As you may know Polaroid announce an Android powered camera. And Barney Sykes from Panasonic told TechRadar (Click here), “We had a little bit of a discussion around having Android as the operating system. One of the issues is that we have so much optical technology in the cameras, even in compacts, we have Leica lenses. When you download something, it’s got to be able to work with the optics of the camera. But it is very interesting, in particular when you look at some of the apps you can download, the filters, the effects you can make, it’s an interesting step. It’s always good to see innovation.”
I think Panasonic and Olympus will sooner or later have to open their software for third party applications. The advantages are so great that it’s worth to “take the risk”. And if they are going to use the Android platform they would have an immense access to photography apps. I believe this IS the future! I am pretty sure Samsung will do it the Japanese companies will be “forced” to follow soon after!
59 Responses
It is inevitable and necessary. For programmable time-lapses functions (without needing a remote), in camera HDR, panoramas, the apps already out there sure beat most camera’s on board options. Camera makers would then be able to focus on hardware only. They can spend more time making better bodies and lenses.
+1
There are much more things camera can do automatically: defisheye or other kind of lens correction – removing distortion of converters and rare lenses, resizing, cropping, applying various manufacturer jpeg profiles ( Olympus jpeg engine on Panasonic anyone ? ), button remapping, adding functionality to touchscreen, … A programmer could easily add focus peaking or color isolation effect as well. It certainly is the future, but one might wonder if manufacturers are a bit afraid of giving users too much control.
Manufacturers will have an aversion to being blamed for the failings of some third party app/software that does not work properly. That’s why apple maintains such tight control, one big stuff up app can have a devastating effect on a manufacturer if it occurs early in the life cycle of the product.
However I would like to see basic function designed into the camera by the manufacturer with apps being allowed outside the main functions. Maybe the manufacturer making the software modular, so today I am in video mode and tomorrow, I can be in photo mode, just by changing software modules or allowing apps to do the same.
Also anything that can be done via an app in camera can also be done on a PC/Mac without loosing the original and is more portable.
Sorry mis-fire. Scott
I thought Samsung would be first to apps and android (I didn’t see Polaroid coming) then Panasonic and Olympus then Sony, Canon and Nikon will come crawling to apps in about 4-6 years time…
As long as Olympus and Panny do it right then they will have so much to gain, they’ll end up gaining market share and increasing the size of the market, it will be totally awesome 😀
Apps for cameras could be charged at a premium to what is charged for mobile phone apps as they are more valuable to the consumer, so could provide a valuable source of revenue to the camera companies as well as the developers….
You can lock apps to be only downloaded from certain places (take the over-ride out maybe) ie perhaps have a joint micro four thirds hosted app store
YouDidntDidYou: Check out the Samsung SH100 that was announced last year. You can fully control it on your Samsung Android phone (use the phone wirelessly to see what would be on the screen, take a picture, etc.). I lost interest in it, when the app wouldn’t install on my LG phone, but it does exist.
@Michael Meissner
apps are getting more stable in the android market and are already pretty stable in the iphone world…
And don’t leave out Windows Phone 8 and it’s Metro interface shared with Windows 8. Better than iPhone, in my book.
I think the point and shoot end of the market will eventually be butchered by mobile phones. Look at the Nokia pureview, the 41 megapixel phone for example…if you have one of these in your pocket all the time why would you bother picking up a small sensor pns? I dont think this trend will impact the system camera market…although it would be funny to see a smartphone with an mft mount on the back 🙂
I think the p&s market has already been pretty butchered by the phones.
And pretty soon the entry level system camera market will be butchered by phones.
PleasePleasePleasePlease
Anybody who remembers the Dikta OS that Kodak used for some of their cameras will know what can be done with a decent camera OS.
Yes, a “Doom” port.
DIGITA.
No, they won’t. Camera manufacturer’s nature is to create differences, not similarities.
Why don’t dream something more practical… like unified lens mount and protocol for Canon, Nikon and Sony :).
Unfortunately, probability that both dreams come true is the same 🙁
That depends, the camera-companies don’t own the world. if smaller companies do this and have sucsess, larger ones will be forced to follow. And i really thing apps for camera is the future.
No, I don’t believe that making “EM-5_phone” from Olympus camera would be wise idea. You allready have iphone.
Yes, additional functionalita would be great, but not for tweaking pics for facebook.
I can imagine aditional functionality (programmable) like hyperfocal distance setting, timers, etc, which extend camera functionality. But not to have a primitive lightroom included in camera. This can be done later (and better) on a computer.
I can also imagine this additional camera functionality to be included in some kind of camera grip (or something similar). I was wandering why EM-5 grip has so many contacts… And if only one additional battery is in grip, there must be some room there for additional hardware…
Apps would be welcome to provide some extra functionality. I would also like to see a hyperfocal distance mode/app in a camera: you set the aperture, the camera sets the focus to the hyperfocal distance. Maybe some MFT cameras do this in the landscape scene modes?
Android sucks…
Do not expect a Panoly with iOS.
+1000, Android is the bug paradise,
@Mattias
no problems here on my android phone but then I’m on ice cream sandwich (last5 months) 😀
apple fan boys sucks.
Samsung is the enemy of all jap companies
I’d love the camera companies to get on board with this. Mr Terada for Olympus said they weren’t considering it in one of the interviews which I thought was a mistake.
I imagine Sony and Samsung will be first as they already have phones using Android so they have experience. It can’t be too hard to adapt apps to the cameras if they use a similar operating system and it would fulfil some of the shortcomings each camera has.
The other companies (especially primary camera companies like Olympus, Canon and Nikon) will lag behind I suspect trying to stick to their guns in a changing world. They’ve already lost market share to the electronics company since cameras went digital and they’ll do it again if they don’t move with the times and consumer demands.
I’d love a time lapse function, to adjust partial colours and add different filters. It’s all a 5 second download away on mobile phones, so why not on cameras? With cameras coming out with wifi (samsung compacts this year) that adds more functionality too so you can download without plugging into the computer and also upload pictures online, whether it something social like facebook, an online display of your photography like flickr or 500px or your own websites to sell as prints (although I admit most people doing this will want to edit on computer first).
The limits are imagination of a whole load of people, rather than one company trying to fight their corner against other companies about small differences that we as consumers shouldn’t have to put up with.
@Rob
Panasonic work with Android already on their mobile phones and tablets…
I think better communication between camera and computers is a great idea and necessary. However, usually the “do-everything”/”Swiss army knife” tools are not good at anything. Instead of a fancy user interface on a camera with Android or what not, I’d prefer to give apps access to control everything in a camera — with bidirectional communication of user interface and pictures. As long as it can be done safely — don’t want anyone to be able to hack the camera, steal or plant pictures, etc… Obviously, it should be possible to update GPS position from a smartphone, adjust the clock to the current time zone, etc. But I’m not convinced that the camera itself should have a full fledged OS.
+100
Add Android instability and fragmentation to already ridiculously complex devices? (I think they’re still called cameras. 😉 ) NO EFFIN’ THANKS! I’d like my batteries to last longer than 15 minutes, too!
Yes, make camera user interfaces more usable, but don’t add more crap! Simplify them. All the fluff features are what computers, iPads and Photoshop, etc. are for!
+1. Most Android apps are a mixture of good functions and clunky ones, which is one reason people wind up accumulating so many — you can’t get ONE app that does exactly what you need WELL, so instead you have a phone full of apps that do a half-ast job and have to switch constantly between them. That’s fine if you’re bored and want to entertain yourself by playing with your phone, but it’s not a model I want transferred to photography.
What we actually NEED, as opposed to what forumbators think we need, is simply a set of standardized protocols for communication among cameras and other devices. Standardized protocols are what made the Internet a success… now we need an “Internet of things” that will let us integrate cameras, flash units, storage, etc., with other information devices.
“Instead of a fancy user interface on a camera with Android or what not…”
The beauty of using Android is that you’re not stuck with whatever horrid interface Olympus or Panasonic decides you’re entitled to. As an Android modder and developer, no one wants a “fancy” interface, just a *usable* one.
Can’t wait for my Cyanogen PEN.
An interface that’s merely “usable” just isn’t good enough.
Look at all the shitty “usable” interfaces out there. Windows, Linux, Android, etc..
Gimme clean, powerful, flexible and elegant!
That would be Mac OS X or iOS…
Oh well, we won’t be seeing a Mac OS LumiX anytime soon. 🙁
No you’re right about the lumix, they will pick an OS that is alive and flexible, not staid, rigid and almost dead.
There is no way Apple would agree to that, they won’t even allow Flash on their devices. the ONLY way you would get this to happen would be if Apple built the device and hired PanOly or other company to design something to go in their own device, not the other way around.
Apple = Control Freaks
Perhaps with this type of thinking I can have an E-M5 which will be no more than a great camera. For those who want to shoot video with it or play about with pop filters and such will have to pay for the privilege, while the basic function of a camera to take photographs can be kept to a minimum in ability and in price.
Please , Pana concentrate in sensors development technologies . That is the most important . Afterall a camera is all about Image quality .
go ahead…put ’em in. ANd give the user the opportunity to turn all that nonsense off. There. Done. Now everybody can be happy.
http://panasonic.jp/mobile/docomo/p05c/
http://panasonic.jp/mobile/docomo/p05c/color/
My thoughts exactly. The Android powered Lumix Phone exists already!
Bad idea…. I love Android as a mobile platform. I hardly ever use my phone as a phone, mostly use it for apps, data and social networking. But it’s inherently instable. The usual computer bottlenecks are here (RAM, CPU…) the last thing I want in a camera is waiting for the shutter to activate because some stupid app is clogging up the OS with some idiotic process that it decided to run while I’m trying to not miss a photo opp.
“I’m sorry honey, I didn’t get our daughter blowing out the candles on her birthday cake because Instagram was updating so the camera was kind of slow”
Samsung Galaxy Note (android smartphone) + Lumix TS4 (tough p&s) = perfect pocket gadget.
Panasonic already has a 13.2MPX Android Lumix phone the Lumix 101P out since 2010.
The Polaroid is probably built by Panasonic or Toshiba, though.
Let Pana or Oly put Buetooth/Wifi/GPS in their enthusiast cameras to aid flexibility.
Samsung has all that in tiny compacts so I guess it won’t need much space. Penpal??? Come on, add ons you forget or might loose.
PENpal could be interesting if Olympus (or anyone else) made an Andriod app that allows you to control the camera with your smartphone.
There’s already a live view feed off the accessory port. Would there be any way to make it two way communication, and change camera settings etc. You could then put the camera on a tripod and take a group shot without walking back and forth, put the camera on a long pole and put it really high, etc. etc.
Manufacturer’s should make cameras which work, not toys which have all the problems of computers and to top of that very limited battery capacity and processing power to use for running all the buggy resource wasting software.
It’s basically studied fact that for certain amount of code there’s certain number of bugs in it so this would make chance of major problems with camera to sky rocket.
Not only would actual OS platform be more bigger and complex than standard camera firmware but there would be multiple layers of code running.
Basic things like that programmed taking of chosen number of shots at wanted intervals would be easy to have as fixed functionality in firmware and Minolta had it as standard feature in their prosumer line up decade ago.
All cameras supporting tethered shooting (and makers providing documentation of interface) for using camera under control of other devices, running what ever bloatware you want, would be best way for maximum flexibility without making camera itself automatically prone to so much problems.
If you want Android, go buy a god damn phone.
These instable, battery-eating shinies have absolutely no place in a camera, which should be perfectly reliable at all times.
Do you WANT to wait 30 seconds for your camera to turn on?!
@Boooo!
A phone with android ice cream sandwich takes about 4 seconds to start from boot (ie from powering on), from sleep it’s almost instant, a modern android phone battery should last you about 2-3 days in normal everyday use, the latest android operating system is very stable….
….and yes I DO OWN AN ANDROID 4.0 PHONE.
Call me old fashion, but after being a photographer for the past 30 years I want a camera to take the maximum quality images possible, not to play games, do FB updates, cheap photo effects or check my email… for playing games and communicating I already have a smartphone and for photo processing I have my Macs running quality software.
I have been a firm believer on integrated devices since the early days of the Palm Pilot. When the marriage of a Palm device with a phone happened, it made perfect sense because it turn a good pocket digital assistant system into a connected computing device on your pocket capable of running an unlimited amount of third party programs, and so the smartphone was born.
The combination of an enthusiast camera system with a portable computing device (being Apple, Android or WinOS) is a BAD idea in my opinion. It distract camera development and on board resources from improving IQ and implementing useful photo functions and diverts it to OS extensions, unnecessary communication protocols and social medial crap. As some others have pointed out, the potential of system instability is a real issue when you introduce third party development into the mixture. Is already enough when I get the occasional reboot when I receive a phone call usually caused by memory mismanagement from third party apps, I don’t want my camera to reboot or freeze when I want to take a photo for the same reason… no thank you very much.
A Jack of all trades, is a master of none… I want my camera system to provide the highest image quality capture with the highest utility. That means, more accurate AF on burst shoot, faster burst shooting rates, focus peaking for easier manual control, higher DR sensor technology, better/faster optics, higher resolution EVF technology, and any other that will enhance my photography experience… not Android or iOS or WinOS or any other.
It sounds like an easy way into the smart phone market to me. If they can build a solid camera based around Android what’s to stop them from putting a radio in it?
Oh Joy!!!!!1 cameras with crapware and malware!!!!!! yippeeeeeee (this comment served with an extra side of sarcasm). i just want a fucking camera. I already have a computer with more software options than i can use, i have a phone with more apps than i could ever contemplate (and a much better display than most cameras). Oh yes i forgot to add above abysmal battery life… Yes!! gimme gimme gimme (puke)
Clearly you don’t know what an operating system is, or how they work (if you think malware is a danger on a non-networked camera).
5th graders are laughing at you.
Clearly you have no grasp of it either. The malware could simply be designed to delete or corrupt your images/movies, rendering your camera useless until you were able to remove the malware or reflash the device.
Secondly, since the growing trend it to have cameras connected to networks. Via bluetooth, wi-fi or whatever other connectivity standard they choose. It is highly likely that an Android OS camera would be connected to a network of some type. Afterall thats going to be the easiest way to download the apps.
So yeah, the 5th graders are definitely laughing at someone…
Oh irony… The guy who talks about operating systems and networking has no clue that Android without a network is useless…. If only those 5th graders had bothered to look up the reality of life before laughing…
The problem here, as alluded to by the guy from Panasonic, is that the existing mobile OSes such as Android don’t provide programming interfaces to the advanced features of the camera – it would only give you ‘Instagram’ type apps for your photos, it wouldn’t be able to replace all the existing interface for controlling aperture, ISO, white balance etc etc.
It’d be great if there was some kind of user-programmable camera OS, probably based on Linux, but Android isn’t it (except for super basic point & shoot cameras like the Polaroid)
“‘Instagram’ type apps” accounts for most of the photography that is going on today. If real cameras are going to be anything more than a niche product for professional photographers and a few enthusiasts (like medium format, film or Leicas) they have to go the “app” way.
Cameras like m4/3 and other mirrorless models ARE products for enthusiasts and professionals alike – niche or not – looking for better IQ and more manual control than most P&S variety offers. The people who love Instagram and the like are usually at a different level than advanced amateurs and professionals. They are more interested in snapshots and social photography and for most of them, a phone camera, or a P&S is enough to satisfy their needs – social media integration, Android/iOS or other add ons are, in my opinion, perfectly logical on THAT market. The higher end tools meant for more serious hobbyist and pros are not the place for this type of integration, again, IN MY OPINION.
@Charles
developers will build high end apps for professional users (and price them accordingly) as well as low end apps for “joe blog” users.
If you look at the demographics of the people purchasing the new Olympus E-M5 and PENs (see flickr groups) many of those users are already using camera type apps on their smart phones (I use Eyeem and Pixlr everyday)…
Personally, what I REALLY want is instant on, and a brighter viewfinder, not anything an OS will address.
Can you run a survey on how many people would like access to their camera firmware? Complete firmware control? Program line control? Customized scenes? Really, what do people want? Program line control is my #1. Scott
The question is not Android or some other operating system.
The question is if camera makers will open their product as a programming platform.
I think it is a rethorical question. They will have to open because of market pressure.
Like you can run various versions of Windows, Linux etc. on the same Computerhardware, you will be able to run various systems on camera hardware.
The maker who opens up first will be the winner – for a short time. The others will have to follow.
No more complaining about an awkward menu structure of camera XYZ-1.1
Just install happycamerauser 2.0 and get the best out of your gear.
Yeah, that’s what we really need to do: give Google even more power than they already have. Use their camera so that they know where you are, where you have been to, and what you are interested in.