GSM Cameraphone Comparison Q4 2008

Test 1: Daylight pictures

Although these are the best conditions for picture snapping, this test is one of the most important as well because people are most likely to take photos during the day. There are a few things that can go wrong but at least the colors should be real, the object(s) being photographed should be well-exposed (not too bright or too dark) and the fine detail has to be visible. Almost all pictures look good in small size but once you see the original you don’t see the person in the distance but a color patch instead.


Frankly, we are not impressed from the results of any of the models tested. They are not bad, but we expected a considerable improvement in contrast to the previous generation because the resolution has increased by more than 50%. Thanks to that, the detail level is higher (clearly seen in full screen mode), but is still a few steps behind the pocket camera with the same resolution. In this aspect, all four 8-megapixel phones performed similarly. Comparing the models head to head the differences are very small and should not be taken under consideration when buying one of the four. The Renoir’s image is the sharpest and to most people it seems to have a better detail, but sometimes this could have a negative effect; a sharp image cannot be softened in contrast to a soft one, which can be edited.



The color reproduction is very different in all phones. We think that is more important, because even if you are looking at the pictures from one model only, it is clearly noticeable if they are not good in this aspect. In addition, the precise detail level cannot be seen if the image is viewed in smaller size, but the unrealistic colors remain a drawback. This can be corrected to some extent by a software enhancement of course, but we don’t think someone will be willing to retouch every picture in its phone. Our favorite is the Samsung INNOV8, which is best in recreating the colors although, but even still they are too saturated. Despite not corresponding to the real colors, most of the time this is eye-candy. Surprisingly, the Nokia N82 ends up in second place. Although it has its drawbacks, the winner of the 5-megapixel comparison is ahead of most of the new models. Then come the Pixon and Renoir, both with an affinity to yellow (better expressed in the LG), followed by the C905 because of its “white filter”, which reduces the color saturation and contrast.