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.

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A Quick Comparison - N82 vs. N95 Camera Different Besides The Flash?

I just came across this post over at Symbian In Motion comparing the Nokia N95's picture quality to the Nokia N82. We all know that the flash on the N82 blows the N95's out of the water.

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.

N82

N95

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.

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Black Nokia N82 Shipping Within Weeks, Plus Press Photos

Well I wake up this morning after a great St. Patty's Day night of drinking to see an email from Nokia saying the N82 dressed in black will be shipping within weeks. Great news for those who have waited so long for this. The N82 black will come with the new firmware that will place your photos on a map with built in geotagging and hopefully a handful of bug fixes that we currently have on our silver N82. With this release we should also be getting a new firmware update for the silver version coming in a few weeks, but I haven't heard anything in stone.

Below is a flash slideshow of a handful of new press photos of the Nokia N82 in black...

Here is the official press release by Nokia. In the article they talk about an application called Sports Tracker which is already available on Nokia's website. I show you guys in another post if you haven't checked it out yet.

Nokia N82 in black - Postcards from the cutting-edge

Multimedia computer excels as travel companion with photography, navigation and Internet connectivity

Espoo, Finland - Nokia today unveiled the Nokia N82 in stylish black, bringing a blend of state-of-the-art imaging, integrated navigation and high-speed Internet connectivity to the Nseries range of converged devices. This jet black multimedia computer enables people to "geotag" the images they capture - allowing them to not only be saved by date, but by location as well. This adds to a line-up of compelling photography features, including a 5 megapixel camera, Carl Zeiss optics and a Xenon flash. Not only does the Nokia N82 take great pictures, array of advanced connectivity features makes it easy for consumers to share their discoveries, journeys and locations. The Nokia N82 in black is expected to start shipping within weeks, with an estimated retail price of approximately 400 euros, before taxes and subsidies.

"The Nokia N82 is made for storytelling," says Juha Kokkonen, Director for Nokia Nseries devices. "As one of Nokia's leading-edge connected camera, the Nokia N82 in black captures people's journeys and discoveries. With built-in A-GPS it even helps people to find new places by pairing 'contextual' information with a wide array of connectivity features such as Wi-Fi and HSDPA. We make it easy for consumers to quickly share those moments as they happen."

When it comes to camera capabilities, the gloss-black Nokia N82 is set to wow world travelers and photography enthusiasts alike. The 5 megapixel camera, powerful Xenon flash and Carl Zeiss optics, ultra-fast camera activation, autofocus with a dedicated assist lamp, fast reloading between shots and DVD-like quality video capture all ensure that special moments can be captured "picture perfect" - even in low light conditions.

Taking advantage of its integrated A-GPS functionality and high resolution camera, the Nokia N82 automatically tags images with capture location metadata, making it possible to view the capture location on a map either on the Internet or on the device itself. When it comes to sharing, consumers can upload their pictures or videos directly from their Nokia N82 to services like Share on Ovi, Flickr or YouTube. By installing Nokia's exclusive and free Sports Tracker application, consumers can share their whereabouts and travel route with others on the Sports Tracker website - including the capture locations of images. The Nokia Sports Tracker is a GPS based activity tracker that runs on Nokia smartphones. Information such as speed, distance and time are automatically stored in the application, and can be shared with others.

So after all the build up and waiting for this new black variant are you still excited about getting one or are you just loving your silver N82?

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Share Online 3.0 - Photo Sharing Made Easy From On Your N82

If you haven't heard, Nokia has updated their phone sharing application called Share Online. The new version is Share Online 3.0, and brings some important changes.

Staying in contact with your photo friends is now easier. You can now view your friend's photos and leave comments as well as view comments that have been left on your photos. Privacy settings are now able to be controlled as well, which is a huge plus. Icons are added to your standby screen that let you know when you have new comments. Personally I think it's a waste of space and we should have the option to take it off, but we don't. Bad move by Nokia.

The new Nokia photo service called Ovi is implemented in Share Online 3.o. It's Nokia's version of Flickr, and so far I like it. Most of the screenshots and photos you see hear at the blog are hosted by Ovi. There are so many options with Ovi, you just need to go check it out for yourself. Channels (same as albums in Flickr) can have many privacy settings, tags are standard, and the storage is unlimited. That's the big thing I like compared to Flickr. To have more than three albums with Flickr or unlimited storage you need to pay $25 a year. At Ovi, the cost is $0. Another amazing feature in Ovi is the ability to upload entire folders at a time on your computer. This is a huge since I don't enjoy adding files one at a time. Just click the folder you want of X amount of photos, put your feet up and turn on the TV for a bit. No need to sit there and add each file one by one. I'll talk more about the other great features of Ovi in another post.

One click upload is a huge one for me since I love putting my photos on the web. Just snap your shot, and click the upload button. It will be done in the background so you can keep snapping away. The photo will be added to Share or Ovi so your friends or family can check out the photos as your taking them.

Overall the application is very stable, but I warn you that if you don't like Share Online 3.o and want to revert back to 2.0, a full hard reset is required.

Click here to download and learn more about Share Online 3.0 for your N82. Have any of you tried it out yet?

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Photo: Beautful Day At Huntington Beach, California

As you can see it was a beautiful evening at Huntington Beach today, and the afternoon was just as good. Went to hang out and grab a bite to eat. A perfect 74 degrees Fahrenheit today. Can't beat that.

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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.

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