Olympus when it comes to cameras) on implementing this technology into its devices.

Ok this could be huge!

With the Note lineup out this year, Samsung is going big with the Fold 3.

Heard about this very briefly, Samsung might be jumping on the latest trend of partnering with a camera brand. We might see this possibly happen on a special edition Fold.

-- Yogesh (@heyitsyogesh) April 6, 2021

As per the info I got, both Samsung and Olympus held talks about a possible partnership. The current status and extent of this partnership is not exactly clear. They could work on a special edition Fold or we could see this happen on 'H3' (S22 Ultra)https://t.co/y4ykWKIIR7

-- Yogesh (@heyitsyogesh) April 7, 2021

The link between Olympus and Samsung has been a topic of some conversation over the last week which has finally boiled over into a pretty wild render produced by Let 's Go Digital. That render, seen below, shows a camera bump that seems to reach physics-rejecting levels of compactness and crams a giant 200-megapixel main camera and giant optic into the size of a camera bump no bigger than the one found on the current S21 Ultra.

While Olympus said that it would collaborate with other companies that aren't in the camera or lens industry at CP+ earlier this year, there are reasons to doubt a partnership is actually coming. As also reported by Sammobile , Samsung is reportedly working on a new Exynos processor that is codenamed "Olympus," so seeing the names pop up together in recent rumors may simply the results of a bad translation or misunderstanding.

While there is reason to doubt the Olympus and Samsung partnership, that particular angle to the story does not detract from the very likely possibility that Samsung will add IBIS to its smartphones in the near future, especially since its main competitor -- Apple -- is already doing it.

Image credits: Header image render via Let's Go Digital.

#equipment #mobile #news #ibis #olympus #omdigital #partnership #render #rumor #samsung #samsunggalaxy #samsungolympuspartnership #sensorshift #smartphonephotography #smartphones