GSM Arena: Nokia 808 PureView blind test: The sum of all pixels

| June 15, 2012 | 23 Replies

Here is a blind shootout from GSM Arena starring the Nokia 808 PureView.

It would be a little unfair to put the 38MP mode as it would be too obvious which one that is. Therefore we stick to PureView mode. The N8 is also there, set to 8mp.

There would be other conditions where the 808 would see itself distance itself from the pack (well with the N8). Low light without flash and low light with flash. The point of this is not to pick which one is the 808 but which one produced the best picture.

http://www.gsmarena.com/pureview_blind_test-review-773p2.php

The contenders:

  • Nokia 808 PureView (8MP PureView mode)
  • HTC One X
  • iPhone 4S
  • Samsung Galaxy S III
  • Nokia N8 (downsampled from 12MP to 8MP)
  • Olympus E-PL2 interchangable lens, large sensor camera (downsampled from 12MP to 8MP)

Cheers anonymous for the tip

Category: Nokia, Symbian, Video

About the Author ()

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Comments (23)

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  1. aboodesta says:

    I think E is the best, and almost pretty sure its the 808. Just look at the details!

  2. Recruta says:

    Video?!

    A, B and C all have same focal lengths (HTC, Samsung and the N8). Letter D is, therefore, Apple’s phone (33mm). The Olympus is definitely using some different lens unit, compared to the kit lens, as the latter provides minimum focal length equal to 28mm (crop factor of 2), and therefore equal to A, B and C, which doesn’t seem to be the case. Unless it’s using a lens set up at around 27mm, it’s letter F, which has a wider viewing angle than E.

    D: 33mm;
    A: 28mm;
    B: 28mm;
    C: 28mm;
    E: 26mm;
    F: Less than 26mm.

    Judging by the similar look of A and E, it’s almost certain that the N8 is A and the 808 is E.

    I don’t like the dynamic range of the 808, BTW, if it’s indeed letter E…

    • The 808 is also 28mm in 4:3 stills mode… It’s only in 16:9 that it’s wider.

      • Recruta says:

        No, you’re wrong.

        It’s gotten a multi aspect sensor.

        That’s precisely why it won’t use the full 41 Mega Pixel resolution. It keeps the same viewing angle both for 16:9 and 4:3 aspect ratios. It’s 26mm for both.

        • Recruta says:

          Correction:

          You’re right.

          It indeed has a 28 mm focal length in 4:3.

          Sorry.

          That’s odd. A, B and C all have 28mm and 4:3 AR. E and F both have less than that.

    • Reonhato says:

      F seems to have more dynamic range. Must be the olympus.

  3. Nrde says:

    F: PW, E: Olympus, A: N8 based on the levels of noise and amount of sharpening. my laptop screen doesn’t make the comparison easy though… Somehow F looked less sharp in places, so it might be a side-effect of resising. So maybe for safety I say that PW and Olympus are either E of F :)
    C, D look the worst.

    But it’s really difficult to say which is “better” E or F. F has maybe slightly less noise in some places and not in others. Also as it’s downsampled some details may be better or worse than when the image was 8 MPix originally.

  4. incognito says:

    E, A and F fared the best on those scenes. Given the white balance on the F which doesn’t look like the one on the sample pictures of 808, and the lack of details on the A, I’d say 808PV is the E.

    N8 is probably A, although I’ve come to expect more from the N8.

    That leaves the Olympus as F, although the F doesn’t really show the signs of downsampling.

  5. fneuf says:

    I tend to think that the identities, ordered from best to worst are:
    E – Nokia 808 PureView
    F – Olympus E-PL2
    A – Nokia N8
    B – Apple iPhone 4S
    D – HTC One X
    C – Samsung Galaxy SIII

  6. Andy says:

    Quality wise I think E then F I think E’s PV becauseof it’s slightly cooler white balance. Pure View and the rich recording in the 808 really show Nokia’s problems. They have this amazing technology and engineering staff who can produce results that not only sit at the top of their niche but also reach into those above. Yet they don’t have a compelling platform to deliver them on. Purely from an outside perspective and as someone only recently taking a closer interest in Nokia. It would seem that they suffer from Island thinking – Multiple platforms in development, multiple hardware inovations but each doing it on their own and no one pulling the threads together and giving it a common focus. I really hope with the job cuts and platform strategy they are not throwing the baby out with the bathwater. They had better have some good hooks into the WP dev process for their own hardware and they need to keep the key talent and culture that created things like PV.

    • Death Merchant says:

      “I really hope with the job cuts and platform strategy they are not throwing the baby out with the bathwater.”

      Too late. Elop has already thrown everything out. Now there’s only certain death awaiting for Nokia. Unless Samsung buys Nokiaand decides to revive Nokia’s past values and glory. Starting from kicking out Elop and his minions from the board and elsewhere. But somehow I don’t think that is going to happen.

      • elopisatool says:

        Agreed, there is little hope for anything good to come from Nokia now if they even survive another year. There is less and less to salvage each day Elop is allowed to continue his effort of destroying anything with value.

        PS
        E was my first guess. F looks good too.

  7. Cod3rror says:

    A – N8
    B – S III
    C – One X
    D – 4S
    E – 808
    F – E-PL2

  8. Valmon says:

    F seems to have the hotel’s name most in focus.

  9. MontyN95 says:

    A – N8
    B – Olympus
    C – 1X
    D – S3
    E – 808
    F – 4S

  10. el_neo says:

    I think F is the best, followed by E

  11. napier says:

    F, E and A are clearly in a different class from the others.
    E Olympus F 808 and A N8

  12. Paul Grenfell says:

    I think E is 808..B and F also put in a good show.

  13. Death Merchant says:

    From best to worst:

    E = Nokia 808 PureView
    F = Olympus E-PL2
    A = Nokia N8
    D = iPhone 4S
    B = Samsung Galaxy S3
    C = HTC One X

    E has the most detail and least post processing. White balance is a bit to the blue side. F’s too warm and it doesn’t quite have as much detail as E. The correct white balance is probably somewhere in the middle of those two. Plus F has some sharpening applied that makes it look a bit too harsh to my taste and takes away some of the dynamic range. Look at the light/powerline posts & trees/bushes and you’ll see what I mean. But it’s nothing alarming. E and F are both very good.

    B and C are both quite awful, but in a different way, so it was tough to pick one over the other. B has a lot of compression going on, which is killing the details. Look at the mountain to see the compression artifacts removing almost all detail (probably there wasn’t any detail to begin with). C on the other hand has seriously high noise level which is also killing the detail but in a different way than B. :)

  14. masood.alkhter says:

    I think nokia 808 is E

  15. iuefg says:

    The dynamic range absolutely sucks on the 808, that’s a fact. Just look at the samples in dpreview’s 808 review and see the highlight clipping.

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