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< Esato Forum Index > Sony Ericsson / Sony > Android > Photo comparison with N82. X10 Loses. Bookmark topic

I'm a huge fan of cameraphones and have been looking for a replacement for my N82 for about a year. A few weeks ago I checked out the X10, took a few daylight pics, was impressed, bought the phone.

Unfortunately, daylight photography is all the X10 is good for. In fairly detailed and controlled tests, I put the X10 against the N82 and although it held up in daylight photography (great pics, screen, features) it died a death when the lights got low. Add the problem with the 'flash' and you've got a sub-par cam (in superphone terms) with the X10.

If anyone is thinking of buying the X10 for family/fun/lowlight photography, please check out my comparison before you buy. You might be as disappointed as I am otherwise.

http://xperiax10.carrypad.com[....]-x10-vs-nokia-n82-camera-test/

The rest of the device is fantastic ( 10/10 for the awesome screen) but on the camera, it fails!
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Posted: 2010-04-27 22:51:27
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That is a skewed comparison if you're going to compare a xenon equipped phone with one that isn't.

The X10 was never touted as a COMPLETE imaging phone as the Satio.

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Posted: 2010-04-27 23:08:54
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There were no flash comparisons made in the article. This is purely something for cameraphone fans.
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Posted: 2010-04-27 23:14:15
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Ooops! I think it's time for me to go to bed. In that case, I'm with you.
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Posted: 2010-04-27 23:26:22
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@chippysteve

I had an N82 for a little while, and my C905 absolutely kicks it in every aspect for cam...

As my X10 is arriving tomorrow, I could well be open to offers, she's only 3 months old as it's a replacement that I got from Orange just after new year. As such it is Orange branded at the mo...

I hear the Satio is still a little buggy, so would steer clear for now.C905 definitely worth a look. Otherwise if you are a fan of both Nokia and Symbian then I'd say hold out for the now confirmed N8. It has a xenon flash and 12 MP cam.

http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia[....]era_and_hd_video-news-1610.php

The X10 is still enjoying a fairly high premium on-line, although the announcement today killing MT may kill that.

Good luck..
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Posted: 2010-04-28 00:01:25
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That´s nonsense. The X10 camera and it´s software is way ahead of Nokia´s.

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Posted: 2010-04-28 14:07:14
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You've been comparing apples to cucumbers, mate

Seriously: the two handsets are in totally different classes, as are their cameras. I haven't used Nokias since 2003, but have first-hand experience with a progressively superior array of SE cameras*: z600 -> S700 -> W900 -> k850 -> C905. The last 2 of them had Xenon flashes, and when choosing the X10 over the Satio, this was one of my concerns.

Note: I didn't consider models from any other brand, because their specs and features were always behind the Cybershot ones. Similarly, the evidence from thousands of results published on Flickr never triggered my interest in any other make.

The reason I passed the Satio were non-photographic. I test-drove it and was disappointed with the overall experience, particularly the responsiveness (could be the resistive screen, but also perhaps the outdated Symbian). As a keen photographer I also know that pixel count is less important for image quality than other factors, so I wasn't tempted by the 12Mp of the Satio and stayed with the previous 8Mp I already had on the C905, but expecting a better processing engine - which is the case.

Yes, the LED light is not a 'proper' flash, but:
- the 'proper' xenon flashes installed in mobiles (including SE) are the lowest possible power (to save battery) and their performance in real low light is also disappointing.
- none of the two types are meant for complete darkness, they only help with available (low) ambient light.
- in real close-up situations (arm-length or max 1.5m) the LED light is quite adequate in aiding ambient levels.

BTW, the comparison author warns "if you want to use it for family/fun..." but he never showed any such shots (with people in a room - and if it's family fun, there usually is some light in the room, it's not completely dark). The warning should read: "If you plan to take forensic macro-shots from 5 inches in complete darkness, beware.." And if you really must take a very-very-close-up of some still-life object on a desktop, you can always bring extra light to the 'scene', e.g. any desktop reading lamp will help you make a perfect macro.

The secret of successful mobile (and other low-class camera) photography is to know the camera's limitations and take them into account - bad results only occur when you forget those limitations and expect too much. In evidence of my statement, you can have a look at these (much) inferior phones' results: S700 , W900 , k850 , C905 ..

Watch this space for some X10 stuff very soon

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Posted: 2010-06-27 15:46:53
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@chippysteve

I have seen your comparison, but I can't do a judgement based on the images your have taken. At least two factors could casue trouble when you are doing this type of comparisons.
- Object is out of focus
- Camera shake

The keyboard examples tells me that the X10 didn't find focus, or that you move the phone slightly out of focus after the focus was found. It might be somthing with the X10 camera shutter button making you shake the phone a little each time the key is pressed, but we do not know if that was the case since you not are using a steady support. Same thing about the rose example. The green leaf is out of focus.

Your "macro" shots on the text maoam, seems like camera shake to me. The Maoam text is blurry and that could be a sign of movement.
When you want to compare photos directly like this, some kind of camera stand is a must. The camera has to be completely steady.

Now you could argue that the X10 should be designed for capturing sharp, clear images regardless of "user errors". And maybe N82 is better in this regard.

It could be interesting to see what causing blur on your X10 images. You could print out page 18 in this focus test chart PDF-file and capture some images after reading the instructions on page 13?

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Posted: 2010-06-28 12:15:58
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change the x10's cam settings to 5mp, then lets see comparison. Would be interesting.
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Posted: 2010-06-28 13:26:00
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Hi All. I won't be doing any more testing with the X10 as i'm pretty happy with the tests (public and private) that i've done now.

While daylight photos may be acceptable (although if you're serious about using a cameraphone for a couple of years, the exposed lens of the X10 is the number 1 issue - not only am I getting smudged photos, why having to wipe the lens clean every time, it's going to scratch the lens in no time. Yes, I use the case.) and the software features good (smile detection works, face recognition is working 50% of the time) anything that is low-light (sun-down, indoor) is difficult. Touch-capture helps to reduce camera shake but doesn't help to pre-focus. I've taken hundreds of photos with the X10 now and the N82 is still in my pocket. It's slow, has crappy software but capture more acceptable photos than the X10.

P.S. 5mp mode doesn't increase sensitivity. It would be great if it did. I'd drop to 2MP if if would give me a couple of f-stops flexibility in some situations.

Thanks for all the feedback.

I'm actually selling the X10 and N82 soon and will be testing a Droid XT720 and Nokia N8. The N8 is likely to raise the bar for cameraphones considerably. Just wish it had a lens cover!
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Posted: 2010-06-28 13:52:57
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