• Top 5 Camera Phones

    Top 5 Camera Phones

    Prasad Naik, May 04, 2009 1345 hrs IST

    Amazing image quality and superb features will keep shutterbugs happy

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Camera phones have come a long way since their inception. What once were devices meant to take candid pictures without much thought given to their quality, have now turned into serious tools for photography. We now have mobile phones with advanced technologies like autofocus, optical zoom, face detection, smile detection and, of late, some camera phones have even had blink detection. Even video recording standards have gone up and we now have mobile phones that can record videos in HD resolution.


 


Now that summer is here and many of us are planning to take a vacation, we would need something that is small enough to be carried around everywhere without compromising on picture quality. You can buy one of those compact digital cameras but why carry two devices when you can have both in one?


 


So here's a compilation of the top camera phones that you can buy. These are camera phones we have tested and know that they would provide you with the best picture quality in that price range. So when you come back from your vacation, you can have high quality photos that you could cherish forever.


 



Sony Ericsson K810i


 


 



 


 


Easily one of the best camera phones that the Swedish company made; the K810i still rocks even after two years of being in existence. The K810 has wonderful picture quality, which is complemented by the awesome xenon flash that makes it a great tool for photographing in the dark. Colors are natural and exact, which will definitely please the purists. Macros, which have always been a forte of Sony Ericsson phones, are delivered with aplomb.


 


The 3.2 megapixel resolution might not seem much, but for all practical purposes it is more than enough for a mobile phone. You also get a convenient lens cover, which will start the camera when slid open and protect the lens when closed. Only major flaw that I can point out is the low resolution video recording. But apart from that this phone lives up to the Cyber-shot brand name, and at Rs. 10,000, you cannot get a better camera phone.


 


Click here to read full review of the Sony Ericsson K810i.




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Discussion Board
(22) Comments
Rohit
,Mumbai, on May 29, 2009 11:38 AM
What about SE C510 which you reviewed recently Prasad? Isn't it better than 810i? also it is cheaper than the ones mentioned in this compilation?
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Prasad Naik
,Mumbai, on May 29, 2009 03:23 PM
No, it is not better than the K810i. Both are comparable in day light but C510 lacks the xenon flash that K810 has which means it is not as great at night or in low-light conditions. The slight increase in video recording doesn’t really make up for this loss. So overall I think K810 is still better. :)
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Rohit
,delhi, on Jun 01, 2009 12:00 PM
But C510i has bigger screen, accelerometer and much more camera features than 810? still will you suggest 810i?
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Prasad Naik
,Mumbai, on Jun 02, 2009 09:51 AM
When it comes to choosing between features and performance, I would any day go with performance. Plus K810 has all that it needs and things like Smile Shutter accelerometer, etc isn't something that you use or need that often. :)
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jit
,jalgaon, on Jun 02, 2009 05:36 PM
but if u look at the overall features c510 scores over k810i, the only plus point in k810i is xenon flash...n dats somthing we can compromise with.
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Prasad Naik
,Mumbai, on Jun 03, 2009 10:11 AM
I am sorry but I will continue to disagree with you. For me the Xenon flash is far more useful than anything else. I guess it finally boils down to personal preferences, but I have already stated mine and you are free to have yours.
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ketan trivedi
,ahemdabad, on May 29, 2009 11:06 PM
Hi Prasad, Thanks for ur prompt reply. I have finalised to buy either N82 or sony C 905. Once again thnaks a lot for ur advise.
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ketan
,ahmedabad, on May 28, 2009 09:23 PM
Hi, It was greta article. thanks for it. But still can u recommend me which one to buy from the list 1) N82, 2) N95 8Gb, 3) samsung pixon, 4) c905 ( but for me budget is high) Please advise me. I want to buy mobile with a very good camera as well as can take very nice pics in night too. Should have good video capturing capacity. And other multi media things. Can easily transfer pics to my family staying at UK. Thanks ketan
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Prasad Naik
,Mumbai, on May 29, 2009 09:56 AM
Good quality pics in daylight and at night as well as good video recording. There's only one phone that you mentioned which meets these criteria and that is Nokia N82. C905 might have an 8 MP camera but the video recording is only restricted up to QVGA resolution. Plus 5 MP on the N82 is more than enough in my opinion and it has Xenon flash as well, not to mention the VGA video recording. I think you should go for the N82.
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marees
,chennai, on May 11, 2009 10:07 PM
Hi Prasad, great work! I agree that the 5 phones you have mentioned are the best in thier price bracket. This saves a huge amount of research time for any potential camera phone buyer. It would have been an icing on the cake, if you had included atleast 1 camera phone with Optical Zoom for comparision sake.
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Prasad Naik
,Mumbai, on May 12, 2009 11:06 AM
Camera phones with optical zoom are now as common as penguins in Sahara. The few that were there have also evaporated over time with no possible replacements in the foreseeable future. It remains to be seen if optical zoom will ever make a comeback in mobile phones. Till then I think we'll have to live with no zoom (which is better than using digital zoom).
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manoj
,bangalore, on May 05, 2009 03:06 PM
great pick prasad! job well done,also unlike previous writers you reply the user comments too! keep up the good work
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Prasad Naik
,Mumbai, on May 05, 2009 05:42 PM
Thank you. :)
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Ponnanaa
,Bangalore, on May 05, 2009 03:22 PM
Providing appropriate replies to User comments and accepting / rectifying errors by the writer is appreciated. I have a K810i and I love the photos and videos. When it comes to camera phones, I guess SE has an edge.
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Neetu Banga
,New Delhi, on May 05, 2009 01:12 PM
dream phone.....great fun....cute like zooooes.........(vodaphone ad)
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Karan Nandwani
,Mumbai, on May 05, 2009 11:09 AM
Here's the quote from the INNOV8 page "What's more, the C905 is also capable of recording videos in VGA resolution at 30 FPS, something the C905 cannot do. It also has a massive 16 GB built-in memory with option to expand it further, so you'll never have to worry about running out of space for your favorite photos and videos. Priced at Rs. 37,000, the INNOV8 is a bit too expensive, but that's more because of the overall package that it offers than just camera performance. Along with the C905, it is one of the best camera phones that you can buy." There are a lot of typos. Instead of saying INNOV you have mentioned C905 at two places in the para quoted above.
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Prasad Naik
,Mumbai, on May 05, 2009 11:50 AM
Thanks for pointing that out. The typos have been fixed.
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Azeem
,Mumbai, on May 04, 2009 10:16 PM
You seem to forget that the ZN5 has a max video capture resolution of 176x144. Which is pathetic for any camera with more than 2MP, to be perfectly honest
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Prasad Naik
,Mumbai, on May 05, 2009 10:49 AM
No, I have not. I think you'll find that I have mentioned in the article that the ZN5 has poor video recording, but the still image capture makes up for it. And if you need better quality video recording, then there is always the N82. :)
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Asset Allocator
,Mumbai, on May 04, 2009 09:41 PM
Go for the N82. Thoughit looks Simple, its got a great camera, and the best thing is the Xenon Flash, its handy, got great memory, is pretty fast, night pictures come out good because of the great Flash, the buttons are small, but the space between the buttons are big, I have got big fingers, but even then no problems typing or texting. Got 3G, can use it once it becomes operational in Mumbai, with the new Symbian update, the pictures have become even better. Got it for 22k a year and a half back, only thing is that prices havent dropped till now, retails for 19k now I believe. Though with that money you can definitely go for a separate camera and a mobile, but I can send pics seconds after shooting through wi-fi, grps, mms, anything. Thats pretty convenient for me
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Nagendra
,Delhi, on May 04, 2009 03:43 PM
Good. All phones you have mentioned are worthy of being called great camera phones. However I think If you have selected best 10 instead of 5 then it would have been more interesting. LG Viewty is also a great camera phone. But it is not mentioned because the seats were only 5....
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Prasad Naik
,Mumbai, on May 04, 2009 05:09 PM
The only reason why I did not add 5 more to the list is because they would not have been in any way better than the ones that are already there and then it would have just diluted the list. For example the LG Viewty that you mentioned costs more or less the same as the N82 but has worse picture quality comparatively. So instead of having them both, I decided to keep the one that is better.
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