This article has been updated on November 3, 2008, adding Sony Ericsson C905 and Nokia N82.
Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the past few years you have probably noticed that the camera has become one of the key selling points of feature phones. More and more customers are focusing asking “How many megapixels“ before they inquire about anything else. However, as we found out in our cameraphone article, the resolution does not necessarily determine the quality of the pictures, only their size. In a crowded market place of 8 megapixel shooters things can get complicated because, at least in theory, the results should not be much different. Nevertheless, specs are nothing but numbers on a piece of paper and a camera’s true quality is only shown in results. With another big name entry into the 8 megapixel market, the Sony Ericsson C905, and since the results of our last showdown were less than impressive, we’ve decided to broaden our scope and add the winner of our 5-megapixel comparison, the Nokia N82 as well as a point-and-shoot camera.
Here you will see:
• Samsung Pixon • Samsung INNOV8 • LG Renoir • Sony Ericsson C905* • Nokia N82 • and Canon SD870 IS – an 8-megapixel pocket camera with no phone capabilities.
*The tested C905 is a press sample provided by Sony Ericsson. If we get a newer version with better performance, we'll update our comparison.
We will test and see how the phones perform in various environments: bright daylight, when the flash is needed, capturing illuminated objects at night and close-ups (macro). In each category, besides the original photos (without any image processing) we will show you a 100% crop as well, which will make it easier to compare the quality of the images from the different cameraphones. This will also allow for a more comprehensive inspection of the detail level and the color reproduction as well.
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.
Test 2:Flash pictures
Also being a common situation for picture taking, we feel this is the next most important category. Usually indoors the light is never sufficient for a good photo and you’ll have to use the flash. It has to be powerful enough to illuminate the entire room in order to see objects and persons in real color as opposed to night vision pictures. We had used different light levels (bright, medium, and light) shot pictures from 6.5 and 13 feet.
From just the thumbnails it is visible who the winner in this test is. The C905 was the only 8MP camera that managed to illuminate the objects properly, and again the 5-megapixel N82 was second, surpassing the big guys. Even in a darker room and at 13 feet away snapping pictures is not a problem with those two devices. In contrast to that, the performance of the other models is mediocre at only 6.5 feet. This is definitely one of their weak sides. Let’s not forget that they are not simply cell phones with an average camera, but top shelf cameraphones.
Test 3:Night pictures
This test is not that important, because night photography is rarely practiced. Nevertheless, if you are passionate about shooting the city lights for example, look below. These type of pictures are taken with longer exposure (the object is better projected on the sensor), which allows the illuminated objects to visualize on the dark background.
The night mode is intended for such occasions, but we tested each phone to see in which mode it performs best. It came out that INNOV8 gets slightly better results when in auto mode with the image stabilizer turned on.
The quality varies just a little bit between models, and considering how rare such pictures are, the results are a virtual draw. The pictures are ОК, but none of them comes even close to the SD870’s performance in terms of detail. However, the picture by any of them looks fine if it is resized to smaller resolution. In the end, they are suitable for sharing between friends, but not something that would ever pass for professional photography.
Test 4: Macro (close-ups)
People don’t often use their phones for close-ups, but it is still an indicator of the camera’s capabilities. The large resolution should allow finer details which would otherwise go unnoticed at a casual glance.
For this test we captured a page of a book, and we wanted to see if reading software would manage to process the pictures and convert them into text All of the phones passed this test quite well, and there was little differentiation between the models.
The other images were taken at the closest possible distance at which the phones were able to focus correctly. We observed no big differences in the results here either.
MISC:
If you go through the sample pictures in our many reviews, you’ll notice that the quality of the cameras has improved significantly in the past few years. At first, the images were good only for MMS or to add to a contact. Later, we were happy to have pictures with decent web quality, and today the cameraphones are trying to replace the regular pocket cameras. The video quality follows a similar arc through the years: from MMS to YouTube, and now we are on the verge of big screen quality videos. Here are some examples of the highest possible quality at present:
*note: Video 1 is taken outdoors and represent the real image quality; Video 2 is capturing a screen, and should be used only for reference about the sound quality. *Due to codecs support, you may not be able to play the files.
With the exception of the QVGA shooting C905, video quality was good on all of the phones. Unfortunately, none of the models records quality sound and if you are “filming” a conversation it is likely that it will not be audible upon playback.
Although the most important element of the camera is the image quality, the options and the ease of control matter as well. As we’ve previously mentioned, the phones have similar camera options and the ways those are activated is what interests us.
Despite its ugliness, the Pixon’s interface is the best; it is very well optimized, and thanks to the touchscreen the various features are activated easily. The C905 comes in second, which we think offers one of the best camera interfaces for a phone with no touch screen. It allows easy selection of the options and the color images in the scenes give it a fresh look. The INNOV8 has monochrome icons, but the shortcut lane also provides a relatively fast access to the options, so we like it too. Nokia’s N82 is equipped with the standard N-series camera software, which doesn’t wow us but isn’t that bad either. The Renoir’s interface is a disappointment due not only to its unattractiveness, but it is not user-friendly either.
Camera speed is also an important factor to consider. If the phone is going to replace your pocket camera then it must be able to not only start up quickly, but also focus and save quickly so that you can capture spontaneous moments.
Phone
Starting
Focusing
Saving
Samsung Pixon
2.5 sec
2 sec
1 sec
Samsung INNOV8
2.5 sec
2 sec
4 sec
LG Renoir
2 sec
1 sec
5 sec
Sony Ericsson C905
2 sec
2 sec
5.5 sec
Nokia N82
3 sec
2 sec
4 sec
The Pixon was the most impressive in this test; even though it didn’t start or focus the fastest, its save time was so far ahead of everyone else that you can snap three shots in ten seconds when some of the other models wouldn’t even be able to get off two.
Conclusion: More doesn’t always mean better. Like we saw on the point and shoot front, the new generation of cameraphones have entered into the megapixels war phase. They are equipped with more options than before, but the image quality isn't better. None of them is able to make quality pictures in all situations. The ones that are good outdoors have poor flashes and vice versa, the one that has a powerful flash (the C905) has mediocre quality during the day. We can’t recommend any of these 8MP shooters based on their camera alone, and the 5MP N82, our winner nine months ago, can still hang with the best of them. However, all phones in this comparison are decent devices as a whole. We like all of them and suggest you to check their specifications and read their in-depth reviews and decide if they are good for you. In this comparison, we’ve included plenty of photos in lots of situations, so they should help you to decide if these phones meet your criteria for quality photos. Samsung Pixon Specifications | Review Samsung INNOV8 Specifications | Review LG Renoir Specifications | Review Sony Ericsson C905 Specification | Review Nokia N82 Specifications | Review
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