Nokia N86 8MP camera

There are two ways to look at the Nokia N86 8MP:

1) It’s Nokia’s flagship non-touch media-centric smartphone, the successor to the mighty Nokia N95/N95-3/N95-4, and a proper substitute for the disappointing Nokia N85.

2) It’s Nokia’s flagship cameraphone, the rightful successor to the awesome Nokia N82, now packing an 8 megapixel sensor and a wide angle, variable aperture Carl Zeiss lens.

Maybe it’s a little bit of both?

Samsung T929 (Memoir) camera

It’s been almost 6 months since I picked up the Samsung T929 (Memoir), the first subsidized 8 megapixel cameraphone in the US, and I’m overdue for a review :)

Over the years, I have tested a plethora of 5 megapixel devices – the i-mobile 902, the Nokia N95/N95-3/N95-4, the Sony Ericsson K850i, the Nokia N82, the Motorola ZN5 (ZINE), the Nokia N96, the Nokia N85, the Nokia N79, and more recently the Nokia N97…

There are now several 8 megapixel cameraphones available from Samsung (Pixon, Memoir, INNOV8, Omnia HD), LG (Renoir, Viewty Smart), Sony Ericsson (C905, W995), and Nokia (N86 8MP) – not to mention upcoming 12 megapixel units.

I’m getting a Nokia N86 8MP review unit soon, but so far I’ve only played with the Samsung i8510 (INNOV8), the Samsung i8910 (Omnia HD), and of course the Memoir.

For over 4 months I used it as my primary imaging device, and 1000+ pictures later, I have to say that the Memoir features the best camera I have ever enjoyed on any phone – and by a wide margin!

Nokia E75 camera

There’s no doubt the Nokia E75 is a great device. But the camera really surprised me…

With 3.2 a megapixel sensor, auto-focus, macro, a single LED flash, and VGA video recording at 30 fps, the E75 camera specs fall somewhere in between the “meh” Nokia 5800 camera (which features dual LED flash and Zeiss optics) and the mediocre E66/E71 camera (which only features QVGA video recording at 15 fps).

But in reality, the E75 leaves the 5800 in the dust, beats the decent T-Mobile G1 and teases the excellent BlackBerry Storm to the finish line – check out the pictures and judge for yourself!

Nokia N79 – the sleeper

sleeper \ˈslē-pər\ noun: someone or something unpromising or unnoticed that suddenly attains prominence or value

The Nokia N79 is a stealthy device. Figuratively, because it’s been flying under people’s radar, overshadowed by it’s slider twin, the Nokia N85. Literally, because beneath its elegant but understated, thin and light casing, there’s a bona fide, feature-packed Nseries phone.

I’ve been using the N79, US version (UMTS/HSDPA 1900/850 MHz) for a couple months now (thanks to Molly at Nokia Blogger Relations) and I’m suitably impressed – it’s very much the sleeper of the current Nseries stable. Take a look at my recap video.

Noise – a case study

Other pictures taken with the Samsung T929 (Memoir) are available on my Flickr account.

So I decided to do a little experiment: take 3 pictures with 3 devices (one each) at night in the same location around the same time! The goal? Evaluate how megapixels affect low-light performance.

The megapixel myth tells us that more megapixels is not necessarily better. It generally means smaller pixels, which means more heat, which results in more noise, which impacts low-light performance…

Of course there are many variables here: differences in optics, sensor type/size, image-processing/noise-reduction software, and more. Because this is meant to be a real-life test with real-life devices, I can’t control these variables – I can only pick suitable devices.

Pictures taken with the Nokia N85

In 3 months of ownership, I snapped nearly 1000 pictures with my Nokia N85, US version, including some truly great ones! That covers most of the pictures taken during my holiday road trip to New Orleans.

Right about now, you probably expect me to write a glowing review of the N85 camera, but I can’t – it’s pretty nice, but it’s not good enough.

Despite almost identical specs, it falls short of the cream of the 5 megapixel crop: the Nokia N82, the Nokia N95, the Motorola ZN5, the Sony Ericsson K850i, and the i-mobile 902…

The culprit? Noise, noise, and more noise – just like its sibling the Nokia N79, the Nokia N96, and the 3 megapixel 5800/E71/E66. Do you see a trend here?

Road trip recap

As expected, I created a lot of content (some of it live) on my recent road trip to New Orleans using several Nokia devices + various online services, and proving once again, that the best camera is the one you have with you.

Here are all my posts, pictures and videos:
- Here (articles)
- On Twitter (updates)
- On Flickr (pictures)
- On Qik (live videos)
- On YouTube (videos)

Enjoy :)

Road trip, part 4

We left New Orleans on Monday, and after a brief stop in Houston., we spent Tuesday with friends in Austin.

There, I took pictures and made videos of the Resolution Clock and the Cathedral of Junk using the Nokia N85, N96 and 5800.

We then continued on to Tucson on Wednesday, just in time for the countdown to 2009!

Tonight we’re in Joshua Tree, nearing the end of the road trip…

I’ll have more content up soon – until then, happy new year :)

Road trip, part 3

We’re leaving New Orleans tomorrow morning, after a lovely few days! The road trip resumes as we’re heading back to San Francisco…

I’ve been taking pictures with the Nokia N85 and making widescreen videos with the Nokia 5800. I’ve also been using the Nokia N96 on and off – I even uploaded a set of geo-tagged pictures to Nokia viNe.

Stay tuned for more :)

Road trip, part 2

The road trip continues…

After visiting the UFO museum Monday morning in Roswell, we drove to Austin where we spent the night with friends. Then, Tuesday evening we arrived on to our final destination, New Orleans!

I’ve been creating quite a bit content with my Nokia devices, especially pictures on Flickr and videos on Qik. I’ve also posted updates on Twitter, but I’ve not yet uploaded my additional videos to YouTube.

Keep an eye here for more content – in the meantime, happy holidays :)