Hi! Very nice review indeed. However, all the photos were taken outside in sunshine. It would be interesting to know how those cameras perform inside with the artificial light (with and without flash).
Camera group test: Nokia N86 8MP, N97, N82 and Samsung i8510
I'm quite disappointed that AAS in this and many articles/tests, seem to forget the i8910HD. It would go a long way toward showing objectiveness if you could include ALL the major symbian phones rather than mainly Nokia.
It doesn't matter how good the i8510's camera is.
It is the worst made phone I ever owned, with the worst implementation of Symbian I ever used.
I'm so happy since getting rid of mine. N97 mmm
Unregistered wrote:Why? Because of Xenon? I think you should wait until you see further comparisons in low light between N86 and N82, I think you'll be surprised. Yes, from a freezing the subject perspective xenon will always be better than LED but I wonder out of all the pictures you have on your PC's hard drive how many are taken with flash?
For me quite some, because I often switch the flash to 'always on'. Foreground objects are often a bit dark, especially in sunny conditions. I don't think LED is powerful enough to really help there.
Interesting insight there from the Unregistered Guest 😊 apparently working with Nokia. Can you comment on this Xenon/Led debacle at all?
"The N82 is dead?
The N86 - "Nokia's new Nseries imaging flagship"- make it completely obsolet?"
Probably the best joke I heard so far.
Did somone/anyone actually say that? Perhaps I just missed it.
Why does this site never include the I8910HD in ANYTHING, maybe it should be called All About Nokia from now on?
maartenmk wrote:For me quite some, because I often switch the flash to 'always on'. Foreground objects are often a bit dark, especially in sunny conditions. I don't think LED is powerful enough to really help there.
I have tried to use fill-flash with N82, but personally only find it to provide a very subtle fill up to around 1m or so. If it works for you though then great.
With N86, it tends to be better in handling contrast e.g. you should see more in the shadow areas. Because LED flash requires longer shutter speeds to get the full advantage whereas Xenon can do it's thing in around 1/25,000 sec or so LED may not be as good as N82. I'd have to try it before commenting further though. At the end of the day it's not how it goes about acheiving the end result it's whether you like it or not 😊
br
Here's a macro shot of a rose. The different choices that Samsung and Nokia make in their respective colour algorithms is very evident. While the N97 and N86 get close to the 'real' colours on the leaves, the i8510 is closer on the petals. The images below suggest that the N97 and N96 have produced similar results, .........
I think this will be a N86 not N96.....or am I misunderstood ?
n86 at lowlight conditions and in morning and n82 at night...so its just balanced..im a nightgoer so you could tell which one..
The photo taken in pitch black with the nokia n86 with the red car really shows how strong this dual led flash is (the nokia n82 lost in my opinon........... the nokia n86 is the real winner, and people who say that it is not
dont know alot about cameras at all.....
cheers josh
Excellent article. It would've been better however if you have used the Sony Ericsson C905 as well. It has a 8 MP sensor AND a proper Xenon flash.
Just received my Nokia N86, and tried to take a photo and the camera button doesn't even respond! :frown:
JohnnyN wrote:Just received my Nokia N86, and tried to take a photo and the camera button doesn't even respond! :frown:
Nokia, whats wrong with you. You made a N85, it was fiasco. Now, I'm hoping that quality of N86 will be excellent, but this topic say an opposite. It cost �399.00!!! Pity.
Kazutoyo wrote:SE C901 have a xenon flash and is 13mm thick. That's certainly thin enough for me.
True, but there's quite a lot missing compared to N86, but I get you point that you just want the camera and xenon and nothing else.
JKA wrote:Nokia, whats wrong with you. You made a N85, it was fiasco. Now, I'm hoping that quality of N86 will be excellent, but this topic say an opposite. It cost �399.00!!! Pity.
OH, and every phone made by every other manufacturer is 100% reliable with no known instances of product failure? Let's just believe/hope for now this is an unlucky example.
Unregistered wrote:The photo taken in pitch black with the nokia n86 with the red car really shows how strong this dual led flash is (the nokia n82 lost in my opinon........... the nokia n86 is the real winner, and people who say that it is not dont know alot about cameras at all.....cheers josh
Ha ha ha you gotta love someone who finishes an argument by saying that if you do not agree then you know very little about cameras! ha ha
You do not need to be an expert photographer (and remember most, if not all, people who use a camera phone aren't anyway!) to state that the N82 photo of the car is far superior, all you need is eyes! The N86 photo has a green haze permeating the photo!
As many others have stated my camera phone is used to take photos of my 1 month old baby playing crawling, clapping etc ; the dogs jumping around and playing; and friends out partying and having fun. More often then not these photos are taken in less than ideal lighting conditions with plenty of movement. The test does very little to show the best camera in these conditions (although I suspect I know which phone will fare best). However, in fairness to the reviewer, I also understand that it will be rather difficult to get the exact same photo with four different cameras of the same moving subject.
Abushaheed wrote:I'm quite disappointed that AAS in this and many articles/tests, seem to forget the i8910HD. It would go a long way toward showing objectiveness if you could include ALL the major symbian phones rather than mainly Nokia.
As we've mentioned a couple of times we do not, yet, have an i8910 review unit, therefore we can not include it in such tests. Same applies for C905. These things have to be done with hardware on hand.
Dear Mr Rafe,
My one week old N97 shot some surprising photos. Let me explain. With LED flash on automatically, I took more than 5 photos at night in my house. The pictures taken showed white smokes effect on the left side (coincidentally the 2 flashes were placed here). On the right side they looked OK. In your opinion what had happened? Kindly advice. Really appreciate your expert input.
Well, basically I think the N82 is the clear winner here. The pictures produced are vivid and you can see a distinct difference between N82's pictures and the others. N82 produces very accurate colours and clear details notwithstanding it is a 5 megapixels camera phone. Sadly, noise is present in all of the camera phones and that is why I cannot draw the conclusion that 8 megapixels camera phone will triumph over those 5 megapixels camera phones.
The verdict is: N82 is still the king of camera phones in the year 2009. When will it finally meets it's match?
Dear Rafe and Steve,
My one week old N97 LED Flash causes White smoke in picture taken.
There are white smoky effect on the left half of the pictures taken at night in my house. Why is it so? Could you be able to help me to pinpoint the fault of dysfunctional factors of my brand new N97. Many thanks.
Dear Rafe and Steve,
My new N97 produced quite startling phot shhot outs.
With LED flash set on automatic mode, I took pictures at night in my house with lightings on. But the pictures resulted in having whitish smoky effect on the left half of these pictures taken. Why is that so? Appreciate your expert comments a lot. Is it due to my faulty new unit that had to be sent for repair? Thanks.
I appreciate the effort. But it seems like the tester here has first decided "Yes. Iam going to say that the N86 reproduces colour best, it produces best colour accuracy, overall its the best camera phone" even before taking a pic. The comparison after that therefore, a mere formality. Too much bias.
Examples to support my point : The water in the woods ? I dont think a camera can capture what isn't there, leave alone special effects. I dont mean to say that the N86's pic is worse, but is in no way better than say the N82's for example.
Example 2 : That bamboo like plant from close up. I don't see any greatness with the N86's pic and so do I fail to see how N97 or the N82 became culprits. And the Landscape picture of the N86 " I dont see 1mm of detail in that pic that I dont see in the other three pics "
On the whole "GOOD N86 ADVERTISEMENT (AS IF IT NEEDED SOME) AND A BADLY BIASED REVIEW WHERE THE OTHER PHONES (ESPECIALLY THE N82 AND INNOV) PARTICIPATED AFTER AGREEING THAT N86 IS GOING TO WIN ANY WAY"
Bong Hung Yih wrote:Well, basically I think the N82 is the clear winner here. The pictures produced are vivid and you can see a distinct difference between N82's pictures and the others. N82 produces very accurate colours and clear details notwithstanding it is a 5 megapixels camera phone. Sadly, noise is present in all of the camera phones and that is why I cannot draw the conclusion that 8 megapixels camera phone will triumph over those 5 megapixels camera phones.The verdict is: N82 is still the king of camera phones in the year 2009. When will it finally meets it's match?
Thumbs up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Absolutely. Rafe needs to look at the pics again. May be, he will realise atleast then, but not before he stops advertising for the N86. He he he........
hey everyone, i've been looking at several reviews for the nokia n86, and this is (so far) the only place to give the n86 this much of a shine. now, maybe its just me, but when i look at the pics taken by the n86 and compare them to the i8510, there is more detail in the samsung pic, especially when zoomed in. true that in some cases the n86 produces more "vibrant" and brighter colours but i do agree with some posts here where it just doesnt look real.
so i wanted to know if others see the detail difference and can tell me what they thought. IMO the colour charts are the best pictures to use for looking at the detail of the shots, and when zoomed in, you can see alot more detail from the i8510 than you can on the n86.
for all around pics i choose n82
very acceptable pics at day = i mean u wont complain
excellent fotos best ever made cam fone for night fotos with flash least noise
n86 clear faliure at night fotos with flash who cares to see 10 meters away chairs we care to see excellent foto at 2.5 meters i mean the car ! if u were shootong ur friends at the car nothing beats n82 .., n86 show milky pic of the car very made much noise ... ,, again n82 wins
But I have to accept, the samsung take a really better photos, at least in that examples, in a simple view, looks like if the n86 photos be the best, but make it big and look better, and you will see the incredible detail in each pictures of the samsung, and now I have to say on the n86, except for the camera, it is a fairly complete best multimedia phone, so I don't care that big fail in the camera (the wattercolor effect ... ).