Over at All About Symbian.com, a very interesting read is the Camera Gritty Nitty series wherein Steve tackled several aspects regarding camera phones. Do unprotected lens' scratches really affect the output quality of pictures taken? What are the pros and cons of Led / Dual-Led / Xenon flashes in camera phones? Is it true that a camera isn't better just because it has more megapixels? Is there really difference between branded and regular camera optics? Head over to the articles to find out...
In the last part of the series, Steve investigated which among today's camera phone beasts really is the best? With the following devices, he made several comparisons and gave points in terms of effectiveness/colouration and detail captured: (Nokia N82, Nokia N95, Nokia N93, Samsung G810, and Samsung i8510). Here are the final scores:
Hmmm.. It's sad that the N82 did not win. But it's hard to accept that even the N95 triumphed over our dear N82 which leaves it at third place! The N95 indeed is a great phone, proven and tested that both phones capture outdoor shots with a very slight difference in picture quality. But with regards to indoor and night shots, the N82's xenon flash easily leaves the N95 far behind. So I think, as far as camera is concerned, the N82 is still ahead.
Samsung did a great job with the colors of i8510's images:
..though looks artificial, it's really pleasing in the eye. I wish Nokia will grant this to us as well (as an additional setting/option) on future firmware updates. And pray to God (O_o), that they grant us that long awaited fix on the N82's too much image compression. We have large capacity cards now, and Nokia needs not to be too concerned about us having 3-5mb for every pictures we take. It's what we really wanted, there are settings available anyway, in case users want to reduce image file size.
A couple of concerns I'd like to mention about the comparisons made, wherein the N82 could have won the series, (or at least against the N95??)
the toy car as the subject for macro mode i think is not that ideal for comparison. even a very minor difference on how the phones were held, or on the distance from the subject, while taking their attempt could have affected their performance on proper focusing, also add the fact that it's hard to get an ideal focus from such a subject like that car .. Or at least another subject for macro mode could have been added to have a fairer comparison. a textured wall, or cloth? or patterned stuffs? The n82 really does great job on macro mode...why was there no 1:1 comparison on the pic where the girls were jumping? The n82 sure would have garnered more points and a bigger advantage on that aspect.. hehe;)
I believe the N82 is still the best camera phone today. What do you think? It does great quality outdoor shots, perfect even for large print-outs, and its Xenon Flash is a very huge advantage, especially in a battle against dedicated digicams.. Samsung i8510 and the N95, both having typical led illumination, won't even stand a chance on night shots, rendering them almost useless at night.
Don't get me wrong, like any other posts by Steve, i really enjoyed that article. I think it really boils down to the user as to how he wants his camera phone to be. And this 5-part series.., sure another helpful guide for those in search of that camera phone they really wanted.. ^^
As for me, the n82 is the real winner! ;-) Thoughts and comments welcome!
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Has The Best Camera Phone Been Overthroned? Is The N82 Still The Best Camera Phone To Date??
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
N82 vs. Samsung U900 Photo Fight! Who Wins?
If you haven't heard Samsung released a 5mp cameraphone with a LED flash. Before the release of the Samsung competitor the Nokia N82 was known as the imaging champion of all cameraphones. Does it still stand as king? Keep reading for a direct photo comparison of the Nokia N82 and the Samsung U900.
I recieved an email the other day from Hamidi from Mobile-Review Forums informing me of this photo quality comparison he's doing. He calls it the 5mp Stand Off. So far it looks like the N82 is really kicking ass in almost all departments, check out the images below...
Samsung U900 left or top, N82 right or bottom (depending on your browser). You can click the images for the original size.
As you can see in those images the Samsung on the left is too bright and is letting in too much light. The term for that is over-exposure correct? Here's another example of this...
Here is a macro shot...
In my opinion this is where the N82 faltered a little. The Samsung U900 gives a little more detail and sharpness.
And should we even try to compare night shots? LED vs Xenon...come on thats not even a fair game. Ehh, why not?
As you can see the LED flash of the U900 looks atrocious, while the N82's xenon flash gives off a nice warm natural light.
So who takes the win? Needless to same the N82 comes out on top with a stellar performance. Still the reigning king of photo quality on a cameraphone. Nokia N82 takes all the glory.
Ok enough gloating. Hamidi gets a huge thanks for this comparison. But don't stop reading here. You can find even more comparison photos over at his post at Mobile Review Forums where he even throws in some Nokia N95 photos for an even closer look at the competition. Click here for more head to head photos and voice your opinion.
This makes me remember why I'm a proud N82 owner.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Still Can't Decide Which N82 Color? Here's Photos Of All Three Side By Side
I conducted a poll a few weeks ago about which color variant of the Nokia N82 you prefer. Out of 512 voters - 52% said black, 41% said Titanium and 6% undecided. If your one of the people on the fence about which color you prefer, check out the gallery of N82 black and N82 titanium variants creme, and white. Good find by the guys over at Into Mobile.
Click here to see the rest of the gallery if you'd like.
Thanks to the folks at Wom World I'm going to be getting to use the Nokia N82 black for a few weeks so I can showcase it to all of you and finally make my decision to to purchase or to keep the titanium. If anyone wants any certain angles of the phone I can take a picture and show you here at the blog. More on that next week.
For those that have the N82 black already, are you liking it? How is the build quality?
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Roundup: Interesting News & Articles From Recent Weeks
There as been a lot to cover the past few weeks as far as Symbian S60 and Nokia news goes. Everything from applications to tutorials, to discussions about the N95 and how it affects Nokia. Below is a roundup of all the latest happenings.
Qik Tips For Live Video Streaming
Matthew from the Darla Mack Blog has posted an article talking about everything you need to know about the Qik application for live video streaming. Click here
The Black N82 Is Amazing
Stefan from Into Mobile talks about his time meeting one of the project managers of the Nokia N82. He also talks about how much he loves his new black N82. Click here
The Where Application & Sling Player For S60 Update
Rick from Symbian Guru has posted articles about the popular Sling Player which allows you to watch your live TV on your phone and a new application called Where which is a location based application and tells you things such as gas prices, events, places to eat, etc.
Uploading Your Photos To More Than One Place At The Same Time
Mark from The Nokia Blog wrote up a great article about the free Shozu application which allows you to upload photos and videos to popular online social websites. It's like Share Online 3.0 on steroids. Click here
Listening To Baseball And Hockey Radio On Your Phone
Have you ever wanted to stream live internet radio to your phone. Here is the only solution for right now if the format is Windows Media Player, which S60 phones currently don't support. Click here
What Makes A Smartphone Smart?
Great question by Steve from All About Symbian, along with a great article. Click here
S60 Software Thats Worth Paying For
Do you buy a lot of applications? Or do you prefer to find a free solution. I only have a few applications on my phone that are worth paying for. Vaibhav from The Symbian Blog has posted an article about this. Click here
Nokia N78 & Nokia N82 Side By Side Pictures
Just Another Mobile Blog has posted a ton of photos showing the two phones side by side. Click here
Problems Updating Firmware With Vista? Look Here
Do you get this error? "Nokia Service Layer Host Process has stopped working". If so Mr-X from Finest Fones has posted a article to get around this. I highly recomment eveyone to read this before you update your firmware with Vista. Click here
That's it for now. If you've seen any good articles recently let us know in the comments below.
Friday, April 11, 2008
The Two N82 Colors - Side By Side
A Chinese phone website has published some side by side comparison photos of the Nokia N82 in black and titanium. It's amazing how both of the phones look great. I initially thought I would be leaning towards liking the black version better, but now I am not so sure. The titanium is really unique and like others have said I would've liked to see the N82 black in more of a matte finish rather than glossy.
I'm curious to see how many of you prefer the titanium or black.
Vote in the poll in the right column and let us know your thoughts.
Click here to see more side by side N82 black and titanium photos.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Squirrels & Lizards Captured In Darkness With The N82
Hopefully Ravindra from Symbian Life Blog didn't blind these poor little fellas haha. I'm sure there fine. He got a chance to try out the N82 and shows off the xenon flash capalities - in pitch black darkness.
Looking at all the pictures on his article you would think there was a light on in the room. I had a discussion with Devin from The Nokia Guide today and we agreed how hard it would be to give up xenon flash. I was telling him that myself, living in the USA we don't get to take advantage of the N82's 3g speeds. I could opt to go for the N95-4, but there is no way in hell I can get good use out of the N95's camera in low light conditions. I take a lot of night photos so this is definetly a problem.
Click here to head over and check out the article by Symbian Life. It's very interesting as are the photos he took.
What do you think? Would you be Europeans be able to give up your 3g speeds to keep xenon flash? Or would you switch to a N95 with 3g and no xenon? I'd like to hear your thoughts on this.
I'm actually going to find out this question for myself soon. I will be trialing a N95-4 (N95 8gb with North American 3g) for a few weeks thanks to Nokia. I'll check back here with my initial thoughts in a few days.
Friday, March 28, 2008
A Quick Comparison - N82 vs. N95 Camera Different Besides The Flash?
But how about normal lighting without flash? What about photos in a dimly lit room with no flash. Is there a difference?
Here is a chandelier with the light on in a dark room. Both photos are taken in night mode with no flash. Photos taken by Zach from Symbian In Motion.
As you can see there is a huge difference. The N82's picture lets in the perfect amount of light so that it's able to grab the details of the chandelier. The N95 failed miserably. As Zach points out in his post, this has to do with the imaging software in the N82 being better than the N95's. What else would explain this? They have the same megapixels and same lens right? Nokia N95 owners should be happy about this because more than likely since is software this can be fixed with future updates.
Click here to check out the rest of the post at Symbian In Motion. You'd find more N82 vs. N95 comparison photos and he even throws the Casio Exilim into the mix as well. Makes you happy and proud you picked up a Nokia N82.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
The Nokia N82's Flash Beats Out A Kodak 5MP @ Symbian World
Well I've been waiting for someone to compare the xenon flash of the Nokia N82 to the flash of a dedicated digital camera. I've been speculating in my head since the release of the Nokia N95 if a camera phone can replace a digital camera for everyday and night use. Of course the led flash of the Nokia N95 fails vs. a digital camera. But take a look at these comparison pictures done by Symbian World. In a battle of dark lighting between the Nokia N82 vs. a Kodak Z740 5MP Camera, the Nokia N82 came out on top. This is great news for those who are trying to decide if they don't want to lug their digital camera around all over the place.
Check out a few samples below:
left: Nokia N82, right: Kodak Z740
(click photos for full image)
So what do you think. Obviously the N82 the trophy in this shootout. The average price is about $230 bucks for that Kodak Z740. If you look hard enough, you can find a Nokia N82 for no more than $550. For me the extra couple hundred bucks would be worth it. It depends on the user. For me, I would no longer need a digital camera. These samples are proof enough for me that it's just not necessary. All the tests I've seen show that the camera starts up in about 2 seconds on the Nokia N82, just as fast as my digital camera. Zoom functions are much better on a digital camera, but I rarely use zoom at all.
Click here to check out the article at Symbian World.
