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Over the past twelve years, Nokia has released at least a dozen models of phones and smartphones with very good cameras. Probably the best on the market for its time. Let's remember what these models were.
2002: Nokia 7650
This is the first Nokia phone with a camera. Its resolution is small - only 0.3 megapixels (640x480 pixels), but at that time digital cameras took pictures with this resolution, and a camera on a phone was generally a novelty. In addition, it was the first Nokia phone with a color screen and the first one based on Symbian.
2005 year
The camera in the next Nokia phone became more serious - with Carl Zeiss optics, and the device itself looked unusual - with two screens, similar to a compact hand-held video camera.
2006
A year later, Nokia developed the idea of a hybrid phone and video camera: the Nokia N93 smartphone was equipped with a camera with three times optical zoom, a slot for a two-gigabyte memory card and Adobe software for video editing.
2007
In 2007, Nokia abandoned the development of the “hybrid phone and video camera” form factor and switched to producing business-class camera phones. N95 is the world's first phone with a five-megapixel camera. It was capable of multitasking, allowing you to edit office files and use navigation applications.
2008
A distinctive feature of this camera phone is its bright xenon flash. Thanks to it, the smartphone took decent quality pictures in low light conditions. The camera resolution remains the same - 5 megapixels.
year 2009
A year later, the number of pixels in the new smartphone’s camera increased to eight million and options appeared that were previously only available on standalone cameras: manual setting shutter speed and mechanical shutter of a photographic lens. There are special buttons on the body for working with photographs.
2010
year 2012
Legendary camera phone with a 41-megapixel camera. This is the first phone in which Nokia used proprietary PureView image processing technology: the resolution of the captured photo is software reduced, while noise and distortion are partially eliminated.
year 2012
Last year's Nokia flagship, which was praised by everyone - either for its design or for its camera quality. The Lumia 920 uses a PureView camera with optical stabilization. This smartphone performs especially well when shooting in low light conditions.
year 2013
After this, Nokia released two more devices that can be classified as camera phones: Lumia 925 and Lumia 928; in terms of shooting quality, they are not much superior to the Lumia 920.
The peak of development of Nokia camera phones is the Lumia 1020 with a 41-megapixel camera, optical stabilizer, xenon flash and software with settings for many shooting parameters. This smartphone records video in FullHD format, with a sixfold zoom. Not every semi-professional camera can boast of this.
This is the path Nokia smartphones with cameras have gone through - from a simple device with a VGA camera to a highly complex one with a 41 megapixel camera. It's hard to imagine what the next stage will be.
Camera killer: Nokia Lumia 1020 camera phone review
The company's developments in the field of photo modules for smartphones deserve especially close attention, the most advanced of which are implemented in the Nokia Lumia 1020 camera phone, which has already been dubbed the “killer of compact cameras.” Its main advantage and advantage over other models that focus on the possibility of high-quality photography is Nokia’s own development, the PureView2 photo module with a 41-megapixel matrix capable of taking frames with a resolution of 7712x5360 pixels.
Design and hardware platform
Testing the camera.
To view full-size images, click on the resolution link
The technology was first used in the Nokia 808 PureView model, which ran on the Symbian operating system. However, refining the camera and adapting it to Windows Phone took a lot of time - an updated version of the module in the company's new smartphone, Nokia Lumia 1020, was introduced only a year after the first flagship camera phone with PureView.
It is worth noting that PureView2 installed in the Nokia Lumia 1020 has been significantly improved compared to the previous model. The sensor resolution remains the same and is 41 megapixels; the physical size of the sensor has even decreased slightly - 1/1.5 inches versus 1/1.2 for the previous model. But now the module uses a fast Carl Zeiss lens (F2.2) with a new optical design, which includes as many as six physical lenses and an optical stabilization system, which allows you to take the clearest pictures even in low light conditions. On this moment is the only smartphone with a 41 megapixel sensor, and its capabilities are truly unique.
In addition to the sensor, one of the key features The camera phone is a revolutionary digital zoom technology, which is an analogue of 3x optical zoom. With its help, you can select any fragment from any full-size photograph, which, after enlargement, will not be inferior in clarity and quality to the original photograph. Ordinary smartphones with lower sensor resolution do not have this ability to crop and, as a result of cropping, usually produce a “blurred” photo of poor quality.
The technical characteristics of the PureView2 module themselves deserve close attention, but in addition to this, Nokia has developed several software products that significantly expand its capabilities. Special software turns the camera phone into a full-fledged camera that boasts many settings and shooting modes. There are two main applications for working with the Nokia Lumia 1020 camera - Nokia Pro Cam and Nokia Smart Cam, which have different functionality and are designed for different tasks.
Nokia Pro Cam is something that will allow everyone to take highly artistic photographs worthy of a professional. This application is capable of taking frames with a resolution of 34 or 38 megapixels - depending on the photo format, 16:9 or 4:3. Along with a large image, resolution up to 7712x5360 pixels, Pro Cam records a small 5-megapixel photograph in JPEG format, which can be immediately processed in the built-in photo editor.
Shooting settings
In terms of functionality, Nokia's proprietary application can be compared to a semi-professional camera. In addition to automatic settings, it allows you to manually set many parameters: white balance, exposure compensation (from -3 to +3 EV), ISO (from 100 to 400), shutter speed (from 1/16000 to 4 seconds, for which it is strongly recommended to use a tripod) . All parameters are adjusted by simply moving the slider along the axis, and, importantly, the result is immediately visible. One of the most useful features for manually setting up a camera is manual focusing, with which you can independently focus on a near or distant object. This is especially true when shooting macro or when the device, for some reason, cannot focus on its own.
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Focus adjustment
Despite the abundance of settings, the Pro Cam interface is simple and clear. All parameters are displayed on the main screen in the form of icons. When you click on the icon, a menu with settings opens, in which, using the slider, you can adjust the values of each parameter.
Pro Cam is also used to record videos, the maximum quality of which is 1080p at 30 fps. The sound is recorded from two microphones at once, which allows you to get very good audio quality. Before you start shooting, you can manually set the white balance and turn on the low-pass filter, which is designed to improve sound quality.
If the Pro Cam app is for taking photos in professional quality, then Smart Cam claims to be the master of burst shooting. Instead of one frame, it takes a series of ten 5-megapixel photos, which can then be processed using different algorithms. From several photographs, Smart Cam helps you choose the best frame, and it can also combine several frames into one final image. In the second case, the application allows you to remove unnecessary moving objects from the final photo, select best expressions faces in a group photo or get shots with the effect of movement, when the central object remains sharp and the background is blurred. The photos included in the series are saved in Nokia's proprietary format, so they are processed directly in the application, but the result will be presented in standard JPEG.
In addition, the Nokia Lumia 1020 has the Nokia Photos Alive application, with which you can create a small GIF directly on your phone. Before saving the photo, you can manually select which areas of the image should be animated and which not.
The built-in Photo Studio app allows you to edit photos directly on your phone. In addition to the usual functions, it offers blurring the background, leaving only the central object sharp, accentuating colors on some elements, making the main background monochrome, or creating a collage.
If suddenly this doesn’t seem enough, you can go directly from the camera menu to the store and download several additional applications.
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Programs for amateur photographers
In addition to special applications, a special accessory is responsible for turning it into a full-fledged camera - a photo case with an additional battery. For more comfortable work with the camera phone, the case has an additional protruding handle, a universal tripod mount and a separate 1020 mAh battery, which is capable of taking almost 300 photos.
Conclusion
The company is constantly improving cameras and offering best solutions in all price segments, including ultra-affordable mobile phones like the Nokia 108 and, of course, more expensive flagship models.
At the moment, Nokia's flagship camera phone is the Nokia Lumia 1020. First of all, this model is worth noting the use of the PureView2 module, which uses a 41 megapixel sensor, excellent Carl Zeiss optics and unsurpassed technological solutions that allow you to create detailed photographs of the highest quality . Due to the high resolution of the sensor, the device has an analogue of optical zoom, which allows you to crop photos without losing quality.
Nokia Lumia 1020 - much more than a smartphone, more than a camera
Special applications Nokia Pro Cam and Smart Cam help you create photos whose quality is certainly comparable to the quality of images obtained using professional cameras. The Lumia 1020 camera phone can be safely recommended to anyone who does not like to carry a lot of different gadgets with them, but prefers to use high-quality all-in-one devices, since the performance and battery (especially together with the additional photo case) make it possible to use the device as a phone and like a camera at the same time.
*The study was conducted by Redshift Research for Nokia between June and July 2013. The survey included 4,138 camera phone owners in various European countries (62% women, 38% men, urban residents 34%).
Windows 8 has one great feature - you can change phones (on the Windows 8 platform) from one model to another, and programs and settings are automatically saved and transferred to new phone when entering your login and password account. Everything will be preserved, including the usual arrangement of icons. So you don’t have to really get used to the new phone.
We were looking for a phone with a good camera. A phone that could replace a camera.
Nokia lumia 1020 is a phone with the most powerful (to date) camera for a phone, 41 megapixels.
The phone has a lot of advantages and, as it turns out, there are also a lot of disadvantages.
ADVANTAGES
Nokia Lumia 1020 is the only phone in the world with a 41 MP camera
- good camera. It is a fact. The photos are bright, juicy, with good detail and color rendition.
At first, I photographed everything: people, toys on the playground, plants, insects.
I shot this in the forest in poor lighting:
And here is a photo indoors in poor lighting:
Photos in motion (subject to good lighting) also turn out well:
The camera can be used in automatic mode, or it can be adjusted for brightness/contrast, shutter speed, you can change focus, etc.
See what effects you can achieve by changing the ISO value
and brightness.
Here is a cropped photo of the ropejumper. It looks like a bag on a rope, but they brought it closer and you can even see the person.
And this is sand on the beach. On the right is a photo taken with a 38 megapixel camera, on the left is a cropped piece.
- color rendition. The color rendition of this camera phone is much better than that of my Nikon Kulpix camera. Judge for yourself:
- optical stabilization. A great thing - you can shoot video handheld, and the stabilization will smooth out all jerks and movements. Of course, it’s not perfectly straight, but it’s more pleasing to the eye than without it.
- six times digital zoom. The thing is necessary. I even sometimes use the zoom as binoculars)
- Xenon flash and LED video light. The xenon flash is quite bright. It hits at a distance of 3-4 meters. Photos in the dark turn out bright, and at the same time, the light with a xenon flash is more even, the picture looks beautiful, without glare. Before this phone, I didn't like taking photos with flash. Unnatural photos with red eyes. And then... I fell in love with the flash.
This photo was taken in complete darkness.
The LED backlight can be used as a flashlight, or to illuminate videos or photos.
Handheld photo of the city at night. It would have worked better on a tripod. The photo on the left is a long exposure experiment.
FLAWS Nokia Lumia 1020
- in normal mode the camera is 5 MP.
Although my 920 Lumiya had an 8.7 megapixel camera.
Despite the declared 41 megapixels. The maximum number of megapixels that can be squeezed out of this camera is 38. I must say, we had to tinker with it to understand how to use this camera. The trick is that in 38 megapixel mode the camera shoots only through the Lumia Camera program.
Depending on the aspect ratio of the photo, you can select 5 MP and 38 MP or 5 MP and 34 MP mode. Thus, the phone will save two photos of 5 megapixels and 38 (34).
One photo to insert into social network, for example, another for framing and processing. On average, photos taken with a 5 MP camera weigh 1.5-3 MB. Photos taken with a 38 megapixel camera weigh 11-15 MB.
On the left is a cropped photo taken with a camera in 5 MP mode, on the right is 38 MP. Do you feel the difference? (click on photo to enlarge).
- not flexible camera settings.
Pictures are either 5 MP or 34 (38) MP.
By default, the phone takes 5 megapixel photos. You can, of course, set the “Lumia Camera” program as the default and then it will open from the “camera” button, but I don’t need absolutely ALL photos in 34 (38) MP quality, and therefore 11 MB or more in size. Moreover, this model does not have a slot for a flash card.
- macro. The macro here, like all my Lumias, is not so hot. Shoots “macro” from a distance of 10-15 cm, even in macro mode. The detail is not bad, but it is no longer macro.
-The camera gets very hot. After a few minutes of using the phone's camera, you can fry eggs. I'm exaggerating, of course. You won't burn your hands, but it gets quite hot.
- photos are processed slowly, the camera is slow to focus. After releasing the shutter, the photo is processed for a few seconds. Autofocus is also quite slow. With such slowness, you can’t count on catching all the interesting moments.
Battery It’s both pleasing and not at the same time. If you do not use the phone actively, it can live without recharging for quite a long time. My record is 2 days, 8 hours.
If you use a camera or a navigator, the phone can last 3-4 hours. The xenon flash drains the battery especially hard.
Such a short battery life can be somehow corrected by a camera grip. The case has an additional 1020 MA battery, a camera shutter button, a comfortable grip, and a hole for a tripod. The case also has a charge indicator button.
This case makes your phone look like a camera. In addition, it lies very comfortably in the hand.
The photo case for Nokia Lumia 1020 is not sold separately.
CONCLUSIONS
Personally, I was a little disappointed in the vaunted phone. Maybe because my expectations for this camera phone were too high.
Although, the quality of shooting is excellent, but the camera... even if it is of an average price category, of course, will not replace it.
Nokia says that they made a revolution by introducing a 12-megapixel camera in the Nokia N8, since until that moment phones did not look like digital cameras. This is the first camera of this class for Nokia, but such devices have long been known on the market - remember the PIXON12 from Samsung, as well as the Sony Ericsson Satio. These models went on sale more than a year ago, but Nokia has only now decided to release its flagship camera. By the time the megapixel race is over, companies have stopped developing this direction by increasing megapixels and are working on image processing algorithms and optics.
Unfortunately, in the technological aspect, Nokia is rapidly beginning to lag behind the market, and the company's lack of expertise has to be supplemented with ornate slogans, marketing and PR. In the case of the camera on the Nokia N8, many such flowery statements were made. But today technology consists of two aspects - hardware and software. It is not enough to buy the best hardware to get the best results. Most of it comes from software. Let me give you an example. A regular military missile boat doesn't cost that much until a weapons control system is installed on it. Its cost reaches 90 percent of the price of the boat itself and its weapons. Computers and programs determine the qualities of this warship.
Exactly the same thing in phones. It is not enough to buy a large matrix and install it in your phone. The qualities of this matrix will not manifest themselves if the image processing algorithms are outdated. Unfortunately, Nokia never had adequate software developers for cameras; the company did not pay attention to this area and always lagged behind its competitors. Trying to create such algorithms in one fell swoop without having experience in this area makes no sense. However, Nokia believes that this is not so important, but the hardware that is installed in the phone is important. In case of camera we're talking about about the matrix and optics. The deficiencies of images will be filled by marketing and PR, the bet is on this.
Claiming to be a photo flagship, Nokia expected that they would be compared with the best products of last season - PIXON12, Sony Ericsson Satio. But people don’t follow corporate logic so much that they started comparing this product with regular phone cameras and got interesting results. In my opinion, you need to go exactly the same way and compare cameras one by one. For example, I chose the Apple iPhone 4 for this as Apple's flagship does not have a good or outstanding camera. Also Samsung Wave is a typical product in this price segment and has a regular 5-megapixel camera without any special features. For dessert, I left a comparison with the PIXON12 as a model that appeared on the market long before the Nokia N8. A completely fair comparison of the commercial sample of Nokia N8 with models that have been on the market for a long time and do not have any achievements in the field of photography (PIXON12 is exactly a year out of date, although in terms of additional features camera remains an unsurpassed device).
Technical characteristics of the camera in Nokia N8. What is and what is not
The camera is located on the back surface of the case. This is a block protruding slightly from the body, there is no mechanical curtain, it was abandoned due to the fact that they could not achieve acceptable work on previous models (for example, scratches on Nokia N97, dust, etc.). There is nothing wrong with the absence of a curtain; for example, the PIXON12 does not have one, as do most regular phones. The camera is covered with scratch-resistant tempered glass. This is quite enough to protect the camera.
There is also a xenon flash there. Unfortunately, there was no room for an LED flash. Nokia explains this by saying that they did not have enough space in the N8 body for a second flash. Top photo solutions from other companies use a combination of a xenon flash and an LED flash. For regular photos LED flash is not so important, but its role when shooting video indoors is huge. On the other hand, in some photography situations, an LED flash is preferable.
The camera key has two positions, half pressing is for setting, full pressing is for taking a picture. The photo saving time is up to 2 seconds, then you can take the next photo. Focusing time is less than a second for most situations.
Here is a list of characteristics that relate to the camera:
- 12 megapixel sensor, 1/1.83", dot size 1.75 microns (versus 1.4 for most phone cameras);
- f 2.8;
- ISO 100, 400, 800, Auto;
- Focal length 5.9 mm;
- Focusing from 10 centimeters (macro), from 20 to infinity in automatic mode;
- Autofocus;
- Digital zoom x2, when shooting video x3;
- Identifying a face in a photo;
- Red-eye reduction;
The camera does not have the Smile Detection function, which looks logical if there is a face detection algorithm. The absence of this mode is simply a lack of time and experience to develop it. Once upon a time in Nokia phones it will appear, today the company does not have enough expertise to include it in the package. Exactly the same story with choosing the focus point, this is only the central point. For example, on Samsung Wave this is implemented differently; you can select any focus point from the touch screen. And this is not a photographic solution, but a regular model in its price group. The ISO limitation also stems from the inability to create an algorithm to work correctly with the selected matrix. PIXON12 has a choice of ISO from 50 to 1600.
Unfortunately, camera development has always been an afterthought at Nokia, and today the company is reaping the consequences of this. The lack of a digital zoom of more than x2 is explained by the fact that noise begins to increase at large values, and Nokia does not know how to deal with it. This is typical for most matrices for mobile phones, but, for example, the Samsung PIXON12, due to its image processing algorithms, was able to achieve a x4 zoom. However, why go far, I photographed the laptop screen with this article, two pictures from Nokia N8 and pictures from PIXON12.
Nokia N8:
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Samsung PIXON12:
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Have you compared? Of course, Nokia can give an explanation that the x2 zoom is also good. Nobody argues with this. But x4 zoom is always better than x2. I hope that no one will argue with this either.
In order not to return to the topic of “natural” colors on the Nokia N8, I will give the floor to a company representative who explains that automatic white balance distorts colors according to a predefined algorithm, and this can be useful in certain situations. This is true. But it is also true that in certain situations this algorithm does not work correctly.
Comparison with Apple iPhone 4
Well done at Engadget for creating a comparison of photos of the N8 with the Apple iPhone 4, which shows the difference in cameras, or rather, says that they are comparable for the average user. With a number of caveats, the pictures look more interesting on the iPhone 4, since the device colors them through post-processing, but the “natural” colors from the Nokia N8 are not so pleasing to the eye. Of course, if you want to stock up on a photo editor and work in Photoshop after every shot, then the Nokia N8 is an obvious choice. For ordinary person The Nokia N8 doesn't offer any special advantages over the Apple iPhone 4.
Here are a couple of our shots indoors, where the large sensor of the Nokia N8 should simply knock out the Apple iPhone 4 with its rather average camera from the competition. But... What is it? I must have mixed up the pictures? What kind of miracles? In the picture from the iPhone, you can see everything on the laptop screen, you can read every icon, but also the stand, which I photographed, is in focus. Fantastic. I would like to make a reservation that out of the box the Nokia N8 shoots at 9 megapixels, which I personally did not expect. It’s logical to set the maximum resolution, but for some reason they were embarrassed to do this. But this does not affect the quality of the pictures in any way, so the comparison remains quite fair.
Finally, at least one photo that can be called comparable and where the Nokia N8 does not lose so much.
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Nokia N8 |
Apple iPhone 4 |
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I took out the pencils and decided to remove them to convey the texture of the material. Oh. This is probably a false comparison, since the N8 camera simply cannot take photographs from a distance of 20 centimeters and convey the quality of the object nearby. Let's look and see the difference.
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Nokia N8 |
Apple iPhone 4 |
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The claim that the Nokia N8 produces natural colors is not true in all conditions. In the photographs shown, the Apple iPhone 4 has natural colors, but not vice versa. This is the first proof that the Nokia N8 is nothing outstanding in terms of camera. More evidence follows.
Comparison with Samsung Wave
It's an unfair comparison in every sense, since the Wave has a regular 5-megapixel camera that doesn't claim to be the best camera in a mobile phone. An ordinary camera that provides the quality that is considered sufficient for most consumers. And consumers themselves believe that, as a rule, they have enough of such pictures. Twelve megapixels, Carl Zeiss optics and the largest sensor matrix are all against a typical Samsung camera. Let me hint that such cameras are installed on most of the company’s products. So, let's go. Who will win this comparison?
To add independent opinions, I conducted an interesting experiment. Show ten people the comparison photos on your laptop screen and ask them to choose the one they like best. The photos were not labeled, but I honestly said that one was taken with a 12 megapixel camera and the other with a 5 megapixel camera. The bottom line is that the experience was not very interesting, since the votes were equally divided. No one could guess where the 12-megapixel camera is in comparison. It follows that, taking away the marketing and the knowledge that you have a super-duper camera, the quality of the real picture is no different from most modern phone cameras. However, let's look at this.
All photographs are shown in their original form. Unfortunately, the Nokia N8 has automatic picture rotation, so some pictures are different, but this does not affect the details and perception of the picture in any way. Look, evaluate.
In the upper left corner of the Wave photo, my finger accidentally covered the lens while shooting. But other than that, the image gives an excellent idea of the cameras' capabilities. So, in the photo from Nokia N8 foreground very blurred, but the grass on the left and the cars in the background are in focus. At the same time, Wave coped with this worse; it came out more sharply right part frame, those objects that are in the foreground. Who did win? In terms of overall detail, the Nokia N8 wins. In terms of composition, both cameras coped with their task. For a person who understands that a picture from a phone camera is needed for display on a phone, perhaps on a PC screen, these pictures are comparable, the same. The advantage of Nokia N8 is not observed, or it is not so deafening as to say that this photo is better.
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Nokia N8 |
Samsung Wave |
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In the next photo of a leaf in the Nokia N8, the machine worked in the mode of shooting the nearest object, refusing to focus on the details of the background. In Samsung Wave, the camera processed the entire frame, so all objects are in sharpness. I don’t know, I like both shots, I would give preference to the Nokia N8, since the shot turned out more interesting.
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Nokia N8 |
Samsung Wave |
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But, unfortunately, getting such pictures on the Nokia N8 is more a matter of luck than sober calculation. The camera often does not know how to focus on nearby objects and tries to shoot objects in the background. Here's another shot of the leaves, but now look at how the roles have reversed. The image from Wave has both the foreground and the leaves in the background detailed. In Nokia N8 there is no foreground, it is blurred.
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Nokia N8 |
Samsung Wave |
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And to confirm this - another couple of pictures.
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Nokia N8 |
Samsung Wave |
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Here are some more close-up shots.
Road sign- this was the subject of the shooting. It came out well in both pictures, the pictures look comparable.
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Nokia N8 |
Samsung Wave |
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It was interesting to see a bright color, like a red car. Will image processing algorithms colorize the car and enhance the color? In both cases, the color remains the same, but the N8 benefits from image resolution, more detail and a better picture when viewed on a larger screen.
I can't decide which I like best in this pair of pictures. It's clear that the Wave camera tinted the house, but the N8 discolored it.
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Nokia N8 |
Samsung Wave |
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While I was walking around and taking photographs, the idea arose that the N8 could smear at close distances (less than a meter) due to its design features. I decided to check this by removing an object on the wall from about half a meter away. The result is a very typical picture, detailing suffers. This is typical for Nokia N8, and the problem here is the automation, it does not work well at such distances, and this is clearly visible in the photo.
The large sensor size on the Nokia N8 should, in theory, mean that pictures taken in poor conditions, such as indoors without using a flash, give better results than cameras with a smaller sensor size. In theory, everything is so. In practice, the result is amazing. We look at the photo of Wave, and then at the Nokia N8. There is less detail on the N8, the lettering is blurry, and the file size is smaller. A clear victory for Samsung Wave.
We check it on other objects and get a comparable result.
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Nokia N8 |
Samsung Wave |
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In some cases, the Nokia N8 produces more details, especially noticeable at short distances; the Wave camera cannot do this. Look at the poster, an almost perfect shot on the Nokia N8. Also, in the photo of the church, N8 distorted the colors, but showed more details.
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Nokia N8 |
Samsung Wave |
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Conclusions compared to Wave
In this comparison, we discovered some interesting facts about the Nokia N8 camera. It doesn’t work well in scenes where you need to shoot something at a distance of half a meter, and even up to a meter detail suffers. In this case, the background, as a rule, is worked out well. Further, it should be noted that the large sensor does not give any advantages to the camera; at night and indoors it shoots the same way as current camera models on other phones, or even worse.
You see the pictures, you can compare them. I wouldn't prefer the Samsung Wave camera as a photographic solution, it's a regular phone camera. But the fact that the Nokia N8 does not tear this camera to pieces, does not win by a huge margin, makes us ask the question - do you really think that this device was created as a model comparable to digital point-and-shoot cameras?
I like the camera in the Nokia N8; the percentage of usable images is quite comparable to that of the Wave, Nokia N97 and hundreds of other phones. Unfortunately, nothing radically new has happened, this is an ordinary camera, as this comparison proved. Now let's complicate the task, from comparison with conventional cameras in phones, let's move on to comparison with a photographic solution that appeared on the market a year ago. And it is functionally comparable to the Nokia N8 - both in terms of camera and flash.
Comparison with PIXON12
Right out of the box the camera resolution was set to 9 megapixels, I don't know why that is. Having clicked photos from Wave, I didn’t change anything, and already on the computer I discovered that after shooting the device itself changed it back to 9 megapixels, and the entire series with PIXON12 turned out to have a lower resolution for the Nokia N8. To avoid any ambiguity, a second series of photographs was taken on the street, but it was a pity to part with the work already done, so some of the photographs are included in the comparison. They are quite typical and show both the advantages and disadvantages of the Nokia N8 camera. At first, let the pictures be given in a low resolution, and then the pictures in 12 megapixels will come.
Understanding the example of Samsung Wave weak sides Nokia N8 camera, it was easy to compare this device with the PIXON12 - take pictures near a rowan tree, and you are guaranteed to get a bad result for the N8. See for yourself.
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Nokia N8 |
Samsung PIXON12 |
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And here's a photo broken car became a revelation for me, not only was the N8 unable to work out the details from a meter, it also got the colors wrong. Also look at the grille at maximum magnification of the pictures. On PIXON12 the grid lines are visible, on N8 they merge - this is the work of the image post-processing algorithm.
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Nokia N8 |
Samsung PIXON12 |
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Do you remember from childhood that the sky is blue and the grass is green? In Nokia N8, the default image processing algorithm believes that colors cannot be bright, at least in nature. Therefore, the sky was painted white, the grass was highlighted, and the people in the frame received worn clothes in calm and faded colors. PIXON12 has a different processing algorithm; on the contrary, it tints the image. It turns out that from the average (real picture) both cameras go in two different directions. But I don’t remember any algorithms that specifically discolor the picture.
Someone talked about a large matrix, which is perceived by many as an opportunity to get rid of noise and achieve better picture detail, especially in low light conditions. Mmm. Let's see, the automation on the PIXON12 set ISO to 100, the N8 has a very fancy algorithm for calculating ISO - here the value is 150. But the pictures, in general, speak for themselves.
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Nokia N8 |
Samsung PIXON12 |
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I really wanted to sort out the photographs, but then, showing them to unwitting participants in the comparison and selection of the best, I realized that comments were unnecessary. The Samsung model may be outdated, but the quality of its images remains unsurpassed. Below I will show you a couple of pictures, they will speak for themselves. The choice of independent people is 10 to 1 in favor of PIXON12. As they say, no comments.
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Nokia N8 |
Samsung PIXON12 |
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Filming at night
Let's compare it with the PIXON12, which has already shown itself to be quite good. I expected the Nokia N8 to be superior in night photography; after all, the sensor size is larger, and this plays a role. In Nokia N8, the sensor does provide a brighter picture, but is noisy. For example, a picture of a lit street, look at the signs on the other side of the street. On Nokia N8 the signs are simply not readable.
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I don’t see the point in sorting out other photographs; they are rather uninteresting pictures, since the conditions are bad. Both cameras are bad, although PIXON captures signs more clearly and fonts are visible. Fonts are blurred on Nokia N8, look at the store sign up close.
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Xenon flash mode
Nokia claims that under favorable conditions the flash can operate at a distance of up to 4.5 meters. I don't know how to recreate these ideal conditions. The photo is about a meter away, these are most of the examples below, the flash power was simply not enough. Comparison with PIXON shows greater flash brightness, due to this, objects in the background are better detailed, and the spines of books and the bottle on the shelf have not lost the inscription. Overall, the conclusion is disappointing: the xenon flash on the N8 is designed for shooting up to one meter and does not provide an overwhelming advantage in quality. I didn’t make a comparison with LED flashes; I think anyone can do this experiment themselves; the advantage of the N8 camera is by no means obvious. The reason for this camera failure is that none of the programmers optimized the algorithms or worked with flash. And so on, they just put it there because it’s fashionable and cool. No one bothered to make the flash work at least at the level of last year’s models.
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Macro mode
After taking a dozen photos, I again saw that when switching to macro mode, the phone itself changed the resolution from 12M to 9M. Thanks again to him for his independence, the photographs will have to be taken again. Come back this week - a couple of shots from the Nokia N8 that look just great. I like the macro on this device, comparable to the Samsung Wave.
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Vivid mode and comparison with PIXON12 again
The Nokia N8 has one of the additional color modes, it’s called Vivid, the device tints the pictures, making them more pleasing to the eye. Even before the publication of this review, I posted several comparison pictures of the N8 and PIXON12, and then, as a final argument, N8 fans began to argue that they simply need to turn on the Vivid mode, and then both the quality of the optics in the N8 and the quality of the pictures will immediately increase. I don't mind, below you see photos in normal mode, in Vivid mode, and also with PIXON12. Everything is in maximum resolution.
Road and forest. Again, the sharpness is greater on the PIXON12, something Vivid mode does not help, and the quality of the photos is general plans doesn't differ much. And he can’t. This mode is good for shooting small objects from a distance of one meter. That's why I went into the forest to look for mushrooms, lichens, and twigs to demonstrate this regime from its strengths.
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Claims that the Nokia N8 takes pictures naturally are once again shattered by cruel reality. The shot of the mushroom shows that the frame elaboration and picture quality are better in PIXON. Another argument often made by N8 fans is that the camera retains more detail, and you can edit your photos on your computer to get the same results. Mmm. Larger size file with PIXON: 3.39 MB versus 2.9 MB with N8. The same difference applies to other images; another argument of N8 fans turned out to be a banal lie.
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This example is a rare case when Vivid worked perfectly, and the resulting photo is good. To take the same photo from a frame from PIXON, you need to edit it on a PC, but here everything worked out right away.
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Here are a couple more pictures
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Video
Nokia used two microphones, one on the front of the body, the second on the back, this allows you to record stereo sound, which is very good for a phone, and the quality is pleasant (AAC, 48 kHz). The maximum video resolution is 1280x720 pixels (up to 25 frames per second), and the digital zoom is x3 when shooting video.
In the video, we again come across the fact that the potential of the sensor hardware has not been revealed at all. So, when shooting video, there is no continuous autofocus; it is replaced by Active Hyper Focal Distance. This is a very cheap technology that eliminates the need to program or do anything with the camera. In fact, this is an analogue of the EDoF technology, which is used in the company’s non-autofocus cameras and is used to take pictures from a certain distance to infinity (focus set to infinity). When applied to video, this means that the camera shoots sharply everything that is located from it at a distance of 60 centimeters and further. This is not bad at all, and the quality of the videos is acceptable. Not the best on the market, but quite at the level of typical models.
Take a look at the video from Samsung Wave (the same resolution, but the bitrate is 30 frames per second, which is not important), and also the same video from Nokia N8.
I think that you won’t notice any gains in the Nokia N8, except for the sound part. The sound is great. Everything else is at the Wave level. Unfortunately, the camera does not have slow motion (120 frames per second), the reason is exactly the same - there is no money for programmers and there is no relevant knowledge.
Here's another example of a video from Nokia N8:
Conclusions about the camera in Nokia N8
The problems in the company affect all areas, and the lack of investment in the development of cameras in mobile phones is one of the areas of this crisis. I hope that using clear examples, I was able to show that the camera in the Nokia N8 does not offer anything extraordinary, contrary to the assurances of Nokia and its marketing and PR specialists. This camera is a breakthrough for Nokia, but for the market it is just an ordinary camera that does not set standards and does not offer anything new. Average. I understand that many people are offended to hear this about a product that they considered the best in the photographic field. But photographs cannot lie, and they are visual. It is also clear to me that N8 fans will stand to the last and deny the obvious. This is their right.
The N8's camera is a miniature reflection of Nokia's situation. Having installed excellent hardware (a good camera module) into the phone, the company did not lift a finger to use its capabilities, they did the minimum possible. Considering that Nokia is curtailing camera development, at least for the time being, this is significant. There was no investment even in the photographic product, in the model that the company considers its flagship. The announcement of the Nokia C7/E7 showed that expensive products from Nokia suddenly lose autofocus in their cameras, which leads to a sad conclusion: the savings have reached them too. The Nokia N8 saved just as harshly: no additional camera modes, no additional settings or algorithms. Very little time and, as a result, money was invested in this camera. The company believed that magic number 12 megapixels, a large sensor will do all the main work.
To dot the i's, I want to say this: this is the best camera from Nokia. It's also a decent camera for the market overall, just above average for an average product. But this is by no means a photographic flagship, nor is it a solution that leaves no chance for competitors. For example, older models such as Samsung's PIXON12 and Sony Ericsson Satio perform better. Not significantly better, but noticeably better, and the difference is visible to the naked eye. The problem is in the software, and it will not be solved by Nokia, since it is expensive, and the company is already going in a different direction. Before last moment I hoped that the main, so strongly promoted function in Nokia would still be implemented “excellently”. This did not happen. Typical average and dust in the eyes. Considering that the camera costs about 70 euros in the price of the product, this is a large overpayment for standard functionality. I feel sorry for Nokia, I feel sorry for them losing their technological resources.
Related links
Those who still prefer a digital camera justify their choice with a good optical zoom, higher image quality and the possibility of manual control. However, cameras on mobile phones also have their advantages - the ability to instantly transfer photos from one phone to another, various applications that expand the functionality of the camera allow even inexperienced photographers to take “the right pictures”.
Nokia 808 PureView completely changes our understanding of what a camera is in a mobile phone. Nokia called it "A New Era in Photography" and the 808 PureView is certainly a revolutionary product from the start. Thanks to a relatively large sensor - 41 megapixels, and the ability to shoot video in a large enlargement, this is not just a mobile phone, it is a phone that can replace a regular camera. Many people prefer to buy Android or iPhone as a mobile phone, but I also know those who would buy a Nokia only because of the wonderful camera it comes with.
In this article I want to look at the camera and sensor of a mobile phone Nokia 808 PureView. Give you more detailed information from the point of view of the photographer and photography. I have a good digital camera, but like any person, I wouldn’t mind having a camera that I could always take with me and that wouldn’t take up much space. We almost always carry a mobile phone with us, but we only take a camera when special occasions. I'm not persuading you to buy the Nokia 808 PureView as an additional mobile phone, but I am sure that this is the only phone so far that could replace a small camera for everyday life.
Sensor size in Nokia 808 PureView
Let's start our review with the size of the image sensor in the Nokia 808 PureView phone. For those who don’t know, the image sensor is the heart of every camera. This is a chip that collects light from photons, converting the electrical signal into digital form, producing an image as an output.
In general, the larger the matrix, the better quality Images. Large matrix, has a large photosensitive area. This also depends on the expansion (number of pixels), but in general, there is a rule that the larger the matrix, the greater its expansion, the greater its light sensitivity, and as a result, better color rendition and contrast, and reduced noise.
The diagram (For more information on how to make a similar diagram, read the article “Compare the size of a camera matrix”) perfectly illustrates the differences between the matrices of different cameras. We see that Nokia 808 PureView matrix larger than a Canon PowerShot camera sensor and much larger than a smartphone Samsung Galaxy S. It is closer in size to the Nikon J1 mirrorless camera. The Canon EOS 60D is a DSLR with an APS-C sensor and its sensor is much larger than other cameras.
The Nokia 808 PureView is not aimed at competing with DSLR cameras, however, it is competitive with mirrorless cameras such as the Nikon J1. And in the pursuit of quality, it bypasses many smartphones and P&S cameras.
Due to the rather large sensor, the phone has a rather large bulge with reverse side. And this, as for me, is the only drawback of this phone. In any case, this is a small price to pay for the capabilities that the camera has. Let's look at the technology hidden in this small, but irreplaceable, bulge.
The sensor is 1/1.2-inch (10.67 x 8 mm) in size and is a CMOS sensor.
The Nokia 808 PureView matrix makes it possible to receive images with an extension of 7728x5368, which is a total of 38 million pixels. The sensor itself has an aspect ratio of 4:3. The screen size is 360x640 pixels. Also, you get 3x zoom for photos, 4x for Full HD 1080p and 6x for 720p HD. The matrix in this camera is 2.5 times larger than the one used in the Nokia N8.
In Nokia 808, it is possible to group several pixels into one, that is, when shooting with a slight expansion, the camera uses the entire matrix, combining several points into one. As a result, you get a higher quality image with a small enlargement.
When shooting in 16:9 format, the camera allows full use of the width of the sensor, while when shooting in 4:3 format, it uses the entire height (16:9 mode: 7728 x 4354 - 34MP / 4:3: 7152 x 5368 - 38MP). The ISO range is also impressive - 80-1600 (+ auto).
It took about 5 years before the Nokia 808 PureView saw the light of day. Before we continue with our review, let's watch a video that tells the story of this great phone.
Carl Zeiss lens
The matrix is just one important part to get nice photo. It's no wonder that photographers spend hundreds and even thousands of dollars on new interchangeable lenses. There are hundreds of different tests to find out how good a particular lens is. Measured dynamic range, contrast, moire effect, noise level at high ISO, etc.
Carl Zeiss is one of the world leaders in the production of optical lenses. Many photographers use these lenses to achieve higher quality in their images. Professional lenses from this company are very expensive, and not everyone can afford to purchase Carl Zeiss products. But, as you know, you have to pay for quality.
Nokia and Carl Zeiss have entered into a partnership agreement to provide the new Nokia smartphone with a high-quality optical system. Carl Zeiss lenses are also found on other Nokia mobile phones, such as the N8 and N9. Without a doubt, thanks to the expertise of Carl Zeiss engineers, Nokia has created an excellent camera in the 808 PureView mobile phone.
The lens consists of 5 aspherical glass elements. Also includes low dispersion glass, shutter mechanism and neutral density filter. This lens has been designed to provide high image quality with the high extension required for proper operation of the image sensor.
The lens does nice photos and records high-quality video even in low light conditions, thanks to the fast aperture. The image will be clear, with minimal noise.
Zoom in Nokia 808 PureView
In digital cameras there is such a thing as “optical zoom” and “digital zoom”. Digital zoom is simply a software approximation of the center of the image. This approximation can be done at home using graphic editors such as (Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, etc.). As a result, the quality deteriorates. Optical zoom does not degrade picture quality; it magnifies the image like a telescope. That's why optical zoom is always a priority over digital zoom.
The zoom in the Nokia 808 PureView smartphone camera depends on the resolution you choose. At maximum resolution you get a fixed image length of 28mm. At the minimum resolution (shooting at 3 megapixels), you will get an approximation equivalent to 3.6. You may be interested in the following ratios:
38MP - no zoom
8MP - 2x zoom
5MP - 3x zoom
3 MP - zoom 3.6
* approximately
This is a fairly modest approximation. For some, this will be more than enough, for others - catastrophically little. But considering that most phone cameras have a fixed zoom, this is more than enough.
The following video demonstrates the zoom capabilities of the 808 PureView.
Quality of images captured with Nokia 808 PureView
Some people don't think about the technical side of the issue, they just say, “Do it well.” Of course, no one wants to waste time asking “What?” "How?" and “Why?”, everyone just wants to get a good result. Nokia has tested its products on all possible parameters under various conditions. The image quality is very high level. Even at ISO 800 there is almost no noise, and at ISO 1600 it is minimal. I don't want to sound incompetent, but this quality is an order of magnitude higher than that of other smartphones such as Apple, iPhone 4S/4, HTC One X, II Samsung Galaxy S/III and other paid Android phones that are on the market.
Videos shot with Nokia 808 PureView
We present to your attention a video demonstrating the quality of images taken with the Nokia 808.
As you zoom in, the aperture stays the same, meaning you don't need to change the focal length. The video was recorded with stereo sound.
Images taken with Nokia 808 PureView
Let's look at examples of images taken by the camera of the Nokia 808 PureView smartphone
Image quality Nokia 808 PureView: saturated colors, good clarity and detail of objects. You don't even have to process the images in the editor, the colors are beautiful from the start.
People try to compare Nokia 808 PureView smartphone with digital photography leaders like Canon or Nikon, or with other phones like iPhone 3GS/4/4S etc. In fact, the Nokia 808 PureView has no competition with them. If you need a camera for travel, then a camera with a powerful zoom is the way to go. If zoom is not that important for you, then the Nokia 808 will perfectly cope with the role of an “every day” camera. Don't forget about the powerful matrix built into the camera of this phone, and about the pictures that the Nokia 808 PureView can and does take.
Here's a good video demonstrating how to use the camera.
Conclusion
I would really like to find the shortcomings of this camera. Find at least some trick and trick. To be honest, I’m even thinking about buying this smartphone for myself. I already have an Android smartphone with a lot of exciting apps that I don't use. What I definitely need is a built-in camera that can take high-quality pictures when I need it. If you, like me, are looking for a camera that you can take with you everywhere and can replace your compact digital camera, then the Nokia 808 PureView is the best option.
I don't know about other features of this phone. I was only interested in the camera's capabilities. If you are one of those who also need a phone for taking photos and videos, then I strongly recommend that you buy this mobile phone. The video is of excellent quality. The image quality is much better than all other smartphones currently on the market.
Nokia introduced the world to an amazing smartphone. I hope that Nokia will continue to delight us with new technologies. Technologies that are actually used and find their application, and are not marketing gimmicks.
I highly recommend the Nokia 808 PureView smartphone. The first smartphone with a really good built-in video/photo camera.
