Lumia ICON Camera

[IdemanEric]

I wonder if all the reviews are using the stock microsoft camera software instead of the Nokia Pro Cam. Is Nokia Pro cam default now cuz if it isn't, it should be.

So... Just to clarify, and because I'm too lazy to stray over to the 1520 forum... Is this the SAME camera as the 1520? Is the camera on the 1520 considered and reviewed well?? I get that it is NOT the 1020, but does it beat the rest of the competition? The camera is one of my big selling points. If you "genralize" the reviews it basically says the 1020 is the king, Z1 is excellent, Note 3 is very good as well as the G2 and S4 with the HTC One pulling up the rear on the flagships. I am hearing a lot more complaining about the camera on the Icon than I thought I would.

Posted via the WPC App for Android!

 

[maverick786us]

So... Just to clarify, and because I'm too lazy to stray over to the 1520 forum... Is this the SAME camera as the 1520? Is the camera on the 1520 considered and reviewed well?? I get that it is NOT the 1020, but does it beat the rest of the competition? The camera is one of my big selling points. If you "genralize" the reviews it basically says the 1020 is the king, Z1 is excellent, Note 3 is very good as well as the G2 and S4 with the HTC One pulling up the rear on the flagships. I am hearing a lot more complaining about the camera on the Icon than I thought I would.

Posted via the WPC App for Android!

It is the same camera, but I hope that this device is released 3 months after 1520, so its camera software doesn't produce crappy low light videos and images

 

[psiu_glen]

Are people debating whether to set Smartcam as the default? Or switch to it from within Procam? First off, it's deprecated anyway (built in to Procam now), second of all, you could theoretically switch using the Lenses, which is the first item in the app menu.

Or seriously, hit the freaking toggle on the main screen? I'm wondering how this takes a couple minutes...

 

[falconrap]

I pin ProShot to the start screen. If I need to get into it quicker, I just launch it directly. The software for my 822, however, has gotten a lot better at producing great Auto shots with the standard camera app, so I don't need to use it quite as often. The small advantages the iPhone 5S will have over the top Lumia cameras is a trade-off between raw speed with solid overall results and being able to actually control everything to get the actual shot you want, especially when you can't get what you want on Auto. As an Engineer, trade-offs is something I very much understand.

 

[Doctor Pork]

So the new talking to excuse the iPhones cameras lack of some pureview features is to make the shortest possible time between shots and the launch time of the camera app the most important characteristic of a phone camera? Seriously, if this all you care about , just get an iPhone and quit whining. It takes 2 seconds to launch Nokia camera on the 1520 and 1 second to switch to the smart cam interface if needed. If 1 second or so really makes a difference, well then so be it, it is a niche scenario in practice. It takes about 2 seconds max if you are shooting dual capture on the 1520 which should be same for the Icon as it is the same camera with the same SoC, a difference of one second max is hardly a deal breaker for real people but the reviewers still have to whine about something. If you want more flexibility, the Nokia camera interface is likely faster than any other camera app on the market as you have easy acess to all the most important settings.

Also, if we want to discuss the focus speed and catching moving things, well, unless you really need to catch a picture of something in 2 seconds, which you likely do not all the time in the real world, the Nokia camera app allows you the ability to set the focus mode to manual. In many cases, just set it to infinity if the object is not to near you, and you then got the ability to snap a picture instantly even in low light when you pull the shutter which is faster than any other camera phone on the market which still has to focus before snapping the picture.

If we are getting into details, the Lumia phones are also much faster for me for taking quick pictures as I happen to live in a colder country where you usually need to wear gloves of some kind for the better part of the year. If I want a picture, I just push the manual camera button to launch the phone while picking it up from the pocket and then I can quickly take pictures with the camera button without removing the gloves. If use a regular smartphone, I have to first remove the gloves before even thinking of taking pictures. Hence I would miss all those all important pictures which apparently need the fastest possible time to start taking pictures.

 

[Zim Aliman]

This is a lot more interesting to me then the 1520 due to the smaller screen. Has there been any word on an international version or is this a Verizon only phone like the 928?
see: ipad air & accessoires galaxy s5

 

[JudgeHolden]

LOL, I think you guys need too agree to disagree. You have two different perspectives so you are both right. If a smartphone camera should be quick and simple the iPhone is great. If you want a great camera that offers the flexibility to adjust the settings for even better pictures a Nokia would fit the bill. It's not quite as quick, but offers the flexibility when you want it. There is a reason there are so many SLR lenses, they have specific purposes. One phone will never excel at all types of pictures. I'll be a little disappointed if the Icon's camera isn't as good as the 928 in low light, I've enjoyed that on my wife's 928. But the flip side is that I'll be able to zoom with this one and there is no hump from a camera. Anyway, until Thurs. we'll have to be content reading about the camera.

There's no reason a camera shouldn't be both. This is what I'm saying - why aren't we demanding more from Nokia? Why are we saying "well, I can switch lenses, then I can play with setting, then I can blah blah blah" when other phone companies don't make their customers do this? Yes, sometimes we want to, but what percentage of photos do you want to bother with this? And why can't we do it when we want to and not do it when we don't without having a much inferior experience than owners of other phones?
There's no default, simple lens that is as high quality as the iPhone, plain and simple.

Which would you rather have - ten lenses that cover ten distinct circumstances with little overlap, or one lens that covers 90% of them just as well.

I'd take the one. So would the vast majority of phone buyers.

And no, I never said it takes minutes to switch lenses. I said it's a hassle. And, when something happens and all of your friends whip out their phones to take a shot and take ten by the time you have the correct lens selected, you look like an *****. Or, since some are so hung up on SmartCam, if you are waiting for a dog or a child to do something and, thinking it will happen, you hit the shutter, but nothing happens until after the SmartCam 3 second or whatever window passes, you have missed the shot and are asking your iPhone friends to email it to you.

All this, and their photo quality is at worst marginally behind than the 928.

 

[JudgeHolden]

So the new talking to excuse the iPhones cameras lack of some pureview features is to make the shortest possible time between shots and the launch time of the camera app the most important characteristic of a phone camera? Seriously, if this all you care about , just get an iPhone and quit whining. It takes 2 seconds to launch Nokia camera on the 1520 and 1 second to switch to the smart cam interface if needed. If 1 second or so really makes a difference, well then so be it, it is a niche scenario in practice. It takes about 2 seconds max if you are shooting dual capture on the 1520 which should be same for the Icon as it is the same camera with the same SoC, a difference of one second max is hardly a deal breaker for real people but the reviewers still have to whine about something. If you want more flexibility, the Nokia camera interface is likely faster than any other camera app on the market as you have easy acess to all the most important settings.

Also, if we want to discuss the focus speed and catching moving things, well, unless you really need to catch a picture of something in 2 seconds, which you likely do not all the time in the real world, the Nokia camera app allows you the ability to set the focus mode to manual. In many cases, just set it to infinity if the object is not to near you, and you then got the ability to snap a picture instantly even in low light when you pull the shutter which is faster than any other camera phone on the market which still has to focus before snapping the picture.

If we are getting into details, the Lumia phones are also much faster for me for taking quick pictures as I happen to live in a colder country where you usually need to wear gloves of some kind for the better part of the year. If I want a picture, I just push the manual camera button to launch the phone while picking it up from the pocket and then I can quickly take pictures with the camera button without removing the gloves. If use a regular smartphone, I have to first remove the gloves before even thinking of taking pictures. Hence I would miss all those all important pictures which apparently need the fastest possible time to start taking pictures.

There's NO WAY it takes you 1 second to switch to SmartCam. None. At all. You have to hit the button for lenses. It takes a split second, then you have to choose SmartCam. Since you can't arrange lenses, many of us need to scroll to find it, as it can be buried behind Bing Vision and Camera Timer and CNN iReport and Vine and Instagram clients. From there it takes about a second or second and a half just to load SmartCam.

By this point your kid has already taken his first steps and fallen down. Congrats! Don't worry, your wife took about a hundred photos with her iPhone. Or maybe your baby waited five seconds to take those steps, so now SmartCam is thinking and compiling the burst it took and your camera isn't operational during this time.
If only Nokia/MS gave us not only these lenses but a better quality default camera app! But no, we kept telling them they didn't need to, we shouldn't expect such things, give us a bunch of options, none of which are market-quality for all circumstances, and we'll make it work. Heaven forbid we ever criticize the phone company we put our blind allegiance into! We'll just sit on messageboards and call every reviewer stupid for complaining about this. It isn't a product choice, it's a religion!

 

[ImJustaBilly]

I think a lot of these Pureview cams are often dubbed disappointing because the average user doesn't know how to use it to their full extent. The iPhone 5S has, probably the best smartphone camera because of it's EASE OF USE AND PICTURE QUALITY. The Icon definitely has the optics to but the learning curve may be higher with a much more complex Nokia Pro Cam interface. I think that it's very possible to be able to get a great picture, just takes a bit more time.

 

[vlad0]

I have to admit that the iPhone is pretty good at point and shoot compared to my 808.. but most of that is in perfect conditions. As soon as the sun goes down the iPhone simply can't compete with the 808's auto mode.

I don't know why Microsoft doesn't just integrate the Nokia camera app into WP and make it the default app. HTC and Samsung can use it as well... its not like it matter it's Nokia's work anymore.

All that aside, the icon's camera is probably one of the best in the industry, so I still don't understand what people are complaining about. Its all relative to what you know to be the benchmark, and I can honestly say that I probably use the ultimate (808 PV) camera phone on daily basis, and I still think that the 1520 has a very good camera relative to that.

I also have to say that I am extremely picky when it comes to image quality (IQ) and I can honestly tolerate the results from the 1520 for the most part... and that is saying a lot coming from me, and what I think its proper IQ for a mobile phone based on my experience with the 808.

Even in terms of video I am yet to see a cleaner low light video from any phonein the industry.. bar OIS, I still think that the 808 has the best overall audio/video performance out there.

So.. enjoy the phone. Its seems like a sweet package overall.

 

[maverick786us]

Can you guys post some sample pictures under normal lightening and low light? I can't own an ICON so have to wait till May, when Nokia releases something similar

 

[TheZuneLune]

I was blown away by the lack of photography understanding I saw from reviewers critiquing the ICON camera. they refers to tints. But what they were referring to was white balance, which can be changed. They also describe colors being washed out, but what it was is a comparison of exposures and saturation levels, again, they can be changed. Also, the reviewers were obviously not using the focus assist, or selecting a focus point, which would impact which part of the scene the camera was exposing for.

Coming from a 928, I find con camera superior and the flash experience is different, undecided which I like better. Truthfully, if you want to improve your flash, tape a piece of semi-translucent paper over it and be amazed.