Smartphone with the best camera

[pandemonium]

I've been researching this for quite a while now, and sad to say, I'm just not very satisfied with the options available for all the smartphones out there with 8MP+ cameras. **Edit: This is not to say I'm solely judging a smartphone's picture/video quality on their megapixel rating. Please stop assuming this and read through the thread. >.<

I'm of the mind that if I can get it all in one package, then I will. I really want a decent camera, but don't see the need to carry a discrete $200-400 one when I have a smartphone that should be able to do just as good. So far, I have yet to see a smartphone camera that even has shutter duration options. I really like the Nokia N8, but it seems the quality isn't anywhere near it should be for 12MP. I don't mind spending $500+ on an unlocked smartphone to take good pictures and videos, browse, chat, GPS, etc. I don't game on my phones - I leave that responsibility to my computer. Aside from being an amateur photographer in general, I'd like to get into recording my biking adventures and eventually capture the night's sky through my telescope. I'm a pretty big DIY'er and will build mounts for all of this myself.

I'm constantly keeping tabs on what's available via www.gsmarena.com and other sites. I would like to upgrade sometime in the near future, but nothing hurried. Will I have to resort to carrying a discrete camera to get quality pictures and full functionality? Any recommendations? Am I asking too much?

Update Edit 4-6-12: I decided to get the N8 instead of waiting on the 808 PureView. My reasoning mainly came down to the cost difference (-$400USD) and the fact that the 808 isn't 4G either (Augusta's AT&T has pretty good coverage for 4G now, however most of my travel is to areas with only 2G). My primary focus was to get either due to the high quality optics (Carl Zeiss lenses; read here if you're unaware and curious as to why). I figured about 2 years will pass by the time PureView technology hits WP8 phones and will be last generation and I'll upgrade again (where I usually buy to save a lot of money). My secondary choices were the SGSII Skyrocket, or the Skyrocket HD (which would've cost me less out of pocket, but more in the long run since I'd lose my grandfathered $15/month unlimited data plan).

I'll update again with links for video captures and pictures to show quality for anyone that may be interested. [It'll probably be a while.]

I'm pretty happy with the N8 so far. It's certainly not fast compared to phones releasing now, but of course I wasn't expecting it to be. It was very easy to transfer all of my contacts, messages, music, pictures, videos, etc, via bluetooth (even though Ovi Suite could've done it quicker). Popped the SIM card in, and voila, ready to go after some simple regional settings on boot-up. No waiting "2-24 hours for activation" or anything crazy like that. <3 the GSM SIM card system. ^^

One odd thing, I read that it was being shipped with Belle and mine actually came with Anna without all of the updates on it (I'm installing them now OTA), so things may improve a bit once I get it updated.

 

[shortylickens]

I dont think you should buy a phone specifically for the camera. All you will get is the very best quality phone pics which is akin to being the handsomest guy at a Star Trek convention.

Having said that, you probably want one of the latest gen Nokias. All the reviews say they give the sharpest pics and videos available today, thanks to unusually good sensors and Carl Zeiss lenses.

 

[3chordcharlie]

No, a smartphone is not going to take pictures that are just as good as a decent, dedicated camera, and Mega-pixels are a poor way to define quality.

You want the best lense you can find, with the quickest true autofocus, and a flash. It's likely but not certain this will be either a 5MP or 8MP model.

TBH, in the last 3 years, every smartphone has acceptable quality cameras; I don't think there's any 2MP fixed-focus ones left, but even they ork for the real point-and-shoot stuff.

If you want to try out photography, just start shooting. Then start reading about why your pictures suck. Then open your wallet. That's how it works

Good Luck!

 

[notposting]

Seems like the iPhone 4S for you...check phonearena they have sample shotsfrom most phones.

 

[Oyeve]

ip4s or sgs2.

 

[vshah]

if you're going to be photographing the night sky, no cell phone sensor will really do it justice. you need a camera that excels in low light. (some will say the iphone 4s, which excels compared to other cellphones, but won't be as good as a real digital camera).

 

[fbrdphreak]

Megapixels != image quality

No cell phone will be good for photographing at night, compared to a DSLR.

The new HTC Rezound has an 8MP camera with an f/2.2 lens. The lower the f-stop number, the more light the lens can let in. It should be one of the better cameras coming out in new phones.

 

[vshah]

Megapixels != image quality

No cell phone will be good for photographing at night, compared to a DSLR.

The new HTC Rezound has an 8MP camera with an f/2.2 lens. The lower the f-stop number, the more light the lens can let in. It should be one of the better cameras coming out in new phones.

the amount of noise and compression will still be unacceptable.

there's a reason an 8mp cell phone pic is 1.5mb, while a 6mp dslr pic is 2-3mb

 

[wirednuts]

i dont know, im not a photographer by any means... i think the new cameras in phone are incredible. even the regular iphone 4's camera is outstanding.....

sucks that you have to take pics at night, because in the daytime i think the newer cellphone actually do just as good of a job as most discrete cameras.

 

[MrX8503]

Having said that, you probably want one of the latest gen Nokias. All the reviews say they give the sharpest pics and videos available today, thanks to unusually good sensors and Carl Zeiss lenses.

I think the newer smartphones are even better than the Nokias. I believe HTC amaze, SGSII, and iP4S performed better. Not entirely sure though.

 

[kyrax12]

how good are the sensors on samsung's new smartphones?

 

[Deeko]

I would say these are the phones that will get you the best picture....

1) Nokia N8
2) iPhone 4s
3) Samsung Galaxy SII
4) Various HTC's with upgraded camera (Titan, if we want to toss a 4th platform into the mix)

That said, none of them are the same quality as a standalone point-and-shoot digital camera, especially in low light. Its disappointing, but when people value thinness over everything with their phones, this is what we get.

 

[TuxDave]

Megapixels != image quality

No cell phone will be good for photographing at night, compared to a DSLR.

The new HTC Rezound has an 8MP camera with an f/2.2 lens. The lower the f-stop number, the more light the lens can let in. It should be one of the better cameras coming out in new phones.

Low f-stop number, backlit sensor + decent resolution. All good stuff!

I guess the next thing to nit pick on for smartphone cameras is the optics quality.

 

[obidamnkenobi]

If you are at all serious about photos (i.e. more than posting 640x480 shots to facebook) I would just get a small point and shot in addition to the phone. Even a $150 P&S will be way-way better than the tiny sensor, no zoom, no controls cell phone camera.

If you don't even want to carry any of those frankly pretty tiny P&S cameras around, well then I guess you're not that serious

 

[IamDavid]

Titan is supposed to be a great camera.

 

[shortylickens]

If you are at all serious about photos (i.e. more than posting 640x480 shots to facebook) I would just get a small point and shot in addition to the phone. Even a $150 P&S will be way-way better than the tiny sensor, no zoom, no controls cell phone camera.

If you don't even want to carry any of those frankly pretty tiny P&S cameras around, well then I guess you're not that serious

Thats my opinion. If you wouldnt research those on DPReview and pick a nice one then you really arent that concerned about image quality, and should probably not sweat over a phone camera.

 

[jpeyton]

Even the best smartphone on the market will fail miserably compared to a good compact digital camera.

Outdoors on a clear day, the two might be comparable. But the active image sensor area of an iPhone 4S is 15.5 mm^2. A Canon S100 is 43.3 mm^2. An Olympus E-PM1 is 225 mm^2. A Sony NEX-C3 is 370 mm^2. Smaller sensors have diminished light gathering abilities.

At web resolutions, or with e-hipster image processing (re: Instagram), it's harder to tell the difference.

 

[Raduque]

Low f-stop number, backlit sensor + decent resolution. All good stuff!

I guess the next thing to nit pick on for smartphone cameras is the optics quality.

Yep, the HTC Rezound, HTC Amaze 4G and HTC myTouch 4G Slide all use the same camera module - it takes great pictures.

Edit: Anand likes it. The same camera module and software stack is used on all 3 phones I mentioned.

 

[pandemonium]

Thanks for all the feedback, guys. I know a camera-phone will never compare to a discrete camera simply because of the sensor (CCD or CMOS) sizes, however, technology is changing so rapidly and I guess I'm just hoping for more than it's offering right now.

I'm pretty much just looking for the best of all worlds packed in one.

From all the review reading and comparisons I've seen, the iPhone 4S does appear to be the best camera available without any tweaking. Second to that would be the SGS II, then the N8. Though, I do believe the N8 has the most capability if you run through the settings and tweak it a bit. I've even seen optional telescoping attachments for optical zooming for the N8; that's saying something. GSMArena's comparison tool is my primary source for objective qualities.

I was hoping I missed something in all my searching, but I guess, for now, I'm just asking too much.

 

[pandemonium]

My prayers were answered; sort-of. The Nokia 808 Pureview is definitely a hot interest for me right now, but unfortunately it won't be available distinctly for the North American market, and I'll have to get the global version (which isn't a big deal to me, really). And will also cost upwards of $700USD+.

Now I'm deciding on waiting for the SGS II Skyrocket HD or 808 Pureview (and paying for an unlocked version since I'm still running with a grandfathered data plan and don't want to lose it) or buy an unlocked N8 right now for a very cheap price of ~$315 from Amazon...

My primary functions will obviously be for the camera/video quality (since I'll be recording mountain biking sessions and autocross/fun road adventures), mp3 play, movie play, web browsing capability, and GPS utilities.

Anyone with an N8 able to share their experiences? I've read good things about what the Belle update did and kinda thinking I should just go with the N8 for now until 4G is more widely spread.

 

[MrX8503]

You want to look at the sensor size rather than the megapixels. Packing more megapixels doesn't increase the quality because the sensor size is the same.

Think of it as like people being in a crowded room. Because of the physical limitations of a phone, the sensor size can't be very large. This is where a dedicated camera has the advantage. I've read that the 4S, SGSII and HTC Amaze have pretty good cameras.

 

[Deeko]

PureView has a solid sensor on it, though. They anticipate people running it in lower resolutions to properly take advantage of the hardware.

 

[bgstcola]

Actually the 808 has a huge sensor. On top of that pureview allows multiple pixels to form a single pixel. It will probably be better than many point and shoot. We need to see some real world samples.

 

[jtvang125]

Even with a large sensor you're still hampered by the small lens. You can only bend the laws of physic so much.

 

[Ravynmagi]

I hear the HTC One X and One S are suppose to have pretty nice cameras.