ISOCELL 2.0

Samsung’s new 50-megapixel JN1 sensor has the smallest pixels in the world

Jun 11, 2021 by John Aldred Add Comment

When it comes to smartphone camera sensors, there are only really two big players. Sony and Samsung. And while Sony might be selling more units, Samsung always seems to be pushing things that little bit further. Or, in this case, smaller. Samsung has announced its new 50-megapixel ISOCELL 2.0 JN1 sensor, boasting smaller pixels than even its 108-megapixel flagship smartphone sensor.

This tiny 1/2.8-inch chip has a pixel pitch of only 0.64μm compared to the slightly larger 0.7μm pixel pitch of Samsung’s ISOCELL HM2 108-megapixel 1/1.52-inch sensor. Yet they still manage to pack in their Smart-ISO tech along with the “Double Super PDAF” autofocus system. And it sounds like it’s basically just a drop-in replacement for existing 1/2.8″ devices.

Samsung lets us look behind the curtain at their “pro-grade” ISOCELL HM3 smartphone camera sensor tech

May 26, 2021 by John Aldred Add Comment

Announced in mid-January, Samsung’s ISOCELL HM3 108-megapixel sensor was both a “wow!” and a “wtf?” moment for smartphone cameras. It’s an insane resolution for a smartphone, based on the raw pixel count alone, but it offers a lot of potential advantages for computational photography.

It’s only been released in the Samsung Galaxy S21 ultra so far, and it’s not yet made it into any other brand’s smartphones (but there are likely a few on the way). But Samsung has released a video “introducing” the sensor (4 months after its release) going into detail about how the sensor actually works.

Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

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