Best Cell Phone Camera?

[drizo72]

The reason I bought first the Lumia 1020 and then the 950xl was after looking at the cameras. (I'm a professional photographer) My phone is my walk around camera. I'm contemplating my future phone (right now long live my 950xl) I want a camera that gives me the level of control of exposure the Lumia's cameras have and it must shoot DNG files. I don't want a "push here and the phone will do the rest" camera as in the IPhone.

What handset has the best camera out there?

None. The only one was Panasonic Lumix CM1 with 1" sensor size but has been discontinued. The successor CM10 is just a camera without GSM capabilities.

The sensor size of all these new phones is ridiculous. They are all gimmicks. Tried everything and I can tell you will be fed up by the poor details, artificial bokeh (uhh) and lousy algorithms for color, sharpness and denoise.

If you plan to showcase any of your work on social media, a 12MP phone will give you the best results given the sensors they use. If you plan to make prints or posters, there is no replacement to what you have.

I am on the same boat with you...

 

[RumoredNow]

Ironically the Nokia 6 seems better than the Nokia 8. At least to my eye. Check out the low-light color chart here.

https://www.gsmarena.com/piccmp.php3?idType=5&idPhone1=6885&idPhone2=8522

 

[RumoredNow]

Just couldn't do it because I just love fiddling with a camera where I can switch lenses and attach other accessories.

Beastgrip is satisfying that urge for me, for now...

 

[RumoredNow]

Can't find enough positive reviews of the Kodak Ektra to make me bite. Standing pat with my 950 for now.

 

[Sin Ogaris]

I went from the Lumia 950 XL to the Pixel 2 XL, and the image quality is much improved, so I would recommend it (my biggest issue with the 950 was poor low light photography, as someone who would use it to snap pics of bands it wasn't up to scratch). I assume there are Android camera apps that allow DNG file saving, there's pretty much an Android app for everything.

Actually the vast majority of camera phones in the flagships now are better than the Lumia 950, mostly in low light, which the 950 really struggled.

 

[sd4f]

I went from the Lumia 950 XL to the Pixel 2 XL, and the image quality is much improved, so I would recommend it (my biggest issue with the 950 was poor low light photography, as someone who would use it to snap pics of bands it wasn't up to scratch). I assume there are Android camera apps that allow DNG file saving, there's pretty much an Android app for everything.

Actually the vast majority of camera phones in the flagships now are better than the Lumia 950, mostly in low light, which the 950 really struggled.

I haven't been able to compare with the Pixel 2, but I have severe reservations with the SGS8, that doesn't always take better phones.

With respect to low light, I've had issues in really dark photos, but when fiddling with the camera controls, increased exposure time, they come out good. Only major problem with exposure time is the need to hold the phone steady.

In general though, my problems with the L950 camera tend to stem from it being slow, and the apps buggy, picture quality is good enough to not really bother with a point and shoot though.

 

[Bahamen]

Coming from a 950XL, I have just gotten a Samsung Galaxy Note 8. While it's still too early to tell, so far I haven't been too impressed with the camera. The 950XL continues to amaze me even though it's already 2 years old. The only shortcomings are the lowlight focusing and lack of optical zoom.

On paper, I think the Huawei Mate 10 Pro seems to have the best camera hardware setup - the secondary monochrome sensor should help with the image details and sharpness, although I don't think Huawei has truly taken full advantage of its capabilities.

 

[Bahamen]

I went from the Lumia 950 XL to the Pixel 2 XL, and the image quality is much improved, so I would recommend it (my biggest issue with the 950 was poor low light photography, as someone who would use it to snap pics of bands it wasn't up to scratch). I assume there are Android camera apps that allow DNG file saving, there's pretty much an Android app for everything.

Actually the vast majority of camera phones in the flagships now are better than the Lumia 950, mostly in low light, which the 950 really struggled.

The 950 is actually pretty good at lowlight due to the Pureview sampling. The only shortcoming is the poor autofocus in lowlight. I'd guess that the poor results that you have gotten is probably due to incorrect focusing that makes the image come out looking soft. But focused correctly the result can be really good.

 

[raycpl]

The 950XL is more than capable in low light.

Both are unedited...
What it doesn't do well in autofocus, I can always switch to manual focus.

For me, the litmus test is alway extreme low light macro. The 920 was one of the fastest at this, but I found the colours accuracy & graininess for such shots is better on 950XL




... !

 

[BajanSaint69]

Huawei P20 Pro looks like a contender.....

 

[dov1978]

Huawei P20 Pro looks like a contender.....

P20 Pro is an absolute beast. Already preordered

 

[nate0]

Gonna do the notch, eh?

 

[Scienceguy Labs]

P20 Pro is an absolute beast. Already preordered

I'm really tempted to get that one too. Please let us know what you think about it.

 

[nate0]

I'm really tempted to get that one too. Please let us know what you think about it.

Ya...I mean the 40mp camera has had no presence (on a smartphone) in the market for how long? Be interesting to see what this device does to shake things up again...

 

[dov1978]

I'm really tempted to get that one too. Please let us know what you think about it.

Will do. I'm hoping it's a modern take on the old 1020 to some degree with the oversampling etc. I read that one of Nokia's PureView creators is now head of imaging at Huawei so that should help

 

[dov1978]

Gonna do the notch, eh?

I am but one advantage of the P20 Pro is I can deactivate it and just have a uniform looking top bezel if I hate it that much

 

[nate0]

I am but one advantage of the P20 Pro is I can deactivate it and just have a uniform looking top bezel if I hate it that much

Ya the benefits of oled. I read that too.

 

[RTGent]

First, there is no substitute for a real camera, including walk-around.
Second, I still use my 1020 for certain shooting occasions, along with my 950. Heck, if the 1020 was SD-expandable, I'd still be using that, even with its 8.1 limitation.
Third, I've been most impressed with LG's V series, and Samsung Galaxies. Samsung used to make digital cameras and they'll always be a step or two ahead of the pack. I have a Sony XZ1 compact as a backup, for music, etc., but although Sony still makes excellent cameras, and the XZ1 and others have associated strengths, they still seem to limit the cameras on their phones, probably by design. Don't ignore software, and this is where Samsung is strong, LG less so, and Sony still less. BTW, I'd agree that the Kodak and Nokia options are interesting.