Camera Comparison: HTC Touch Diamond, HTC Touch Pro, Samsung Omnia, Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1

[Darius Wey]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.theunwired.net/?item=review-htc-touch-diamond-htc-touch-pro-samsung-i900-omnia-sony-ericsson-x1-camera-comparison' target='_blank'>http://www.theunwired.net/?item=rev...mera-comparison</a><br /><br /></div><img border="1" src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/spt/auto/1215088075.usr2.jpg" alt="" /><br /><br />Our pal, Arne, over at the::unwired, has stress tested the cameras of four of the latest and greatest Windows Mobile devices: the HTC Touch Diamond, the HTC Touch Pro, the Samsung Omnia, and Sony Ericsson's XPERIA X1. If camera quality means a lot to you, hit the <a href="http://www.theunwired.net/?item=review-htc-touch-diamond-htc-touch-pro-samsung-i900-omnia-sony-ericsson-x1-camera-comparison" target="_blank">link</a> to see what Arne has to say.

[Jason Dunn]

Bleh. All of these cameras still take crappy pictures IMO. :o

[randalllewis]

Bleh. All of these cameras still take crappy pictures IMO. :o


Yeah, but my Diamond is a lot smaller than my Canon S5 so I don't expect it to match the quality. I appreciate the convenience of having the camera with me on the phone and the acceptable quality (as long as there is enough light).

I guess I am a "glass half full" kind of guy. Phone cameras have come such a long way that I compare them to what my first one was capable of (and my first 1 megapixel digital camera for that matter) and evaluate them in that manner. I was a skeptic at first as to why I would even want a camera on my phone, so now that I have come to understand the value I am still not expecting a phone camera to make Canon and Nikon worry.

That said, I have noted a trend that this reviewer didn't focus on. Phone cameras are becomming stuffed with more and more user adjusted features such as white balance adjustment and photo stitch capability. I would trade a few of these capabilites on a phone camera in return for a flash for indoor pictures becomming standard and some work on reducing shutter lag.

[Jason Dunn]

I appreciate the convenience of having the camera with me on the phone and the acceptable quality (as long as there is enough light).

Indeed. "The best camera you own is the one you have with you" is a very valid concept. :)

The quality on the Touch Diamond is so-so, not bad, but the screen lag and the shutter lag makes it painful to use if you're taking pictures of people. "Hold that pose, I'm waiting for the camera to take the picture".

[Stinger]

Sony Ericsson has really dropped the ball when it comes to cameras. The K800i was the undisputed king when it was released. Sadly it's sequel, the K850i, featured a worse camera and the X1 photos look appalling. Nokia seem so far ahead in terms of image quality and I don't understand why.

[Gerard]

It seems so weird to me that after all these years, Pocket PC cameras are still pathetic. I went through 4 CF cameras, add-on things to use with CF slot-equipped PPCs. First the Casio version, a VGA resolution thing with horrid colour flaring, a penchant for chewing up batteries very, very quickly (typically taking a freshly charged battery down to 10% in about 15 to 20 minutes, where use without the camera gave me 3 or 4 hours of PPC time), and just really amazingly awful video performance (super-short clips, terrible quality, proprietary format which to this day cannot be transcoded with sound into any other by any known software). A freeware software to take still images worked 100% better, really quite impressive. Then came the HP version at the same 0.3Mp resolution. Better camera, and with some third-party software it actually worked rather well. Then the Pretec 1.3Mp, which was a hateful, awful, horrible, vile beast. Software was like a kiddy cartoon, and about as useful. Lastly the FlyCam 1.3Mp, best of them all, especially with software called CECam - http://www.wincesoft.de/html/cecam.html - which enabled minimal-compression JPG capture (the manufacturer's software allowed 50% compression as their 'best' for truly awful pictures), but unfortunately no video. Video capture in the native software is a joke, with terrible whining noise in the audio and generally ugly quality.

Now I've got an O2 Atom with built-in 1.3Mp camera. Choppy video, 6fps at best and more often 3fps, really nasty still capture, an LED that either flares out the middle of close subjects or is too dim to be useful at greater than 3 feet away, and takes far too long to actually start up and to capture pictures so they usually end up late and blurry. Wonderfully un-useful.

So after all these years of PPC use, and frankly excessive willingness to part with cash in the slim hope of getting something usable as a camera, I have given up. Bought a Sanyo HD2 last year, then finding that I worried about the optics too much for general pocket use, sold that to a local through craigslist (for slightly less than I paid on eBay, new) and bought a waterproof/dustproof Sanyo. Awsome little camera. It goes with me everywhere, so it's always useful. Starts up fast, does excellent video, stills are plenty good enough for my use at 6Mp, zoom is great, and with a couple of spare batteries, tiny things, it's good for days and days of normal use. I'm happy... just really wish it could have been a PPC solution instead, to save on pockets. Carrying around one single device is preferable, and if I could have a waterproof Pocket PC phone with a great 5Mp camera and flash, even if it meant a bit of a bulky size compared to the average PPC, I'd be all over that. A shame no one in manufacturerland listens though, 'cause I'm betting that millions of users would feel the same. Heck, cram in radio and TV and GPS too, to appeal to even more users. There'll still be lots of ultra-slim models for those who want that, but for the actual power users amongst us, and for people like me who don't want to carry 4 or 5 devices around all the time, such a device would be perfect.

And I kinda thought maybe the Omnia came close, mostly. Then the other day I saw a side-by-side picture of the Omnia with an iPhone....... oh. my. goodness. The Omnia's screen is PATHETIC! Washed out, blue-tinged, hard to see even in artificial light so of course it's only getting worse in sun. The iPhone screen looked, as they always do, crisp and beautiful. A client of mine has one, showed it to me recently in the shop. I was amazed. That's what a screen should look like, on any multi-media device. So the wait goes on... and of course I don't expect water nor dust resistance any time soon, except on the odd ugly Motorola. As for camera quality, dream on. PPC makers just aren't interested yet.

[Menneisyys]

Yeah, but my Diamond is a lot smaller than my Canon S5 so I don't expect it to match the quality.

Still, they could have a camera at least as good as that of the Nokia N95 / N82 - that is, currently the best smartphone cameras... The Omnia camera seems to be pretty close - too bad Arne hasn't provided a test shot with the N95 so that we could see the difference.

The other cameras are plain crappy - not because of the lower number of pixels but corner / side softening, highlighting, unnatural greens with the X1, over-sharpening with the X1 etc.

WinMo HW manufacturers should learn a lesson from Nokia...

[Menneisyys]

so of course it's only getting worse in sun..

speaking of outdoor visibility, does anyone know who the BlackBerry (8800) screens are manufactured by? They're astoninshingly good in outdoor light, even in direct sunlight - even better than that of the N95 (which itself is much better than any Windows Mobile device I've compared it to)

[Menneisyys]

Sony Ericsson has really dropped the ball when it comes to cameras. The K800i was the undisputed king when it was released. Sadly it's sequel, the K850i, featured a worse camera and the X1 photos look appalling. Nokia seem so far ahead in terms of image quality and I don't understand why.

They seem to consider WinMo as a business platform; hence the sub-par camera. They could, of course, put in a FAR better camera, taken out from one of their previous "Photo" phones. That is, they do have the technology and know-how.

I really regret they haven't done so. Frankly, I've expected far more of the X1.

[oneguyks]

Still, they could have a camera at least as good as that of the Nokia N95 / N82 - that is, currently the best smartphone cameras... The Omnia camera seems to be pretty close - too bad Arne hasn't provided a test shot with the N95 so that we could see the difference.

WinMo HW manufacturers should learn a lesson from Nokia...

Hi,


just found this article:

http://www.techtree.com/India/Reviews/5MP_Camera_Phones_Shootout/551-96156-614-1.html


The author compares camera quality of several 5 MP camera phones
(LG Viewty, Nokia N95, Nokia N82, Nokia N96, Samsung Omnia. Motorola ZN5).

Surprisingly. Omnia comes out the winner.