TheNokiaN8hasruledtheroostforalmostninemonthsofcourse-andIdon'tthinkanyonereadingthisisgoingtoexpectittobetoppledevenbythebestoftherest,testedhere.ButwhatIwasinterestedinwashowmuchotherdevicesandsystemshaveclosedthegap,asatJune2011.Surelythecurrentbatchof8megapixel-totingsmartphoneshavegoodenoughcamerasformostusersthesedaysIwantedtogathersomedatapoints,lookingrightdownatpixellevel,atfourphotosinfourdifferentscenarios/lightlevels,foreachdevice.
Again,there'snodoubtthattheNokiaN8willproducebetterphotosthananyothersmartphone,dayin,dayout,formostpeople-itreallyisthatgood-andwiththeXenonflashandhugesensoritdoesn'tstopimpressingjustbecausethesunisgoingdown.ButI'minterestedinquantifyingthedifferenceshere,betweentheNokiaN8andthe8megapixelcompetitors:
ArguablymissingfromthelineupaboveistheAppleiPhone4,whichhasoneofthebetter5megapixelcameraunitsaround,buta)Ihaven'tgotonetotestandb)thelowerresolutionwouldultimatelybeshownupfairlyhorriblywithmy1:1pixellevelcomparisonsbelow.
Inordertotesteachdevice'srawphotographiccapabilities(i.e.testingthecombinationofoptics,sensorandsoftware),Itookthesamefourphotosoneachphone,underidenticalconditions:
Intermsofmethodology,I'vetakeneachshotatfullresolutionandthencroppedoutthecentral1/100th(intermsofarea),i.e.thebitIwasfocussingonatthetime.Thisisanextremetestofeachimage-norealworldcroppinginthehandsofauserwouldeverbethisextreme.Butcamerasinphonesarenowsogoodthatyouhavetocropthissavagelyinordertospotrealdifferences!
Forthethird,indoorsshot,notethatthesubject(me)wassoclosethatI'vecroppedslightlyless,takingroughlythecentral1/25thofeachframe-taking1/100thatthisrangewouldhaveresultedinanimagefragmentthatdidn'tcontainenoughdetail!
Ineachcase,I'vemarkedthecropwithascoreoutof10andhavedonearoughandreadyoveralltotalforeachcamera-smartphoneattheend,asaguide.
Onwiththesamplephotocropsthen...
NokiaN8
[F2.79,1/365s]
Loadsofdetail,dishtextureeven,coloursalittlemuted,mighthavetoadjustbrightnesslater,etcScore:9
NokiaN86
[F4.8,1/833s]
Nearperfectcolours(asIrememberthem),butdetailisdisappointingandthedishmeshtextureshowssomeartefacts.Score:7
SamsungGalaxySII
[F2.65,1/1323s]
Slightlywashedoutcoloursandvisibleover-sharpeninginsoftware,buttheoveralleffectisprettygood.Score:8
NokiaX7
[Fn/a,1/1692s]
Coloursseemalittlered/'off'and,again,visibleoversharpeningandotherprocessing.Score:6
SonyEricssonXperiaArc
[F2.4,1/2000s]
Detailisalittledisappointing,butsharpeningisn'ttooaggressive.Score:7
[F2.79,1/185s]
Again,loadsofdetail,asyou'dexpectfroma12megapixelcamera,butcoloursmuted,arguablytruetolifebutalittleunsatisfying.Score:8
[F4.8,1/556s]
Coloursaregreat,butthe8megapixelresolutionletsitselfdownbypoornoisereduction,witnessthenoisyblocksofgreenwriting.Score:5
[F2.64,1/787s]
Stunninglygood,consideringtheconditions,coloursandedgesareexageratedbutacceptable,noiselevelsarelow.Score:9
[Fn/a,1/775s]
DecentattemptfromtheEDoFcamera,despitealittleoverprocessing,detailandcoloursarefine.Score:7
[F2.4,1/1600s]
Alittledark,alittlenoisyandalittleoverprocessedinplaces.Score:6
Again,notethatIusedalargercrop,inordertoshowenoughinterestingdetailatthisrange(1metre)
[F2.79,1/33s]-thoughXenonflashfiretimeisoftheorderof1/100,000thofasecond
ThepowerofXenon.Thelightingisamazing,consideringtheambientlightconditions.Nonastysharpeningorartificialeffects,justarealflashcoupledwithalargesensorandCarlZeissoptics.Thisis,ofcourse,wheretheN8stretchesitslegs.Score:10
[F2.4,1/18s]
AsgoodasitgetswithLEDflash,littleartificialenhancements,niceandclear,goodcolours.Score:9
[F2.65,1/20s]
Alittletoomuchartificialenhancement,over-gaudycolours,butstillprettygood.Score:8
[Fn/a,1/16s]
Greatshotgenerally,spoiltbytheEDoFalgorithmsgivingeverythinganartificialatmosphere,eaxgeratededgesandoccasionallydodgycolours.Score:7
[F2.4,1/32s]
Ugh.SonyEricsson'ssmartphoneshavehadlegendarilyappallingLEDflashes.Thisisnodifferent.Althoughthere'spleasantlylittleartificialenhancementgoingon,thelightingandcolorationisterrible.Score:4
[F2.79,1/100s]
Trickyfocussingonanythinginsuchlowlight,theN8doesitsbestanyway.Score:8
[F2.4,1/33s]
Notquiteasmuchdetail,butdecentcolours,consideringthelight.Score:8
[F2.65,1/32s]
Impressive.Itcouldalmostbedaytime!There'sdigitalnoiseandsomeartefactsthoughand,ultimately,thislookstoobrightandwashedoutforaduskshot.Score:7
[Fn/a,1/33s]
EDoFjustdoesn'tworkproperlywhenthelightlevelsdrop.Someoftheraw'deliberate'chromaticblurringstartstoseepintotheshot.LooksmorelikeanImpressionistpainting8-)Score:4
[F2.4,1/50s]
There'spotentialhereforadecentlow-lightphoto,butthere'stoomuchedgeenhancementgoingon.Asusual,itsaimistomakethephotoseembetterthanitreallyis-andtheeffortshows,ifyoulookcloselyenough.Score:6
Adduptheroughandreadyscoresandweget:
NokiaN8-35/40
SamsungGalaxySII-32/40
NokiaN86-29/40
NokiaX7-24/40
SonyEricsonXperiaArc-23/40
Nohugesurprisesatthetopthen,theNokiaN8rompsawaywiththeno.1spot-otherthanthattheGalaxySII,withitsallroundAndroidsuperphonestatus,stillmanagestogetclosetothecamera-specialistN8overall-amazing,andagoodjobbySamsung.IrecentlynominatedtheGalaxySIIasthebestallround(smart)phoneintheworldanditscamerafunctionalitycertainlydoesn'tletthesidedown.
TheN86,alsoacameraspecialist,isn'tthatfarbehind,butthefactthatitsdedicatedcameracanbeoutperformedbytheGalaxySII's,withnospecificcamerapretensions(otherthanbeingaflagshipdevice),doesshowthattechnologyhasmovedonintheinterveningtwoyears.
(Mindyou,theN86alsogetsabonusgoldstarherefrommeforbeingtheonlyphoneinthebunchthathascameraglassprotectionfromdirtandfingerprintsandsoyoudon'thavetowipetheglassonyourt-shirtbeforeeveryphoto.Andthere'sthewayyoucanunlockthephoneandlaunchCamerabysimplyslidingthecameraglassprotectoropen.Somewhatrefreshinginthesedaysofunprotected,touchscreenslabs.)
TheX7,anexampleofNokia'snewbreedof8mpEDoFcameraphones,almostholdsitsheadupoverall,butitshouldbeborneinmindthatallitscompetitorsherecanalsoshootmacrosubjects.Iftherehadbeenatestshotofanornamentorflowerormeal(theusualclose-upsubjects!),theX7'scamerawouldhavescoredverypoorlyandtheArcovertakenitinaheartbeat.
Thatthemuch-vauntedArcwasactuallybottomofthissetoftestsisalmostentirelydowntoitsappallingflash(moreaccurately,a'videolight')-Isimplydon'tthinktheSonyEricssoncamerasinrecentsmartphonescansurvivewhenthesunsets.Sad.
Inadditiontoshootingstills,allofthesephonescanalsoshootvideotoo-andverywell,inallcases.TheN86'svideocaptureshowsitsage,at'only'VGAresolution,butmakesupforitwithadigitalmicrophone(asontheN8)andintelligentdigitalzoom.Therestshootin720presolutionandgenerallydoagreatjob,withtheGalaxySIIevenshootinginfull1080p.Adetailedcomparisonofthequalityofvideocaptureisanarticleforanotherdaythough.
Iwasrightthough-intermsofphotography,othersmartphoneshaveclosedthegaponNokia-slightly.ButwithmoredevicessettoappearwithGalaxySIIqualitycameras,we'resurelynearingthepointwhereNokianeedstotakeitsnextstepforwardsinthisarea.Aphonewithevenlargersensor,14megapixelresolution,brighterXenonflash(N82-level)andLEDvideolightaswell,perhaps