Browse: Home / / In Search of the Perfect Camera Phone amidst Changing Paradigms

In Search of the Perfect Camera Phone amidst Changing Paradigms

By Nikhil Pai on January 5, 2011

Cameras on mobiles have always been a debatable concept in the world of mobile phones. While some tend to ignore the specs of the camera, a majority of buyers need the best optics on a phone. Buying the perfect camera phone is not easy since you also need to evaluate other features of the phone apart from camera. Unfortunately I have never ended up using good camera phones for long due to the ever changing paradigms in the mobile world.

The Perfect Camera Phone Discovered! And Consigned to History!

My search for the perfect camera phone began ever since cameras made an appearance on mobile phones. Camera phones really evolved with Nokia N95 which was soon followed by Nokia N82, one of the all-time best camera phones with a 5MP Carl Zeiss lens & xenon flash. It also had all other features you would expect in a smartphone & was the perfect camera phone!

But just as everyone concluded that the search for the best camera phone was over, a new era of largescreen touchphones began. The iPhone attracted many buyers but Symbian lovers waited for Nokia to launch a touchscreen. So when Nokia announced Nokia 5800 XM with a 3.2 inch touchscreen, the Nokia N82 form factor suddenly became legacy for many, me included. It was no longer desirable to use a smartphone which had a ‘small’ 2.4 inch display without a touchscreen. Unfortunately, camera wasn’t the strongest point of Nokia 5800. But times had changed! Nokia N82 was history & the search for the best camera phone began once again!

It happens yet once again…!

Moving on, Nokia launched N97 & N97 Mini with decent 5 MP cameras but when they announced the N8, it took imaging on a mobile to entirely new levels with a 12 MP Carl Zeiss lens; 1/1.83″ sensor; xenon flash and the ability to shoot 720p videos. It was again complete in all other hardware aspects! But alas, the mobile paradigm has changed once again. Symbian has started losing out to Android in various aspects such as availability of apps, user interface & overall user experience. Its no longer desirable to use a Symbian phone no matter how good the hardware & the camera is.

So here I am faced with devices such as Samsung Galaxy S & HTC Desire which have it all! Except for good camera quality! So the search for the perfect camera phone begins yet again! This time with Android OS being the basic requirement. Hoping that sooner than later, some manufacturer fulfills the desire for the perfect camera phone! And hoping by that time, there are no further changes in mobile paradigms!

Related Posts

Posted in | Tagged , , | 13 Responses

Nikhil is a Chartered Accountant who works in the Mergers & Acquisitions team of a leading telecom infrastructure company in India. He has a passion for technology & blogs on internet technologies, mobiles, gadgets, software & social networking.

  • http://twitter.com/nkumar_ Nitish Kumar

    Do you really think that paradigms wont change again?

  • Abhinav08

    Good article :-) …… technology is like a game!! It keeps on evolving & there will always be devices in the market which will be better than the one we hold in our hands!!

  • Pingback: Tweets that mention In Search of the Perfect Camera Phone amidst Changing Paradigms -- Topsy.com

  • http://www.techans.com/ Nikhil Pai

    It will. I am just *hoping* it remains stable for a while so that I can buy a good camera phone with other factors suitable to my requirements

  • http://www.techans.com/ Nikhil Pai

    Thanks! :-) It has been really frustrating for me that whenever phones such as N82 & N8 arrived, they have become outdated in some way or the other!

  • Anonymous

    As a fellow n82 owner, I share the frustration. Though the Galaxy S is supposed to have the best camera of an Android phone, I still find it difficult to get good pictures out of it. It may be the software, hardware or the fact that it doesn’t have a dedicated shutter key.

    Since I still carry my n82 around with me, I find myself reaching for that whenever I need to click a quick picture. Also, since I use it only for calls and camera, I find the battery life has improved greatly, from 1 to 2.5-3 days:-)

  • http://www.techans.com/ Nikhil Pai

    I would say SE Xperia X10 and Motorola XT720 have better cameras than Samsung Galaxy S. Lets hope we get a good Android camera phone soon. Have hopes from SE Xperia X12 when it gets announced over the next couple of days :-)

  • http://nokiasaga.com/ Arun8gb

    The only good, okish cameraphone with good OS that i’ve managed to find is the iPhone 4.

    Haven’t found a single Awesome Android phone in 2010, so 2011 is what i & u gotta look forward! ;)

  • http://twitter.com/jairajp Jairaj P

    Haha! Well said. Till about 3 years back my requirement was a good business phone with NO camera; but today a decent camera is a MUST!!

    And hopefully someone will come out with one Android phone with good camera soon

  • http://www.techans.com/ Nikhil Pai

    Kinda agree with you. The iPhone 4 is currently one of the better touchscreen phones with a decent camera. Amongst Androids I can think of SE Xperia X10 & Motorola XT720. However none qualify for a proper imaging device such as Nokia N8

  • http://www.techans.com/ Nikhil Pai

    Thanks! :-) I hope so too!

  • Budsthewolf

    Hey I agree with Nikhil….. If you must try looking at the Nokia N900, though its being phased out…..again the software… Hope Nokia comes out with a phone which has it all……..good camera, touchscreen, qwerty keypad

  • Andrew Demello

    completely agree with u…. just spent 3 hours in a store tryin to pick out my next camera phone …. almost decided on the x10 until i saw its disappointin low-light pics …. guess im just gonna have to settle for the n8 …. but now the problem is findin a defect-free piece …. if u have any recommendations for any shops in mumbai, it wud be great …. plannin to try the nokia priority centres tmrw …..