Nokia 1020 v Note 4 Camera

[matt john2]

Are you buying a new phone? If you are maybe wait a little bit for the Lumia 1030. The 1020 is fine, its just the slowest image processing speed I've seen on a smartphone and just like they all say its best is shooting stationary object but you'll gonna be disappointed when you need is speed. I think the upcoming xperia z4 is also a good choice, Sony also has a pretty good reputation in making cameras and parts for other manufacturers like Nikon,etc.

 

[Chris_Kez]

The Lumia 1020 is by far the best camera you will *ever* find on a phone ------ AS LONG AS you are taking pictures of stationary things. If you need fast reaction time to capture something quickly, you will not be happy with this phone. But for things that stay still, it absolutely cannot be beat.

This was really driven home when I recently visited a butterfly garden with some amazing flora and fauna. I had to carry a toddler most of the time so I was limited to random one handed snaps. A flower came out pretty good even holding the camera straight over my head with one hand. A bird came out so-so with the toddler squirming around. But the most exasperating was a humming bird that I absolutely could not get a decent picture of. I finally handed off the toddler, went into full manual mode and spent about 10 minutes and 15 photos trying in vain. By the time the camera responded the hummingbird would always have moved off somewhere else. Super, super frustrating.

 

[anon(5316299)]

I have a 1020, a Note 4, and a Z3 Compact. I would like to echo some of the comments here. The Note 4 camera is quite good - certainly better than the Z3 for color balance, focus accuracy, and image processing - and is MUCH faster shot to shot than the Lumia 1020. Also, video is no contest, the Note 4 has superb video with much better audio pickup than both the 1020 and Z3. Increasingly, I am leaving the 1020 in the drawer and bringing one of my two other phones with me to events. Wish Microsoft would release an updated flagship camera phone, and take a hint from Blackberry and include an Android runtime...

 

[rollindice]

Simply put, The Nokia Lumia 1020 -------> Nothing else comes close!

 

[jeetu4444]

Its soo simple ...i wonder y u people don't get it
...put Lumia 1020 in sports mode and click moving objects.... So simple

 

[DennisvdG]

The 1020 has pretty much the best camera bolted onto a phone. (although the 808 PureView and maybe the Galaxy Zoom could beg to differ)

Now its not perfect, its the best for stills. The Note 4 can handle 4K video capture, something that the 1020 certainly isn't going to see. But in low-light and many photo situations, the 1020 destroys.

The 1020 wipes the floor with the galaxy zoom.

 

[Nick_1020]

The gap between the 1020 and lets not forget, the excellent 808 is shrinking. There's no doubt the 1020 still wins in most situations. The xenon flash, manual controls, reframing and raw support have made the 1020 the king. That said, quite a few flagship devices are capable of taking passable photos in daylight, some even produce pleasing photos in low light. They also have the major edge in specs. Those phones are much faster so are able to compensate their lack of image quality (compared to the 1020) with much faster focusing, fast shot times, improved burst mode as well as other features and gimmicks. Some people appreciate this and when you look at the whole package in terms of app ecosystems, it's perhaps easy to see why other people rate other phones.

I've tried the Z3. Great phone, so-so camera. Low light performance was poor in various modes and whilst I was able to take some decent snaps at times, the results were far too mixed for my liking. Colours bled and were great over-saturated.

The Note 4 is on the way. I'm not expecting miracles from the camera but the phone looks like a pretty amazing all round performer so I can't wait.

 

[Arup Roy Chowdhury]

The Note 4 shares SONY sensor and is plasticky in construction. The Z3 delivers great night shots thanks to its 12800 ISO but it needs to be tamed.

 

[buxz777]

I do like the quicker shooting of some phones but then when you look back at the quality its terrible compared to the 1020 and 808 ..... yeah some phones take ok shots in daylight but when you compare them again to the 1020 and 808 the detail is so much better in the nokias ..... then when the light is anything but perfect the 1020 really shows its big sensor and high quality optics .... it literally produces an image that will be 10-20x better to my eyes

also using the z3 in iso 1280 or whatever it is will only result in images with loads of noise compared to shooting the same thing on the 1020 with some manual adjustments and a much better iso from 100-400

nokia have worked miracles in phones like the 1020 and 808 .... the oversampling , the sensors and optics in such a small space .... I don't carry a point and shoot with me any more because the 808 and 1020 are better , lighter , offer more like raw and full manual controls then ?300 point and shoot cameras ;-)

I bought an s5 and I just cant use it because the camera is useless compared to nokias offerings in the 1020 , 1520 , 930 etc ...... id even go as far as to say that the 920s and 925s camera is better then the s5 and that's down to nokia offering quality optics via carl zeis (they are proper pros at what they do with lenses especially tiny ones in laboratory's) great hardware like their ois which trounces others ois and coupling it with awesome jprg processing or the ability to shoot raw and change all your settings via a great ui in the camera app ;-)

when I show people a pic with my 1020 they ask if I took it because it looks so good , when I take a pic with the s5 people ask whats happened to my camera or if I was having a bad day ..... yes the s5 focuses fast , takes ok pics in the day , can take loads of pics quick , but it isn't versatile as a camera and the quality of the images are pretty bad compared to lumias of varying spec and price range I even saw a 720 out shooting my s5

what we need is Microsoft to make the 1020 successor a reality , keep the basics of the 1020 and 808 but pimp it up with waterproofing , micro sd slot , bigger battery , mhl connection for usb in and tv out , ir for modern tvs , faster cpu , better gpu , maybe a dedicated camera chip , better speakers , maybe a dedicated sound chip for audio heads

lets face it nokia/Microsoft Lumia could have the best phone out there right now , the tech is there , put it all in one phone and ship it to all markets , who else can make a phone like the 1030 right now?? nokia/Microsoft could kill the market with the best phone ever , if they don't and sales are still slow , its their own doing and it winds me up a bit

all I want is a faster 1020 with expandable memory and some other little bells and whistles ive tried others and come running back to my 1020 for the main reason I don't want to look back at my pics in 10 years time and think jeeeeese if id used the 1020 which was knocking about instead of the s5 because it wa a bit faster that pic would of been so much better ..... I want to look at my pics and think wow ;-)

 

[thesachd]

While the 1020 does have the superior hardware, both the Note 4 and 1020 excel at different things.

If you are the kind of guy that shoots a lot of action footage, or take a lot of images quickly the Note 4 may be the better bet because it can shoot images and video extremely quickly.

However the 1020 with it's huge sensor and megapixel count can definitely take much better stills at the expense of speed, it has manual controls and RAW image support but no 4K recording or slow motion.

Maybe it would be wise to wait for a 1020 successor, but no one knows when it will be released so in the end it is up to you.

 

[buxz777]

but you can add features like slo mo in a video editor at the end and the 1020 shoots great video with rich recording mics where as the note 4 audio is terrible and the ois isn't as good as the 1020s , try and record a concert or loud scenes with any high end Samsung ;-) also I find 4k video pointless at the minute , devices can only do it in small bursts because of heat etc and 4k tvs and tv broadcasting is rare at the minute ;-)

I do agree that they are both different phones and will appeal to different people , the note4 a more business and media consumption tool and the 1020 a much more pocket friendly media creation tool as well as media consumption ;-)

to be honest I even find the photo editing apps better on the Lumia range , try and find me an app like fantasia painter on android that is as easy to use and feature packed and free ;-)

ideally id like a note4/s5 with the camera from the 1020 I think that it would sell like hot cakes across the globe and I wish Samsung upped their game with the kzoom range and made a prime version with huge sensor and quality optics rather then strapping on a ?99 digital zoom camera on the back ;-)

but as it is the note4 camera is no match for the 1020 and when it comes to video yes the note4 records 4k but it does so with rubbish audio and is also more shaky then the 1020

I aint knocking the s5/note4 I like both of them and what they offer I am thinking of even keeping the s5 as my phone and my 1020 as a high quality pocket friendly camera ;-) but there is no way after using the 1020 I could leave my photography up to either Samsung device or id be disappointed in 10 years time looking back through my pics ;-)

ideally what needs to happened is we need a 1030 and also a better effort from Microsoft with the os and things like mhl connection , making sure apps are on par with other o/s counterparts etc or we need Samsung or sony to go full monty with their camera phones and actually give us a big sensor , xenon flash equipped , high quality optics packing , fast lens , mechanical shutter , nd filter punching camera phone king ;-)

 

[Arup Roy Chowdhury]

The Z3 12800 images have noise but softened up and is still very useful and shades ahead of any other Android phone in low light. Also the bigger sensor and higher MP count in right hand yields the best pics on Smartphone apart from 808 and 1020. In terms of build quality, autofocus the waterproof and dustproof body which has the highest rating in the industry combined with classy Dragon Tail glass on both sides and metal has no equal. Even my 1020 feels like a piece of well designed plastic slab although the feel and build of plastic is better than Samsung.

 

[buxz777]

no doubt the z3 is built well , its a beautiful device , it runs a very powerful o/s that is way more mature then windows phone ....... but the camera to me isn't versatile , its software lets it down in terms of jpeg processing and also camera controls , the hardware is a bit of a let down with no xenon flash and no ois and also no realy improvements from the z1 also the audio recording is also pretty rubbish if you have owned a Lumia device with rich recording ;-)

so yes again it is a great device but when you are comparing cameras from the 1020/808 or the z3 for me it is missing some very very important features .... ois .... xenon flash .... mechanical shutter .... decent jpeg processing .... better camera controls .... ability to shoot raw ..... rich recording mics for crisp audio in many different situations ;-)

when you add all them up its going to take a beast of a camera phone to beat the 1020 and there are non on the market at the minute bar the ?800 Panasonic which is also missing rich recording , xenon flash etc but offers some great hardware in terms of a 1" sensor and other niceties ;-)

 

[Yazen]

Nokia 808 takes better photos and processes/saves them faster. The ONLY technical advantage on the 1020 is the OIS, however, the 1020 also has greater manual control.

808 has a larger sensor and better image processing alogorithms. The trend should be an increase in sensor size, not a decrease.
Microphone quality is greater on the 808 as well.

Where the 808 fails is in video, OIS and faster processor on the 1020 really make a difference.

 

[thesachd]

but you can add features like slo mo in a video editor at the end and the 1020 shoots great video with rich recording mics where as the note 4 audio is terrible and the ois isn't as good as the 1020s , try and record a concert or loud scenes with any high end Samsung ;-) also I find 4k video pointless at the minute , devices can only do it in small bursts because of heat etc and 4k tvs and tv broadcasting is rare at the minute ;-)

I do agree that they are both different phones and will appeal to different people , the note4 a more business and media consumption tool and the 1020 a much more pocket friendly media creation tool as well as media consumption ;-)

to be honest I even find the photo editing apps better on the Lumia range , try and find me an app like fantasia painter on android that is as easy to use and feature packed and free ;-)

ideally id like a note4/s5 with the camera from the 1020 I think that it would sell like hot cakes across the globe and I wish Samsung upped their game with the kzoom range and made a prime version with huge sensor and quality optics rather then strapping on a ?99 digital zoom camera on the back ;-)

but as it is the note4 camera is no match for the 1020 and when it comes to video yes the note4 records 4k but it does so with rubbish audio and is also more shaky then the 1020

I aint knocking the s5/note4 I like both of them and what they offer I am thinking of even keeping the s5 as my phone and my 1020 as a high quality pocket friendly camera ;-) but there is no way after using the 1020 I could leave my photography up to either Samsung device or id be disappointed in 10 years time looking back through my pics ;-)

As far as your first argument goes, slow-mo is best done at higher FPS. The Note 4 can record in 60 and 120 FPS videos which can be slowed down to 24 or 15 FPS for extremely good slow-mo. The 1020 records only 30 FPS which is pretty terrible for slow-mo.

Also your last points are conflicting. You say that there is no use of 4K because no one is using it now, but you wouldn't use a Note 4's camera because it's images won't be as crisp in 10 years. What about the videos that you record with the Note 4 and Lumia 1020? Which will look better in 10 years?

That is why I said the two camera phones are for two totally different people.

Nokia 808 takes better photos and processes/saves them faster. The ONLY technical advantage on the 1020 is the OIS, however, the 1020 also has greater manual control.

808 has a larger sensor and better image processing alogorithms. The trend should be an increase in sensor size, not a decrease.
Microphone quality is greater on the 808 as well.

Where the 808 fails is in video, OIS and faster processor on the 1020 really make a difference.

Another place where the 808 fails is the fact that it basically an extremely good camera bolted to a mediocre phone.

The 1020 has its sacrifices however offers a balance between a great smartphone experience and a great photography experience.

 

[buxz777]

but it is also discontinued and only half a million ever made ;-) I agree it was a great phone camera probably the best in outright iq of pictures however in terms of versatility the 1020 is ahead

I owned both and do miss some things about the 808 , the pureness of the photos was great and it was the only camera I took with me on my first travels of asia ;-) its let down by no ois and poor manual controls ..... I would still take the 808 or 1020 over any phone on the market though and I am not saying the 1020 is better then the 808 both have their pluses and minuses and both would be welcome in my pocket anytime ;-)

 

[Arup Roy Chowdhury]

no doubt the z3 is built well , its a beautiful device , it runs a very powerful o/s that is way more mature then windows phone ....... but the camera to me isn't versatile , its software lets it down in terms of jpeg processing and also camera controls , the hardware is a bit of a let down with no xenon flash and no ois and also no realy improvements from the z1 also the audio recording is also pretty rubbish if you have owned a Lumia device with rich recording ;-)

so yes again it is a great device but when you are comparing cameras from the 1020/808 or the z3 for me it is missing some very very important features .... ois .... xenon flash .... mechanical shutter .... decent jpeg processing .... better camera controls .... ability to shoot raw ..... rich recording mics for crisp audio in many different situations ;-)

when you add all them up its going to take a beast of a camera phone to beat the 1020 and there are non on the market at the minute bar the ?800 Panasonic which is also missing rich recording , xenon flash etc but offers some great hardware in terms of a 1" sensor and other niceties ;-)

Thats why I retain the 1020 but the Z3 also comes with professional audio DAC so its output is truly superb. So far I have seen some samples taken by CM1 and lets say, they are truly good as expected from a bigger Leica lens with 1" sensor but not blowing the 1020 away in any way.

 

[Saulius Gra]

Hi
So much words about photos... Please tell more about video comparison. Is it really that note 4 is better thanks to hdr video ability, better IOS making more stable videos and even better zooming quality without loosing details? Cos all those youtube video samples, that I saw, make note 4 video capability look better than lumia 1020, way better!
So those who own both phones, please, tell us your experience and conclusions?

 

[anon(5316299)]

Hi
So much words about photos... Please tell more about video comparison. Is it really that note 4 is better thanks to hdr video ability, better IOS making more stable videos and even better zooming quality without loosing details? Cos all those youtube video samples, that I saw, make note 4 video capability look better than lumia 1020, way better!
So those who own both phones, please, tell us your experience and conclusions?

​I do have both devices. Both take excellent video. I prefer the 1020 because of the zoom, and the really superb OIS. I find at events, I wind up zooming in and out...very little loss of fidelity with the 1020, somewhat more with the note 4.

 

[Elitewolverine]

Lets put it this way. What is the point of 4k video if currently you are limited to just 5minutes unless you want to go the way of root...(most do not).

Simply put yes while you are recording in 4k you are still at 30fps, 120fps is 720p. Yes 4k is awesome, but very few devices support it and most likely on the tv screen you may not notice. You will notice 1080p 60fps vs 30fps though.

Video has never been the 1020's most crowning moment. However in stills, there is simply no replacement for displacement (MP). And the amount of detail a 38MP picture will capture will ALWAYS be more information than a 16MP sensor. Considering both have high end options with the 1020 in the better of the two in that department, it comes down to software rendering of the jpeg. Considering DNG is a 1020 fav, you have access to a file format that will let you process the data better, then save it.

Even my 930 outperforms the z3 and I put it up to the note 4 daily at work.