Camera Nitty Gritty - The Series Overview and Conclusions
Published by Steve Litchfield at 14:24 UTC, February 22nd 2009
Over the last six months, I've tackled a number of phone camera-related issues head on and tried to draw conclusions, even though they sometimes fly in face of phone marketing. In this final part to the popular series, I'd like to provide an index to all the articles and also summarise some of the individual article conclusions.
In each case, following the bulleted link will take you to the full original article:
Part 1 - I looked at exposed camera glass on some phone models and investigated whether scratches really make a difference
Surprisingly, I found that, for average camera phone use, even quite bad scratches on the outside camera glass make negligible difference to the quality of the finished photos - the reduction in light levels just isn't significant and the focussing point is far, far beyond the scratches themselves. The only caveat to this is when shooting into the sun, when the scratches cause lens flare and possibly unwanted lighting effects.
Part 2 - I investigated the pros and cons of LED/dual-LED/Xenon flashes in camera phones - does Xenon or dual LED flash make that much difference?
I demonstrated quite conclusively the power of Xenon. Yes, dual LED flashes were naturally brighter than single LED, but even so they're many times weaker than Xenon. Secondly, the long shutter time needed for working with LED flash means that subjects in motion end up badly blurred - anyone taking a LED flash photo at a party or disco will know bad this blurring can get. In contrast, Xenon flash (seen on the Samsung G810 and Nokia N82) 'freezes the instant' superbly.
Part 3 - I investigated the fabled 'Megapixel myth' with an objective eye
All other factors (light, etc) being identical, for most people's purposes, there's seemingly little point in chasing after higher megapixel numbers - at typical display or print dimensions, you simply won't be able to tell the difference. 3 or 5 megapixels seems to be a sweet spot here - 8 megapixels and above simply aren't needed for average users.
Part 4 - I focussed on the difference between good and poor optics (at the same camera resolution)
Surprisingly, I found only a negligible difference in the quality, with the sensor fitted and the software algorithms used playing an equally important part. In summing up, I said that branded optics might be a clincher when agonising over two phones of similar camera spec, but not to use this as the be all and end all of choosing a camera-toting phone in the first place.
Part 5 - I pitched all the top smartphone cameras head to head, in detail
An atypical part in the series, I wanted to test the current state of play in terms of the best phone cameras out there. My comments on the 'megapixel myth' above notwithstanding, it seems that the 8 megapixel Samsung INNOV8 (i8510) is currently the pick of the phones tested, for semi-pro use, with an awesomely good sensor and optics. Even with its Xenon flash, the Nokia N82 couldn't match it in terms of ultimate performance.
Part 6 - AAS guest writer Dirk Snoyt took up the theme of camera phone flash research and got all technical on the theme of colours...
The main point to take away from this point is, again, how superior Xenon flash is, this time in terms of the colour spectrum of the light it puts out - using an LED flash can result in different forms of colour skewing of the subject - which then have to be put through the mangle in photo processing software later in order to correct.
Part 7 - I returned with a look at the difference optical zoom makes and asked the question "Is it better to have optical zoom or just much higher resolution?"
The answer, it turns out, is that neither is 'better'. Zooming in by 3 times with a 3mp camera produces detail roughly equivalent to that from a 8 or 9mp camera unit. However, the use of optical zoom means lower light levels (one extra piece of glass in the way of the photons), greater expense in terms of hardware build costs and a much greater susceptibility to 'camera shake' - all reasons why, despite the apparent desirability, we probably won't see many camera phones with optical zoom in the future.
Part 8 - I looked at phone camera video capture potential
Perhaps not surprisingly, the Nokia N82 and N95 took centre stage here with their great VGA capture, but they were pipped to the post by the Nokia N93, which gathered extra points for having stereo microphones as well. Tellingly, the Samsung INNOV8 again starred, with an initial focus in video recording mode, let down here only by an audio sync bug - with this fixed, it would win this test and thus have walked away with best phone camera for both stills and video....
Part 9 - I looked at video focussing differences in Nokia's Nseries
I was particularly interested in the way Nokia preset the focus in video mode differently for different devices. The N82's camera seems to shoot video focussed nicely at a metre or so, whereas the more recent devices, such as the tested N96, are somewhat bizarrely focussed at infinity, meaning that they're not very good at shooting people.
Part 10 - I looked at the difference sensor and aperture size can make, for both stills and video.
Comparing the new Nokia 5800 with an N95, I showed how a smaller aperture and correspondingly smaller sensor lead to dramatically different levels of digital 'noise' in low light conditions. Quantum physics even gets a mention! These effects are even more dramatic for video capture, incidentally, where getting as many photons of light to register per 1/30s frame is vitally important.
Part 11 - I looked at ways of using high Megapixel counts for intelligent cropping of photos and for Megapixel Microscopy.
Inventing a new technique (or so I like to think), I show how the use of a high megapixel camera in macro focussing mode can lead to some fabulously detailed photos - when cropped, the result is effectively microscopy and very educational!
Part 12 - I looked at the various Scene modes and additional settings in Nokia's Camera application - are any of them needed?
Actually, it turns out that almost none of them are needed. I demonstrated benefit from using 'Sports' mode and from tinkering with 'White balance', but for most practical purposes you need never feel guilty about simply leaving everything on 'Automatic' all the time.
Categories: How To, Comment, Hardware
Platforms: General, S60 3rd Edition
Feature Discussion
If you use a decent autofocus 5mp or 3mp cameraphone I don't think most people would spot it in amongst their holiday snaps, so in that sense they are already good enough for most people. Even a fixed focus cameraphone's pictures might go unnoticed.
1- Copy z:\private\10202BE9\10282EDC.txt to c:\private\10202BE9
2- Edit the file and change the following line :
0x3001A string "QualitySetLevel=306,ImageFileMimeType=image/jpeg,ImageWidth=2592,ImageHeight=1944,ImageFileExt ension=.jpg,ImageEncoderUID=0x00000000,Compression Quality=85,EstimatedSize=650000,CameraDisplayId=2, CamcorderVisible=350" 0 cap_rd=alwayspass cap_wr=alwaysfail
to:
0x3001A string "QualitySetLevel=306,ImageFileMimeType=image/jpeg,ImageWidth=2592,ImageHeight=1944,ImageFileExt ension=.jpg,ImageEncoderUID=0x00000000,Compression Quality=100,EstimatedSize=890000,CameraDisplayId=2 ,CamcorderVisible=350" 0 cap_rd=alwayspass cap_wr=alwaysfail
3- Save and restart.
The photos (at the 5MP settings) now are an average of 900KB instead
of 600KB, which means less JPEG compression, which means theoretically better quality.
I tried messing with all the other params (QualitySetLevel, ImageHeight, ImageWidth, ImageEncoderUID, CamcorderVisible) but they didn't seem to make a difference in the photo file size.
Also at the top of the file where the Video recording params are defined, I tried changing the VideoBitRate=4000000 to VideoBitRate=6000000 and
that also didn't make a difference. Maybe 4MB/S is a hardware limitation for video recording on the N85 ???
Please test and let us know your results.
my trust in nokia is now zero.
* if they had of sold the device with that set that way i could have adjusted.
* if they had of warned me before the update that would have been acceptable.
as it is they turned a working device into a an annoying piece of crap. i have a sneaking suspicion i'm going to take a hammer to it in the next month as it annoys me so much.
now i'm not getting a n97. i'm never going to recommend nokia again. that's about 10-20 sales a year right there. small change to them but sod it.
there are partial fixes and i've tried a few but they don't work on my e71. but my interest in fixing it is at this point zero.
| there's only one feature i want on a cameraphone. that it takes pictures of error messages on computer screens silently. |
I'm not being sarcastic, I'm genuinely interested in why this is so important to you.
| my nokia e71 as of the last firmware update turned of the ability to be silent. the device is now a paperweight as far as i'm concerned. |
| as it is they turned a working device into a an annoying piece of crap. i have a sneaking suspicion i'm going to take a hammer to it in the next month as it annoys me so much. |
If you ONLY wanted a device for taking pictures silently, and absolutely none of the phone's other features matter at all to you, why didn't you get a dedicated camera?
The E71 isn't even marketed as a cameraphone, it's mainly meant for writing e-mail, hence the full QWERTY keyboard. It seems a very odd device to choose if you only wanted a silent camera.
I am guessing that deleting those files or replacing them with a blank audio file would solve the 'clicking/snapping' of the camera.
Thus problem solved.
Why are so many people interested in turning off the shutter noise?
The location of the camera sounds is indeed known, I can't remember, so Google for it. But they are in a protected area, so you cannot change them without hacking your phone.
web, opera mini
email, gmail app
book reading, qreader
games, freecell
notes in notepad.
camera, shootng error messages and wildlife (the noise is a dead give away then)
since it started clicking i use my e71 way less(down from €30 to about €5). even dug out my old e61 and will probably switch all data to that and find a quiet camera.
why must it be silent? why must it make noise! the idea is that it is protecting somebody is usually put forward? nonsense. if i wanted a silent phone i would pop it open and disable the speaker. 2-3 hours i reckon with a little care would do it. i make less than €1 voice calls a month so it would not be an issue.
for example i'm offended that when i use winxp i need wga to tell ms that i am not using a stolen version of windows. i'm offended that they're using my ram, cpu and internet constantly checking that i'm a thief.
i'm now offended that nokia are kowtowing to a bad law that isn't going to protect anybody. it was said very nicely in a slashdot discussion that if the camera that shot the cop shooting the restrained prisoner had of made noise then there might not be evidence of the cop shooting the prisoner a it would have been confiscated.
some people can ignore a tap dripping. i'm just not one of those people. that noise is the loudest sound in my office when it goes off. very very distracting.
i know it is a small issue for most (i've seen a fair few discussions online bitching about it) and it may sound crazy but it is enough for me to drop nokia permenantly. i got an iphone at christmas and its complete crap. but right now it annoys me far less than the e71. way the go nokia!
heres the weird part. i mentioned to 2 techy nerds on friday that i was looking for something other than nokia and both of them were in the same boat. 1 because they weren't bringing out a replacement for the e70 as he preferred the flip open keyboard and 1 because android looked more interesting. the 3 of us where till the start of this year absolute nokia fans. if you knew the trouble the e70 owner went to get the device you'd no how bad this is for nokia. they just seem to piss of their best fans (we were all buying high end devices 1-2 a year). once you piss off a customer they are not going to come back.
most of the devices i use these days seem to have artificial limitations.
3g iphone only works with 1 itunes and won't shoot video.
nokia e71 has this stupid click noise.
| why must it be silent? why must it make noise! |
Saying that a phone is a "paperweight" and "useless" purely because the camera makes a small noise is pretty strange.
| the idea is that it is protecting somebody is usually put forward? nonsense. |
| i'm now offended that nokia are kowtowing to a bad law that isn't going to protect anybody |
If you don't like a law, complain to your local member of parliament, they're the ones who make laws. Tell your MP exactly why you want to have silent cameras so much.
| some people can ignore a tap dripping. i'm just not one of those people. |
A camera noise is more like a tap that makes a noise when you use it.
| heres the weird part. i mentioned to 2 techy nerds on friday that i was looking for something other than nokia and both of them were in the same boat. 1 because they weren't bringing out a replacement for the e70 as he preferred the flip open keyboard and 1 because android looked more interesting. the 3 of us where till the start of this year absolute nokia fans. |
it's not my number one issue when choosing a phone. i knew that i could turn it off when i bought it. the firmware update has taken away that ability. therefore the device can no longer do what i want with it. if they had of warned me before i updated it i would probably have bought another e71 and used the silent one for photos while using the updated version for everthing else. it is the lack of info that nokia gives that annoys me most.
quote:Saying that a phone is a "paperweight" and "useless" purely because the camera makes a small noise is pretty strange.
to you it is small. to me it is the most annoying thing. different foks different strokes. you only have to google the issue to see that there are a fair few who feel as i do.
Quote:Erm... you're the only one who's talking about privacy. No one else has mentioned it so far in this thread.
sorry i thought you knew. the reason for the addition of the click is to prevent perverts from taking upskirt photos on public transport. this is suposed to be a big problem in japan and korea. ironically the heavy diesel engines that dublin bus use means it's one of the few locations i can't hear the damn click. :-) was taking a picture of an asshat parked across 2 disabled parking bays if you must know.
quote:If you don't like a law, complain to your local member of parliament, they're the ones who make laws. Tell your MP exactly why you want to have silent cameras so much.
there is no such law in ireland. as far as i can tell its the law in japan, korea and 1-2 european countries. they are looking to introduce it into the us and when that happened nokia seems to have forced out the update. no warning no mention in the change log.
quote:A camera noise is more like a tap that drips once every time you use it.
my bad, what i was implying is a small but very annoying noise.
quote:I'm not sure how that puts you in the same boat as an E70 fan and someone who's interested in Android. Is there a huge market for Android-based gullwing phones with silent cameras?
the implication is that a number of technical people who till now were content with nokia are increasingly dissatisfied with the devices they are putting out. different reasons but same result. no more nokias sold to the 3 of us. it's a pity as nokia makes some of the best hardware. defintely the best batteries and devices with the best battery life.
hope that clears up some of my points. as i said most people don't care but to others it is an incredible annoyance.
at this point even if nokia did a uturn i would be very reluctant to trust them. once bitten twice shy.
|
Originally Posted by Unregistered
it's not my number one issue when choosing a phone.
|
"there's only one feature i want on a cameraphone. that it takes pictures of error messages on computer screens silently."
...and you then said that your E71 was a paperweight because the camera was no longer silent.
I totally understand how frustrating it is when there's some annoying glitch or "feature" in a firmware update, but seems a bit extreme to write off an entire smartphone purely because of the camera click noise.
kindly help...