Nokia N86 8MP sample video

There are two ways to look at the Nokia N86 8MP:

1) It's Nokia's flagship non-touch media-centric smartphone, the successor to the mighty Nokia N95/N95-3/N95-4, and a proper substitute for the disappointing Nokia N85.

2) It's Nokia's flagship cameraphone, the rightful successor to the awesome Nokia N82, now packing an 8 megapixel sensor and a wide angle, variable aperture Carl Zeiss lens.

Maybe it's a little bit of both?

There's absolutely no doubt that the N86 is a worthy upgrade to the N95, but as a mobile photography enthusiast, I was expecting more from the camera, especially in terms of usability!

The N86 features an 8 megapixel sensor, a Carl Zeiss lens, fast auto-focus with macro, a dual LED flash, and an active lens cover. There's also geo-tagging, panorama-stitching, face detection, manual settings, and VGA video recording.

I was able to compare the N86 directly to the Samsung Memoir and the Sony Ericsson C905a, two devices with similar camera specs and aspirations...

The result? It's been a mixed bag. While the N86 definitely takes excellent pictures overall (slide show), it's been a frustrating experience.

On one hand the N86 exhibits great color balance and exposure, surely thanks to the superior optics and proven image processing algorithms. But strangely, the level of detail is more akin to that of a decent 5 megapixel phone.

Low-light performance is pretty good, mostly because of the variable aperture - the sensor is still quite noisy, but since the camera is gathering more light, it becomes less of a problem.

Contrary to the competition and the N82, which include a xenon flash, the N86 is only equipped with a dual LED flash. This is rather unfortunate - although modern LEDs have come a long way, there's still no substitute for xenon, especially with moving subjects.

Startup time is fast, but the 2-stage shutter button is too small and too stiff, often resulting in shaky shots. The familiar interface feels clunky, and retains flaws dating back to the original N95 - such as resetting preferences (like the flash) each time the camera is started.

But the worst usability issue is a change in autofocus behavior that Nokia introduced a few firmware revisions ago.

Instead of always focusing in the center of the viewfinder, letting you to re-frame the subject between the first and second detent of the shutter button, the N86 picks the area of the shot that it thinks you're focusing on. Problem is, it generally selects the wrong part of in the picture...

It's extremely annoying and remains a deal-breaker for me!

In terms of video recording, the N86 handles 640×480 pixels (VGA) at 30 fps. There's no initial autofocus, but the default focus is optimized for portraits, which is a reasonable compromise (same as the N95).

One of the nice tricks of the N86 is that it provides image stabilization for video recording without any reduction in quality. However, it's prone to dropping frames right after initiating capture.

As a smartphone, the N86 is packed with features like an OLED screen, quick processor, tri-band 3G, WiFi, GPS, and latest and greatest iteration of S60v3. It's possibly the finest Nseries device in terms of build quality, thanks in part to the glass front and metal bezel.

As a cameraphone, the N86 is really nice, but it's just not good enough. I was hoping for more from Nokia, and I'm going to hang on to my beloved Memoir for now :)

For more information, visit http://tnkgrl.wordpress.com/2010/02/17/nokia-n86-8mp-camera/

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• tnkgrl
• cameraphone
• N86
• sanfrancisco
• potrerohill

[VinnyLT9000]

hey thats 18th street.

[qrpkgrl]

@VinnyLT9000 yep, by Farley's - I live nearby.

[qrpkgrl]

It's VGA (640x480) at 30 fps

[charls697]

N86 is the best!!! It takes the best video that I've ever seen. It is superior to c905!!

[qrpkgrl]

@charls697 oh yeah, the N86 walks all over the C905 for video! But the current king of the video hill is the iPhone 4...

[TheBlackCurt]

nice quality

[VinnyLT9000]

@qrpkgrl cool. i go to school near by.

[0903390901]

NiCE Quality Mobile phone video. What are the Video resolutions?

[misturchips]

Just got my US version Friday (Man, it's tough to find here in CA!). Haven't played w/ video much, but...

The N86 is a direct successor to the N81. The media buttons were moved to the dual slide (Thanks, guys! - I was always bumping 'em on the N81).

I was using a C5 (Awesome, but not an American model, and no light in video mode...) and an N900 (wonderfully fun, but touch screens are so... blah!) in the interim, and have gotten used to the dial shutter button. I like it so far.

[bikentom]

is amazing but is than better nokia 5800