Camera Nitty Gritty - part 10 - Sensor and Aperture sizes
Published by Steve Litchfield at 7:42 UTC, December 31st 2008
In this, part 10 of my (ahem) long running series, I look at the difference sensor and aperture size can make in phone cameras, for both stills and video. As real world examples of both good and bad, I use the Nokia N95 8GB and the 5800 XpressMusic. See below for links to other articles in the series.
In part 1 of this series, Steve Litchfield looked at exposed camera glass on some phone models and investigated whether scratches really make a difference. In part 2, he investigated the pros and cons of LED/dual-LED/Xenon flashes in camera phones - does Xenon or dual LED flash make that much difference? In part 3, he investigated the fabled 'Megapixel myth' with an objective eye. In part 4, he focussed on the difference between good and poor optics (at the same camera resolution) and in part 5, he pitched all the top smartphone cameras head to head, in detail. In 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... In part 7, I returned with a look at the difference optical zoom makes and ask the question "Is it better to have optical zoom or just much higher resolution?" Part 8 looked at phone camera video capture potential and part 9 looked at video focussing differences in Nokia's Nseries.
In this, part 10, I look at the difference sensor and aperture size can make, for both stills and video.
Categories: Hardware, Miscellaneous, Editorial Thoughts
Platforms: General, S60 3rd Edition, S60 5th Edition
News Discussion
ofer shmueli
an excellent article steve, i have enjoyed reading all parts . thanks
ashu
Great article steve. Is there anything left in this series!!!!
TheUndertaker
YES!!!!! finally! good review steve! i tested out the 5800 in my near nokia priority center and i immediately noticed this blurring digital noise, the place was quite dark. I was hoping some one would point out this defect in the phone, thanks for doing it! I knew the camera in the phone had a small aperture size and thats why it sucks soo much! Sad thing really, but for the 350 odd us$ its selling for, we cant really complain much i guess! ;)
Good job on the reviews again, keep it up buddy! :D
PaulyLaw
May I suggest once this series has ended (if it ever ends!) bringing all parts together into one document available for download. Maybe even offer it for a paypal donation or something similar to when the The Register sold their rise and fall of Psion articles as a single PDF file.
I'm sure I'm not alone in being interested in a version of the articles edited into one document.
Unregistered
Steve Litchfield = Legend. Nuff said.
JuzLykToEat
I agree with PaulyLaw here.
I would also like to see all the articles made into one document.
Hope to see news about that
alphamusic
I have often been interested in finding camera sensor size specifications but I haven't noticed them in spec sheets before. Do I need to be more dillegent or is it something that can only be discovered once the phone has been dismanteled and the CMOS chip can be identified?
Unregistered
That was truely an awesome read!!! Truly grateful for educating and sharing on this subject to the world!!! MUCH LOVE Brother!!! Keep up the good work!!! Really looking forward to learn more from you!!!
skagen
So is there some place we can compare the aperture size of all Nokia phones?
Great article by the way....
sophocha
Hey all,
Just to let everyone know...with the new Nokia 5800 firmware there is a new third video option for low light video taking and I can tell you it fixes the low light vertical lines and artifacts by up to 50%!!This is a great addon option for night video recording!
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