iPhone4 / N8 - overview of the cameras

There's not much to say here. The N8's camera is way superior to the iPhone4's. It is not just an image size issue: The iPhone4 is a smartphone with a camera for taking very good "day to day", "close enough" photos. The N8's camera instead has much better optics, a great flash and the camera application is much more complete than the iPhone's.

Still, there's room for both cameras in the market, for different applications, though. I have seen many people with lower machines who really don't care if their photos will be printable, and much less if they'll be able to print it in an A3 sheet or  bigger: Most people I know, which are PC/Windows users won't even notice the quality difference between an 1.2Mpx and a 5Mpx or 12Mpx photo until they decide they need a print, and most of them, the ones with the lower mobiles will never ever want a print.

So here are the facts:

- iPhone4

• generic or otherwise non-branded optics as it looks
• no "shutter" button. You have to press *in* the display to take the photo
• no face recognition
• no control over the camera besides zoom and autofocus AFAIK
• automatic uploading not available. Pixelpipe exists for the iPhone but it's not as seamless as the Symbian^3 version.
• 5Mpx photos. HD video.

- N8

• scene modes
• control over sensitivity, color balance, exposition compensation, etc.
• "shutter button", but you can touch on the screen to take the photo, too
• face recognition
• automatic uploading to a number of photo storage services is not available on Symbian^3 but Pixelpipe seems to work just fine.
• Up to 12Mpx photos, HD video

In short, for taking great quality photos, I'll stay with the N8. The iPhone4's camera is also a very good camera, but is not as controllable as the N8's and so is best suited to more casual situations only.