# iPhone 6 gets an Exmor



## jrista (Sep 29, 2014)

I found this the other day:

http://image-sensors-world.blogspot.com/2014/09/chipworks-iphone-6-plus-teardown-finds.html

Looks like even iPhone has moved to Exmor. Excerpt form Chipworks (their page doesn't seem to be loading at the moment):



> "The iPhone 6 Plus iSight camera chip is housed in a camera module measuring 10.6 mm x 9.3 mm x 5.6 mm thick. Fabricated by Sony, the iSight camera chip is a stacked (Exmor RS), back-illuminated CMOS image sensor (CIS) featuring 1.5 µm generation pixels (introduced for the iPhone 5s). The die size is 4.8 mm x 6.1 mm (29.3 mm2). The phase pixel pairs have all been implemented in the green channel and cover the majority of the active pixel array."
> 
> "Our speculation of Sony winning the FaceTime sockets, though, turned out to be correct. We’ve just confirmed the iPhone 6 Plus FaceTime camera is a stacked Sony CIS and will provide more details in a future update."


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## tolusina (Sep 29, 2014)

jrista said:


> I found this the other day:
> 
> http://image-sensors-world.blogspot.com/2014/09/chipworks-iphone-6-plus-teardown-finds.html
> 
> ...



Is this a Good Thing™ or a Bad Thing™?

Can Exmors withstand bending?




.


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## bmwzimmer (Sep 29, 2014)

Must be why DXO thinks so highly of its sensor.


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## jrista (Sep 29, 2014)

tolusina said:


> jrista said:
> 
> 
> > I found this the other day:
> ...



Hah, not sure about the bending. Clearly the iPhone 6 Pus uses some rather soft metal. 

Overall, it should be a damn good thing...Exmor in a phone? Dude, I'd take that!


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## arcanej (Sep 29, 2014)

> Can Exmors withstand bending?



Sony is way ahead of this with their curved sensor tech....


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## jrista (Sep 29, 2014)

arcanej said:


> > Can Exmors withstand bending?
> 
> 
> 
> Sony is way ahead of this with their curved sensor tech....



Their curved sensor is still rigid. They don't achieve it by making the sensor flexible. Curved sensors also have very limited applications, as they only work when the curvature of field from the lens matches the curvature of the sensor. In other words, they could simplify the development of fixed lenses for certain applications, but it's doubtful that they will bring a lot to the table for any application where a dynamic focal length is necessary.


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## arcanej (Sep 29, 2014)

> Their curved sensor is still rigid.



I understand... it was a bad joke. For what it is worth, here is a good description for why iPhones might be bending along with a little force diagram.

http://imgur.com/a/FBegH


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## Marsu42 (Sep 29, 2014)

tolusina said:


> Is this a Good Thing™ or a Bad Thing™?



This is a Totally Awsome™ thing because now we can intimidate all these Nikon fanboys by stating that even mobile phones have their Sony sensor, so it cannot be any good! And anyway, who wants to own a camera from a manufacturer that cannot even produce its own sensors


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## J.R. (Sep 29, 2014)

Er... Does it shoot RAW?


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## jrista (Sep 29, 2014)

J.R. said:


> Er... Does it shoot RAW?



Probably not. Exmor should improve DR across the board though, not just in the shadows (that's another one of those things that no one seems to understand...more DR is more DR, it's not just a shadow thing. ) That should reduce noise and improve color fidelity everywhere, even if your not pushing shadows. Granted, there are some good sensors in phones already...like the Lumia 1020's 41mp sensor (which takes very nice, and particularly sharp photos.) Exmor in an iPhone probably isn't going to be as much a lead over Lumia as a FF Exmor-based DSLR has over Canon DSLRs. Still, the BSI Exmor RS sensors are really good sensors.


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## zim (Sep 29, 2014)

So what's in Sony phones then I wonder?


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## jrista (Sep 29, 2014)

dilbert said:


> Apple consider themselves to be a premium brand so it makes sense that they would use the best sensor tech available.



Yeah, indeed.


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## 3kramd5 (Sep 29, 2014)

jrista said:


> J.R. said:
> 
> 
> > Er... Does it shoot RAW?
> ...



Anecdotally, my HTC One (no clue who builds the sensor) seemed to have significantly wider DR than my iphone 6 has. The former's camera was generally awful, but occasionally I'd look at a picture and truly wonder if I could replicate it with one of my SLRs in a single exposure.


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## pierlux (Sep 30, 2014)

jrista said:


> Looks like even iPhone has moved to Exmor.


Actually, Sony’s Exmor-R back-illuminated sensor was first introduced in the rear-facing camera of the iPhone 4s. The iPhone 5 had the same sensor as the 4s. Then Apple moved to the Exmor-RS (stacked) with the iPhone 5s, the 6 and 6 plus having the same sensor as the 5s. 

What's new in the 6 and 6 Plus is only the front facing camera, previously a 1.2 MP BSI OmniVision in both the 5 and 5s, now Sony Exmor-RS. 

Well, the rear-facing camera of the 6 Plus has also optical image stabilization as a new feature, but the sensor is the same as the 5s and 6.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Sep 30, 2014)

pierlux said:


> jrista said:
> 
> 
> > Looks like even iPhone has moved to Exmor.
> ...


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## wickidwombat (Sep 30, 2014)

3kramd5 said:


> jrista said:
> 
> 
> > J.R. said:
> ...



RAW and full manual control is what I want oh and also USB Host functionality....


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## e17paul (Sep 30, 2014)

J.R. said:


> Er... Does it shoot RAW?


I think I remember RAW being available to app developers, from the coverage just after launch. I may be wrong as I can't find said report at the moment.

What Apple have done is to allow manual shutter and ISO setting control. This is not included in Apple's camera app but is in a small but growing number of third party camera apps on the App Store. Meanwhile, here is a test shot taken in my lunch break. HDR was not used. 

Edit: I have just found that although the image was rotated in Photo app, it was not when uploaded.


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## sanj (Sep 30, 2014)

tolusina said:


> jrista said:
> 
> 
> > I found this the other day:
> ...



hahahahaha


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