Smartphone with the best camera

[tdawg]

Out of curiousity, when you're talking about the quality, are you referring to post-processing or pre-processing? Because Deshaker for VirtualDub works wonders. With a decent mount setup that will reduce high-impact blurring, I'm betting a GoPro isn't necessary.

I'm thinking more of raw footage quality. The potential difference between the compression used in the 1080p files created by a phone camera versus a dedicated video camera is going to make a difference in the basic quality of the footage. The way the shutters work in the various devices might affect image quality as well (jelly effects, etc).

 

[pandemonium]

I was hoping you weren't speculating, rather speaking from first-hand experience. In general, you're right. However, the N8 isn't just another cameraphone...

Comparing specifications alone, the N8 has a larger sensor, video stabilization, autofocus, and a higher quality lens than the GoPro Hero Naked. However, the Hero can record up to 60fps at 720p (15Mbit/s) and 30fps at 1080p (same 15Mbit/s though and at a much lower 127° FoV), and is waterproof (which a full body Zagg shield for the N8 only costs $20). [The N8 only does 720p 30fps - which is perfectly fine for me since most of the time on a cameraphone, and even on dedicated cameras, 1080p is hindered by compression algorithms and lower bitrates.] I'd have to compare raw videos to each other side-by-side to see the difference, but again, spending $200 on a dedicated camera seems silly to me. I couldn't find an actual listing of the bitrate that the N8 records 720p at, but my calculations based off of various file sizes listed around the net was around ~14Mbit/s. Anything over 9Mbit/s is pretty good quality as far as bitrate alone goes. From there, the quality of each pixel would be up to the optics and sensor size; given previously mentioned how the N8 is more powerful in both of those categories and I'd be willing to bet overall it's better.

I'm just going by the numbers and specifications. Theory and real-world rarely play out the same.

 

[jacqg]

I've heard that the 4S camera is superb. I have the SGSII and the camera is pretty nice too. But the 4S has gotten a lot of hype about the camera.