What all features can we expect in the best phone camera?

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Windows Central Question

What all features we expect in the best phone camera?

I am planning to buy my next Windows Phone (in 640 XL price range) and my preference is for very good camera.
Can someone please help me with the camera features?

For example, optical image stabilization -- is it must have or not?

Similarly there could be other camera features which I should know if before making the buy decision.

Also, it would be great if you can share your experience of using Windows Phone with good camera.
 

gpobernardo

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Re: What all features we expect in the best phone camera?

Hello and welcome to Windows Central.

At the very least, I'd suggest looking at phones that have:
1. PureView technology.
2. Optical image stabilization (all phones with PureView technology have this) - this is a must if you're seriously considering taking good photos out of your phone
3. Xenon flash - there are conditions which an LED "flash" can't create which a Xenon (real) flash can
4. Back-illuminated sensor - more sensitive to light, which means less signal amplification needed and less noise generated in photos
5. Sensor size - the physical dimensions of the sensor, not the resolution - this determines just how receptive the sensor is to light.
6. Sensor resolution - this can be considered minor, since a good 8MP camera with a huge physical sensor is much better than a 20MP camera with a small physical sensor.

I have a Lumia 1020, and it has all of these features. The camera, in my opinion, is the best that has been placed in a smart phone (but I haven't tested the new Lumia 950 and 950 XL yet). Therefore, in buying your phone based on camera, try to at least have all of these six factors taken into consideration - no newly released phone would meet all of these.

I'm afraid the Lumia 640XL price range may really limit your choice, since a good camera in a good phone tends to be a bit more expensive. But, at the end of the day, it takes both a good photographer and a good camera to take a good photo - better to have a good photographer and a bad camera rather than a good camera and a "bad" photographer.:smile:
 

Live2Deliver

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Re: What all features we expect in the best phone camera?

I second the points by gpobernardo. But I would like to just add that sensors are really one third of the story. As even with any DSLRs, users will tend to be very attentive to the lens used. Their aperture, elements, clarity, field of view (focal length), etc. But since all pure view labelled Lumia phones has Zeiss lens, the clarity factor should not be an issue
I would strongly recommend you to compare the photos taken with each of them, and their reviews. Find out some of the differences like do they distort the human subject? Some lens do, because they are made in that way, as it might give a bit more in area captured at the corners. See, some give and take here.
 

windowsten

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Re: What all features we expect in the best phone camera?

Thanks a lot gpobernardo, Live2Deliver. Your suggestions will be really helpful as I am learning more about phone and camera.
And yes, it is true that camera, however good, can't be substitute for a good photographer :smile: I liked it.
I posted few questions as a guest but found this forum very much alive, couldn't resist to be a member of it.
 

gpobernardo

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Re: What all features we expect in the best phone camera?

Agreed with Live2Deliver - I completely forgot about the lens and aperture given that they are also hardware. :smile: A larger aperture means more light can land on the sensor (less noise), and that also results in very shallow depths of field (usually good for photography effects).

As for the lens, the differences may not be as obvious as the other factors since lens-manufacturing processes are pretty well-developed by now. But Zeiss optics are still considered to be one of the best. In older phones, chromatic aberration was apparent in some models that didn't have Zeiss optics (some Nokia phones back in the Symbian days already had Zeiss optics, and the photos from them were usually sharper than those that didn't have Zeiss optics with the same resolution).


We're glad that you've joined our community, windowsten. We've got a forum for almost everything Windows... we even have an Off-topic lounge for everything else under the sun! (within the community guidelines of course :wink:) If you've got anything in your mind, you're welcome to drop by anytime.
 

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