1020's advantage reduced after 920/5/8 gets Amber??

[Michael Spencer]

Just in terms of camera - at the Amber update, Lumia 920/928/925 gets:

• Shutter speed (1/16000 to 4 seconds)
• EV (exposure) value, ISO (100 to 4,000)
• White balance
• Manual focus
• High quality audio recording

It brings the feature set VERY close to 1020. Especially consider how affordable 925 is.

So the only unique selling point of 1020 is the awesome large sensor & its lossless zoom? :excited: I mean it's great for 920/5/8 users to have the feature spillover. And although the large superlative sensor is what makes all the difference, I'm wondering if in spilling over the feature set - they shot themselves in the foot? They've basically quantified the exact price of having that sensor!

Then Nokia will surely reduce 1020's price soon. Which - would be awesome for future owners.

 

[LMZR]

The 1020 has an incredible camera, the 920/925/928 all have good cameras too, but they are for different kinds of people.

 

[Michael Spencer]

The 1020 has an incredible camera, the 920/925/928 all have good cameras too, but they are for different kinds of people.

Definitely.

Smartphone quality vs near DSLR quality.

But it's increasingly a hard-sell in the shop, when almost ALL the other features are the same & the UI now look the same.

 

[J88NY R]

And the 1020 has twice the amount of RAM as the other phones, and gorilla glass 3.

 

[Michael Spencer]

And the 1020 has twice the amount of RAM as the other phones, and gorilla glass 3.

RAM is a case of diminishing return on WP- you'd rarely need more than 1GB even on Android.

Gorilla glass 3 or not it still scratches. Where it really matters, AMOLED screen on 1020 is said to be worse than 925.

 

[vlad0]

^ that's a big difference... I am a bit surprised since the camera phone should have the screen with better outdoor visibility, which is why the 808 tops the charts.

http://blog.gsmarena.com/nokia-pro-...0-apparently-overlays-images-with-yellow-hue/

In terms of the camera UX.. yes, but the difference in sensor size is way to big to make any significant difference in terms of IQ.

If you want a WP.. 1020 is the one.

 

[wamsille]

I have to play around with the 1020's camera a bit more, but I think it is a good upgrade from the 92X series. This was the first low-light photography Windows Phone from Nokia with optical image stabilization. It produces stunning results. Nokia built upon that PureView brand and introduced lossless zoom while keeping the excellent low-light performance. Maybe the next innovation includes a stronger optical zoom or DSLR-like attachments that offer extention to the features of exisiting hardware.

I personally love having a good performing camera with me at all times. My Nikon can be bulky at times and I don't always feel secure, let alone comfortable, bringing it with me when I'm out and about. The Lumia 1020 is more pocketable and with the enhanced hardware it should be capable for producing some worthwhile photos. I remember the first low-light shot I took with the 920 - I was amazed. I also remember taking my first shot with the Lumia 1020 and zooming in on detail I didn't realize it had captured. Again, I was amazed by what a phone (smart or not) is capable of doing compared to the first 5120 I got when I was 19.

The phones of today will pale in comparison to the phones out tomorrow. Software updates can only do so much, however the added features and benefits should help keep 920 owners happy for a while.

 

[theefman]

For me, not in the slightest, the 1020 camera performs to a level that is unmatched by anything other than the 808 and is unlikely to be matched by anything else for a long time and if it wasn't for the fact that I need an AWS version for Tmo I would have swapped my 920 already.

 

[antiochian2010]

Still can't get around the 1020 hardware. I think the 925 and 928 are decent machines - probably phenomenal with Amber, but software can only do so much..

 

[vlad0]

For me, not in the slightest, the 1020 camera performs to a level that is unmatched by anything other than the 808 and is unlikely to be matched by anything else for a long time and if it wasn't for the fact that I need an AWS version for Tmo I would have swapped my 920 already.

The upcoming Sony "homani" might be able to get close to the 1020 in daylight conditions, but overall.. I don't think it will be able to match it. The other one is the gs4 zoom.. but its way too bulky.. the sensor they have in there is too small for the body.

In reality Nokia have 3 proper camera phones:

1020
808
N8

In other words.. no hump, no glory.

 

[bruceabbott2]

I can see the "inferior" display on the1020 perfectly in direct sunglight. In fact, it's one best I've used.

 

[Michael Spencer]

^ that's a big difference... I am a bit surprised since the camera phone should have the screen with better outdoor visibility, which is why the 808 tops the charts.

Perhaps the reason they used G3 glass was to keep the display thin - making space for the camera module.

 

[LMZR]

At least the 1020 doesn't have THIS strapped to the back.

 

[camptime]

Cannot see the point with this add on. Having to lug the lens around means you still need a bag of some sort you would be better of getting a dedicated point and shoot. Looks ugly anyway.

 

[Michael Spencer]

Cannot see the point with this add on. Having to lug the lens around means you still need a bag of some sort you would be better of getting a dedicated point and shoot. Looks ugly anyway.

For photo journists that are stuck with iPhone, it makes some sense.

I mean it would be simpler if 1020 has 1/1.2 sensor. But hey we can't always get everything we want.

 

[wamsille]

Yesterday I returned the S4 Active I activated earlier in the month and canceled the line it was on. The store refused to waive the restocking fee but I convinced them instead to give me the camera grip for the 1020. Even with the added bulk, the 1020 / camera grip is a nice pairing.

 

[Michael Spencer]

Yesterday I returned the S4 Active I activated earlier in the month and canceled the line it was on. The store refused to waive the restocking fee but I convinced them instead to give me the camera grip for the 1020. Even with the added bulk, the 1020 / camera grip is a nice pairing.

Out of curiousity - why did you return the S4 Active?

Was it the lack of AMOLED / 13MP camera? or lack of a shutter button?

 

[mister2d]

Just in terms of camera - at the Amber update, Lumia 920/928/925 gets:

• Shutter speed (1/16000 to 4 seconds)
• EV (exposure) value, ISO (100 to 4,000)
• White balance
• Manual focus
• STEREO HAAC audio recording vs Mono in previous software

It brings the feature set VERY close to 1020. Especially consider how affordable 925 is.

So the only unique selling point of 1020 is the awesome large sensor & its lossless zoom? :excited: I mean it's great for 920/5/8 users to have the feature spillover. And although the large superlative sensor is what makes all the difference, I'm wondering if in spilling over the feature set - they shot themselves in the foot? They've basically quantified the exact price of having that sensor!

Then Nokia will surely reduce 1020's price soon. Which - would be awesome for future owners.

Just made a correction.

 

[vlad0]

I think that the stereo recording is the most important addition.. it was such a waste to have those cool mics in there and not take advantage.

Here are some amber comps

Amber-powered Nokia Lumia 920 and 925 camera optics, head to head

 

[wamsille]

Out of curiousity - why did you return the S4 Active?

Was it the lack of AMOLED / 13MP camera? or lack of a shutter button?

It isn't nearly as water resistant as Samsung's marketing compaign would suggest. If you buy an S4 Active, keep it away from water. While it was designed to be used near and submerged in water, the limitations are far more significant than what many would lead you to believe. Even with proper use in water - shallow depths of 1' or less and everything properly sealed - the phone is likely to be damaged. I think the life of my phone was extended by the use of a bumper case, but even then not by much. If the Active was a phone developed by HTC or Nokia, it would have been just fine.

In my opinion, the source of issues with the Active S4 is the poor seal around the phone display, which is more than capable of letting in water and damaging internals. If Samsung can make a gasket of some sort to finish sealing off the phone they may have something there. I was just fortunate to not have the moisture indicator for the phone itself go off, which at least gave support to my claim of defect versus operator error.