Hiya folks,

Having just looked at some of the photo threads on here i’ve decided I need to start getting a few more shots whilst out and about.

I own a Nikon D50 SLR but it’s not for riding with, way too big and chunky.

My phones up for renewal at the minute and as I always have it in my camelbak I figure the logical choice is to get a phone with a really good camera on it rather than a compact and a phone.

Some of the on-line reviews are so difficult to read and poorly written that it’s difficult to sift out the truth,

Can anyone recommend me a handset? (I currently have an old iPhone 4 and the cameras not brilliant).

Thanks in advance

Paul

The best camera in a phone is in the Nokia Lumia 920. Whether the 920 is the best all round Camera Phone is a debate I’m not wishing to start (although personally I think Win Phone 8 is pretty darn good).

Cheers

Danny B

But, I should say you will always get better results out of a decent point & shoot camera which can still be very pockatable and you don’t have to risk losing your phone when you want to take a camera out riding with you…

Cheers

Danny B

Any of the big brands have good cameras so iphone 5, samsung galaxy ??, windows nokia, HTC

Have a look on flickr they have groups dedicated to iphone pics etc

I have an iphone 5 and it’s an impressive little camera but still not as good a more recent compact.

Galaxy 3 is big mind not exactly small pocket friendly.

But, I should say you will always get better results out of a decent point & shoot camera which can still be very pockatable and you don’t have to risk losing your phone when you want to take a camera out riding with you…

Olympus TG1. Superb camera, bombproof (possibly!), waterproof (definitely), coldproof (oh yeah!), droppable (appparently).

A phone is a phone. A camera is a camera. The latter will take better pictures, but you can’t txt yr mtes n it. LULZ.

Samsung Galaxy S3 is supposed to be one of the best, as is the iPhone5. A mate of mine gets some excellent pics with it.

The HTC One X is apparently a little behind the two above, until light levels get low and then it’s f2 aperture starts to work in it’s favour.
My Bro-in-Law has got one (he’s got a Canon DSLR for most pics) and he is really impressed with it.

Still not sure they come anywhere close to the performance and usability of a reasonably priced compact.

I have a Galaxy Note 2 (which I believe is the same camera as the S3) and it’s not the best to be honest. Yes it takes perfectly acceptable clear, crisp pictures in ideal conditions – but iPhone pics just seem to be better (and I normally waffle on about how much I prefer the phone to an iPhone). When conditions get a bit tricky though, it becomes quite hard to take a decent photo (with the Samung).

I always rated the iphone4s camera, in some instances I think I could actually take better pictures than the iphone5 I have now. That said having gotten used to the 5 now I’m really liking it.

I very rarely use anything else to take pictures now.

blah blah blah

MrNutt, nice shot of Valley Of The Rocks, there, and the last one, is that Kimmeridge Bay?
It’s North Somerset, I believe, I’ve seen it on telly anyhow. Good photos.

The iPhone 5 has the advantage of a panorama function built in, you don’t need to stitch photos together with a third-party app;

Phone cameras have come on a long way these are Galaxy S3 ones (not full size here) they are brilliant for non moving stuff but once you get to the action stuff the differences become apparent.

2013-02-17 14.41.45 by Mike Smith 79, on Flickr
Cropped

20130210_094914 by Mike Smith 79, on Flickr
Instagrammed

Need to work out which ones are meant to stay green by Mike Smith 79, on Flickr

20130210_100344(0) by Mike Smith 79, on Flickr
Moving at speed, sometimes the unexpected result turns out good.

As for

The iPhone 5 has the advantage of a panorama function built in, you don’t need to stitch photos together with a third-party app;

Others did it first, it’s in the S3 camera and I’m fairly sure it’s in others. Just playing about so need to pick a better range/subject

20121011_175220 by Mike Smith 79, on Flickr

2012-10-07 12.43.27 by Mike Smith 79, on Flickr

Nokia 808 pureview is a the best camera phone, but I doubt you can get it on contract. They are available sim free though. Bit limited in apps and whatnot though.

HTC One S

Nokia 808 pureview is a the best camera phone

41 MPx??? Why TF would anyone want that, and how noisy will it be?

Kayak – That first shot is stunning regardless to whether it is on a phone or not!

I’m in a similar boat to the OP. My iPhone 4 camera has got rubbish recently, really poor quality! Just been using a mate’s 5 and i’m very impressed so i’ll probably go with that.

zokes – Member
Nokia 808 pureview is a the best camera phone
41 MPx??? Why TF would anyone want that, and how noisy will it be?

Read the reviews.
While you can use all the pixels if you want, I think the idea is that the extra pixels give it the ability to zoom well. You can select 3, 5 or 8 megapixel images and the less megapixels you choose the greater the zoom range

Here you go, they explain it better than me…..

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/8083837371/review-nokia-808-pureview

Ive had a s3 and an iphone 4s both take great pictures providing theres plenty of light, i think the iphone five has same camera as the 4s which is a better phone imo

Same camera in 4s as 5 but they did some jiggery pockery with the 5 so it work better in low light.

I bought a Lumia 800 when they went cheap(er) on the basis of the CZ lens – my old Nokia something or other had one too and it was excellent. The 800 has been great so far. I read reviews before buying, that said the camera wasn’t that good but I disagree utterly. I know I could get a better dedicated camera but I’m used to being able to take a decent pic whenever I have my phone with me – which is always. Most of the images on this blog taken in the last few months are from it (I’m sure in more capable hands, it would give more impressive results though)
http://tyredout.blogspot.co.uk/

CZ close, its Lee bay

Cheers, I love the stratified rocks there. A place I’ve yet to visit, and I haven’t been to Valley of the Rocks for years, either, so I must take a trip down there this year and explore a bit.

I have an S2…it has the panorama option (but you take a shot then move the camera and it takes the next shot…you keep moving until it stops taking the picture.

For motion stuff it isn’t that great (but that could just be me as I’m awful at taking pictures)…here are some over the last few days with the S2 –

Still there… by DickBarton, on Flickr

Whyte 146S by DickBarton, on Flickr

Untitled by DickBarton, on Flickr

Main Course by DickBarton, on Flickr

Untitled by DickBarton, on Flickr

Panorama –

Untitled by DickBarton, on Flickr

I don’t take many pictures (I’m too lazy to stop and get the phone out!)…but for what I use it for, I’m happy with the results…

Dick you know that someone ate one of your chips don’t you? no chef would send a stack five chips like that its fundamentially rong. (I’m not going to pass comment on the use of roofing materials ether)

I reviewed loads and some of the cameras mentioned before come up, so am sure they are good too.

I dont care about apps, processor etc, just a decent phone, able to text, email etc but with an awesome camera.

Am getting my Nokia 808 PureView tomorrow, from Amazon. 41MP camera, should be awesome, fingers crossed. My Blackberry 8900 was great with its 3.2MP camera, amazing quality pics but I wanted something newer as I hate the camera on my Nokia Lumia 800, too fiddly and grainy pics

I have a HTC one s and it takes some really nice shots, also a fantastic phone too. The missus has a S3 and that takes really good shots but mine seems to be better at low light and macro shots.

I have the nokia N8 which has a 12 meg camera and its great and have some great photos from it when not carrying the dslr. Only issue is that it runs on Symbian but to be honest its not bad as an operating system the app store is limited but has most of the apps I use. Sony Experia Z is also great with 13 meg camera but I prefer the N8.

zokes – Member
Nokia 808 pureview is a the best camera phone
41 MPx??? Why TF would anyone want that, and how noisy will it be?

As stumpy pointed out, the headline grabbing 41MPx is kind of missing the point. For a start, the sensor on the 808PV is big, 1/1.2″ optical format, not far off the Nikon CX. Secondly the pixel oversampling creates huge noiseless pixels (some reviews have said it is like Nokia turned off all the noise). The virtual pixel size is 3.17micron at 8mp and 4.01micron at 5MP. That is getting close to the EOS 60D. Thirdly the lossless zoom that the huge sensor provides (albeit with less oversampling) is very useful.

So +1 for the 808PV for me. Better than any point and shoot I’ve owned, and matching the EOS 5D mkIII for resolution, if you really want to shoot high res images in good light. Video quality, especially sound is awesome. A hotly debated topic but this is the only phone worth taking to a gig – no distortion at all and the results are simply stunning.

If only Nokia knew how to market their products. I’m not saying it beats the flexibility of an SLR, nor matches Apple and Android products for the huge app store and OS ease of use. But if you want a great snapper in your pocket on your rides, that has excellent smartphone functionality without a closed OS then you won’t go far wrong. Just be aware that you are buying into an “obsolete” smartphone ecosystem. Some reviews and comparisons below

Comparisons

DPreview

Virtual pixels