Scobleizer - Latest Comments in Compare cell phone to pro camera

Re: Compare cell phone to pro camera

syed shams — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 00:28:32 -0000

i have no words for this EXCELLENT

Re: Compare cell phone to pro camera

Dave — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 07:30:31 -0000

I have the n82 and couldnt be happier. I dont really utilize the camera as much as I should though.

Re: Compare cell phone to pro camera

cenovis — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 03:28:16 -0000

A common misconception: more megapixels = better camera. Do your research. It's not about megapixels, it's about censor size. We have the technology to pack 5 million pixels (or photodiodes; the things that sense the light) on a tiny censor the size of your fingernail, but even with a Carl Ziess lens, the image is not as good. Why? Because the image censor is TOO SMALL. As the photodiodes get smaller and smaller, the more errors you get: hot pixels, noise, etc. Our ability miniaturize is not perfect.

The second thing you need to consider is the physics of the thing. The lens has to be positioned a certain distance from the censor to focus properly. With everyone demanding smaller and smaller phones/cameras, we don't have the ability to stick bigger censors in them because we'd need a bigger lens and body. This is why cell phone cameras will never be as good as true DSLRs. The cameras are big for a reason: physics demands it.

Here's a good article to read if you want to know about censor size and how it affects image quality, lens and body size: http://luxars.com/index.php...

Re: Compare cell phone to pro camera

Peter Norrig — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 22:19:34 -0000

Well, the problem with the N82 and N95 is that their JPG compression overcompresses (and no setting to change it) creating lots of blurriness in places with a lot of detail. Take a picture of a field of grass or trees at a little distance and you'll know what I mean. It'd only take a firmware update to fix that, but I figure with the N85 coming out soon, Nokia doesn't really care.

Re: Compare cell phone to pro camera

John Garger — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 14:26:42 -0000

Can someone give me an idea whether or not I should go for a smart phone or just use a more stylish phone and wait for some better technology? I am on the Sprint network, and was referred to http://www.sanyowireless.com, but I'm not seeing any options that look like smart phones. I don't need an MP3 player or a camera, I'd rather have a phone that is lighter and easier to carry. Any recommendations would be welcome.

Re: Compare cell phone to pro camera

Johnny — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 09:50:42 -0000

Mobile phone cameras have enough megapixels you will ever need and are much more efficient to carry.Take a look at this picture i taken (http://www.flickr.com/photo... this picture was captures by my nokia n82.

Re: Compare cell phone to pro camera

DigitalCameraSale — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 22:08:58 -0000

I used Panasonic FX-9 it have the anti-blur mode.I test by shake my hand and shot. that still be good photo.Do you have any comment?

Re: Compare cell phone to pro camera

Jack — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 10:17:54 -0000

This is not a fair test.Obviously the nokia n82's exposure value has been increased thats why its images looked washed.My nokia n82 takes far better pictures than that.And for the canon 5D,you used the optical zoom and less light entered the lens thus it makes the images look higher in contrast.Do try and create another comparison.

Re: Compare cell phone to pro camera

Watch Cane Online — Tue, 20 May 2008 17:12:27 -0000

I still prefer my N95 8GB.

Re: Compare cell phone to pro camera

tnkgrl — Mon, 19 May 2008 19:00:23 -0000

@Jeff Sullivan, granted... But look at this: http://www.flickr.com/photo...

Re: Compare cell phone to pro camera

Jeff Sullivan — Mon, 19 May 2008 13:41:50 -0000

Yes, the Canon 5D is now obsolete.

Since it's a bit too big to be practical for use as a paperweight, I suggest that 5D owners consider donating theirs to a worthy charity (namely me).

Seriously though, resolution is not the most important factor when capturing images. The N82 has blown out a tremendous amount of the highlight detail. At first glance it looks like it simply used a brighter exposure, but looking at the higher resolution files reveals that it loses shadow detail in the same places where the 5D does, it simply doesn't ahve the range to also capture highlight details. The N82 appears to have a dynamic range of about 4-5 stops of light vs. 8-9 for the 5D and vs. the 13 stops that your eye can discern.

The N82 has trouble with color tones too, due to the JPEG format's 8 bit color. Current DSLRs have 14 bit processing, resolving 16,000 shades of red, green and blue vs. 256 in a JPEG file. That's 64X more color available to provide subtle transitions in a sunset, or even a blue sky.

In short, the N82 won't be producing images like these any time soon:
http://www.flickr.com/photo...

Re: Compare cell phone to pro camera

nanette leblanc — Mon, 19 May 2008 08:15:00 -0000

I have always taken good photos, but when I got my sony walkman cell phone, with 2mp I was getting extraordinary pictures. I went from starting to get into photography in august 2007, to having my 1st show in April 2008.

Yes they are only 8x10 size, but they are unabelievable.

Re: Compare cell phone to pro camera

nanette leblanc — Mon, 19 May 2008 08:11:24 -0000

I have always taken good photos, but when I got my sony walkman cell phone, with 2mp I was getting extraordinary pictures. I have alway been told I have a good eye, but I never pursued it until these photos. I went from starting to get info in August 2007 to having my 1st show in April 2008. I also had an executive producer of a bigger gallery contact me during that show.

I think that I finally found an area that is worth getting into with my photography.

Re: Compare cell phone to pro camera

tnkgrl — Sun, 18 May 2008 04:00:52 -0000

I've been saying this for a while: http://tnkgrl.wordpress.com...

In the past year I've sued the i-mobile 902, Nokia N95 (original version), Sony Ericsson K850i, Nokia N95-3 (US version), Nokia N82, and Nokia N95 8GB (US version), all with a decent 5 megapixel camera: http://tnkgrl.wordpress.com...

Re: Compare cell phone to pro camera

darkripper — Fri, 16 May 2008 18:19:29 -0000

Robert Clark did a journey around USA just with a cellphone camera doing very good shots.
Also I've heard a lot of photojournalists are dropping SLRs for compacts (especially olympus ones).

I still believe an SLR it's the best way to learn photography and so it's the road I've taken. Then, later, you can probably sometime decide that the big camera it's not the right tool for the job. But then, you'll know a bit more about lights, framing, etc

Re: Compare cell phone to pro camera

AC — Fri, 16 May 2008 14:44:46 -0000

Nokia is letting me trial an N82 for a couple of weeks -- it's going to be hard to give it back!

http://acurrie.wordpress.co...

Re: Compare cell phone to pro camera

RobG — Fri, 16 May 2008 14:34:19 -0000

I guessed right away based off zoom. I agree with most of what everyone said and fall into the "take shots of drunk relatives and friends" category. Of course, if they're drunk I usually record a movie of them dancing to songs I'm playing on my N95-4 at the same time.

I have yet to see a DSLR that can entice drunk people to dance and then record a video of their admirable attempts, so as a feature-creep addict I gotta go with any good converged device over a device that's outstanding at one thing (taking pics).

Re: Compare cell phone to pro camera

Paul Leroux — Fri, 16 May 2008 12:17:44 -0000

Re Greg's comment: I often use a "heavy camera with a big lens", not because I'm a professional or because I want to look like one. I do it because it's the tool that gives me the image quality I want -- and after 25 years of amateur photography, image quality is something that has become very important to me. If a cell phone could deliver the same quality, believe me, I'd be the first in line to get one. Mind you, the way technology is progressing, I might not have to wait long!

Re: Compare cell phone to pro camera

Gonzague — Fri, 16 May 2008 11:49:40 -0000

Funny but I made the difference without cheating ;-)

( I own a N82 and its pretty fantastic ^^ )

Re: Compare cell phone to pro camera

Jens Buch — Thu, 15 May 2008 06:08:14 -0000

Good point - I am not very into taking pictures, but a couple of years ago when I got my 3.2 mp Sony Ericsson K800i, I started taking a lot of pictures. The quality was very good and I enjoyed using the phone to take pictures.

I then heard of the big brother of the K800i - the 5 mp Sony Ericsson K850i. I got that, and instantly stopped taking pictures. The pictures are so poor because it is next to impossible for your hand not to interfere with the sensors (and thus get a black picture). Furthermore the user interface is so poor and the phone's reaction time is awful. Don't expect a picture to be taken more than 1 out of 5 times when you press the button. Next to that the voice quality is terrible.

I now use my blackberry 8800 with no camera- I will start taking pictures again when either apple or rim bring out a phone with 3+ mp. I rate data communication over picture quality...

Re: Compare cell phone to pro camera

Greg — Thu, 15 May 2008 03:58:23 -0000

You make a good point and I agree. Unless you are a professional, I don't see the point of SLR cameras. Compact cameras, and even cell phone cameras have all the megapixels you will ever need and are much more efficient to carry. Maybe some people just like to be traditional and carry a heavy camera with a big lens around their neck so they look like some type of professional photo journalist.

Re: Compare cell phone to pro camera

Paul Leroux — Wed, 14 May 2008 21:29:25 -0000

Nice action sequence, alek!

Re: Compare cell phone to pro camera

Nathan Zeldes — Wed, 14 May 2008 14:40:25 -0000

Second time lucky? I was saying, I’ve been agonizing over this very issue… the cellphone is always with me, a serious advantage I put to frequent use, but apart from the quality difference (mostly related to blur on my older phone), there is the unique user experience of an SLR - digital or not. You see what you're shooting, you can tweak it with instant responsiveness, you are in real control... Nothing else comes even close in sheer enjoyment and usability.

Now if they figured a way to make an SLR that would fit in a cellphone ;-)

Re: Compare cell phone to pro camera

Nathan Zeldes — Wed, 14 May 2008 14:34:31 -0000

I've been agonizing over this very issue... the cellphone is always with me, a serious advantage I put to freq... but apart from

Re: Compare cell phone to pro camera

alek — Wed, 14 May 2008 14:25:14 -0000

Ditto what Jeff and especially Paul said - a good example of high-speed capture at long distance can be seen here:
http://www.komar.org/faq/do...

Will be a lonnggg time before Cell Phones can do that. Have said that, they certainly do serve a purpose and impressive how good they are getting ... plus often times, a so-so picture is better than no picture.