I thinks it,s really getting crazy. Phone related web sites go on comparing top smartphones with cameras like Sony Experia Z, iPhone 5, Galaxy S4, HTC one etc and consumers also seem to care for this. Recently announced Lumia 1020 with 45 MP Preview camera and upcoming Sony Honami with 20 MP Camera are going to take this war to a whole new level. These smartphones are more of a camera and less of a phone. I personally don't need high end camera in my smartphone. Either no camera or a medium specs cam might be enough for me as I am not fond of photography. I see no choice for me if I want to buy a high end smartphone with a mediorice but decent cam or no cam at all. I guess lot if consumers are paying for cams in the phones unnecessarily while they don,t need it. They have to pay for something that they might never use in really. I wish some companies launch high end phones without cams too. What,s your opinion about this?
Don't forget 4K video recording lol, now just need a UHD TV or smartphone PPI on larger monitors. Honestly, I won't buy it if the camera increases the price too much.
Don't buy a phone based on how many pixels the camera has, it's a phone and not a camera. I will not like/dislike it more because it has X amount of pixels, it can have 100MP but that won't change the fact that it's still a phone If you like taking photos maybe as your hobby then you better buy a real "normal" camera from a camera manufacturer.
The Nokia 41MP sensor does a very very good job taking pictures. If it was Android i would definitely get one.
Hi aigle, An explanation for the increased focus (excuse the pun) on engineering ever higher quality mobile phone cameras is for the simple reason that manufacturers are finding it more difficult to differentiate their hardware from the competition. Two contributing factors are that, first, high-end phones tend to have very similar hardware specifications, for example, the latest SoC, multiple cores, high and large resolution screens, ever larger batteries. Second, there is less room for innovative hardware design since today's smartphones follow the same fundamental design of a rectangle with a large touchscreen, and perhaps a few buttons added to the mix. For the most part hardware has become secondary to the content on the screen, the software. Which leaves the camera. The camera is one of the few hardware elements manufacturers can innovate on to separate their phone from their competitor's. Arguably battery life is another. I know I'd prefer manufacturers to instead focus on battery life rather than the cameras in their phones, but I am certain it will happen provided the smartphone market remains as competitive as it has been in recent years.
Neither do I. But, I only buy cheap Chinese phones, not high end brand name phones, so I don't get a high end camera. My current phone has an 8MP Sony camera, and my new phone which I should have in about a week, only has a 5MP camera. The cost for a low end camera is next to nothing - you can get an Android phone with a camera for under $20. I would never own a phone without a camera.
Samsung is doing a lot in terms of both hardware and software to make their phones stand out from other smart phones. I think limitations on battery are due to the limits of current battery technology. I'm sure manufacturers would include higher capacity batteries if they could.
It is a little bizarre re the HUGE photo files. Storage on the phone/camera will become an issue ?? Ever tried to email several massive photos? I see the phone camera as an adjunct not the primary function of a smart phone/tablet. If you want high end photography: get a good camera. Depth focus field etc. Camera HW and options will always trump a phone at the high end. Even small cameras are phenomenal now. Having said that: when will some smart phone co link up with GOPro: a go pro on a phone woo hoo Then weather proofing becomes an issue....etc etc
We peek inside Nokia's miracle cameraphone http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/07/15/nokia_lumia_1020_technical_walkthrough/
I'm not sure it's a crazy bad thing. Fact is the Camera/Phone has introduced a lot of peeps to the wonderful world of photography. Many important newsworthy events have some of their best angles photographed on smart phones and the smartphone is bringing a lot of important images to the web. With its Carl Zeiss lens and Image stabilization at a $299 price, for those into smart cameraphone's "always with you" appeal the Lumia 1020 might actually be viewed as a bargain. (Admission-speaking as a former photography addict who prior to camera phones ALWAYS had a small high quality 35mm camera with him)
Exactly what I wish to do. Unfortunately I can,t find phones from white box Chinese manufactures here in Saudi Arabia. Do you mind to mention your phone models and your experience with them. Thanks
I will like to have a mid range decent cam as that might be useful even though I am not find of photography. Only I don't like to pay for a bleeding edge cam in a phone.
I order my phones direct from China. I purchased my last one from a retailer on Aliexpress.com, my first one from mobile-phones.cn who I can recommend. My phones: Star A3 - good quality phone, but processor was a bit slow, and storage space was very limited, also poor quality camera Ulefone/iStar V1277 - enhanced model with Sony 8MP camera, quite fast due to a dual core processor, but limited due to only having 512MB of RAM, and also WCDMA 850MHz band is not working properly which limits my reception in some areas. Haipai i9389 - I haven't received this yet, but a quad core phone so very fast, with 1GB of RAM The screen quality on both the A3 was V1277 was very good, and the V1277 has an IPS screen. The actual build quality of the phones is pretty good considering the price.
There a many only Chinese retailers which ship world wide, and a lot of them do pre orders of upcoming phones.
