Should Nokia’s PureView fear the Android powered point and shoot cameras?

| August 26, 2012 | 64 Replies

It’s not the first time we’ve heard about an Android powered zoom capable pocket camera, and it probably won’t be the last. You may have seen Nikon’s S800c, quite a chunky little monkey because it’s not an Android phone but an Android camera.

Well, camera quality wise PureView has already been besting the top high end point and shoots and taking swipes at DSLRs, so maybe not. Certainly not on Rich Recording. But if the public become interested, they might find it more attractive to go down the Android camera route than the relatively unknown (damn you Nokia for not advertising PureView enough/at all) Nokia PureView. Plus the Coolpix thing above is only around 350USD (I don’t think it’s a phone though).

16MP, 10X optical zoom. Nikon’s image stabilisation with VGA 240FPS mode. Not bad. Not so sure about the rest of the Android experience on this one.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/2012/08/22/Nikon-announces-gingerbread-Android-powered-Coolpix-S800c-smart-superzoom

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Something a little more scary perhaps is a SGSIII equivalent Samsung pocket cam.

http://www.technobuffalo.com/cameras/galaxy-s-camera-rumor/

http://blog.gsmarena.com/exclusive-samsung-is-reportedly-working-on-a-galaxy-s-iii-based-16mp-point-and-shoot/

Canon might join the boat too. Nokia’s got to hurry and get PureView out to more places! Bring us new PureView devices please! ASAP!

Category: Nokia, Symbian

About the Author ()

Hey, thanks for reading my post. My name is Jay and I'm a medical student at the University of Manchester. When I can, I blog here at mynokiablog.com and tweet now and again @jaymontano. We also have a twitter and facebook accounts @mynokiablog and  Facebook.com/mynokiablog. Check out the tips, guides and rules for commenting >>click<< Contact us at tips(@)mynokiablog.com or email me directly on jay[at]mynokiablog.com

Comments (64)

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  1. dss says:

    They are not phones.. you still have to carry two devices. The point of PureView is to eliminate the second device, which was achieved with the 808, and the N8 to a certain extend.

    • Paul Grenfell says:

      Agreed, no challenge..

    • Michael says:

      No surprises there. Its been achieved in the past.

      http://www.altek.com.tw/Product/Detail.aspx?id=33

      I can see it coming from likes of SONY, Panasonic, Toshiba, Samsung.

      Already there’s a mega monster version rumored to be in works by samy,

      http://blog.gsmarena.com/exclusive-samsung-is-reportedly-working-on-a-galaxy-s-iii-based-16mp-point-and-shoot/

    • art_vaider says:

      The 808 is not a smartphone , it’s camera with vith possibility to make calls too.

      • dss says:

        Its a fully featured smartphone with an amazing camera.

        • art_vaider says:

          Compare it wit top android smartphones and you will see that he strongly loses at all points. Display resolution from 2008, the awful browser, the keyboard without multitouch and normal switching of languages, no new games. But camera is really fantastic !

          • leomate says:

            Ok. Maybe the resolutions sitll @nHD (Maybe for apps compatibility reason, because some apps not working with E6 because different resolutions
            But the display quality is superior even contrast more than Galaxy S3. You can see yourself at gsmarena test.
            Browser? I think average. May you can use opera mobile or UC browser. But i really browsing more time with my laptop
            Keyboard? What do you mean multitouch? not really understand.
            Games? Hmmm thats right. Maybe need ipod touch for gaming :D

            Camera, yes of course very fantastic :D

            • Banderpop says:

              Apparently multitouch speeds up typing. Although I’ve never figured out how. For fast typing you’re far better off with Swype anyway.

              I hope WP8 eventually supports Swype, because it’s going to be massive step backwards for me from my N8 and 808 if it doesn’t.

              • Jay Montano says:

                How does multitouch keyboard speed up typing? Because you might be typing so fast, one thumb might still be resting on another key whilst the other tries to press a new key. On a single touch keyboard, the other key presses would not register and you would end up with errors on the screen.

                Imagine the same case were touch typists given keyboards where only one key press was registered at a time. Think how much their wpm speed would reduce.

                For fast typing, not sure that Swype would be all that better for all people. For some, maybe. Not all.

  2. DKM says:

    Imagine this if Android on a Nikon can produce excellent quality pictures on par with PureView then any mobile company can license it from Nikon and introduce on a mobile but thats not happening.

    PureView is something unique on its own and i think PureView2 will put Nokia much more far ahead of any other camera devices in conjunction with rich recording.

    Does Nikon has rich recording i dont think so..

  3. Jill says:

    Now you see a competition against PureView.
    I agree with you Nokia sucked & sucks at not promoting 808 at all.
    Nokia is seriously short-sighted.

    • leomate says:

      Maybe because nokia is more focusing at Microsoft partnership.

      I want to know how Lumia pureview camera quality compared with 808 pureview

  4. Pegasus says:

    Nokia should LEARN FROM ANDROID. Camera manufacturers are already BRINGING OUT THE IMAGING POTENTIALS OF THE ANDROID PLATFORM.

    The next level of blackout for Nokia, will on this front. Forget PV

  5. FireDragon says:

    808′s problem is big, which is the support from its own makers. They had to get it out in market to show what they have and sign a piece of history, and that’s it. Just like with N9, or N950 for the shape.

    On other hand not only Nikon will support it, but Samsung will try to cash it in as well, or perhaps HTC but Samsung might take it first. Remember it’s personal between Nokia and Samsung.

  6. Pegasus says:

    Samsung is already working on a camera-only followup to the GS3.

    • dss says:

      Again, it won’t have 3G/HSDPA bands for phone calls/texting/mobile internet.. so its a different category, its not a camera-smartphone, but a smart-camera. Two very different things..

      Samsung can’t risk hurting their own P&S sales, not until they decide to ditch it and go full on with phone-cameras.

  7. Philk says:

    I love love love my pureview and it pureview mode the images are stunning, but some of you don’t know the 808 very well. Unless the lighting is perfect, the 34 & 38 mega pixel images come out noisy and grainy.
    A point and shoot will be able to take better looking larger (16 mega pixel) images in more varied lighting conditions.
    The pureview quality will destroy it in the smaller pureview mode pics, but if you want a poster, the pureview doesn’t match up well.

    • dss says:

      Did you expect something else from 1.4 micron pixels ?

      When it gets dark shoot in 3Mpix PureView mode if you want better results. That was the whole point.. + zooming.

      • pvc says:

        No, I didn’t expect anything else. I knew what I was getting and love it.

        I was responding to the article where Jay says the Pureview is better than any point and shoot and dismisses the Android phone as a market force to worry about, but technically inferior.
        I was saying that isn’t the case, depending on what you’re looking to do.

  8. twig says:

    MALWARE CAMERAS,just what the world needs. I’ll stick with preview.

  9. Doffen says:

    This is what Nokia should have tried with Symbian.

    • arts says:

      honestly i hope not. n8 took ages to render a zoomed in photo, and if steve from aas is to be believed its a weakness of all symbian phones.

      • Doffen says:

        Nokia has chosen to issue processors from the stone age to their Symbian phones so it comes as no surprise that they are slow.

      • gordonH says:

        Now PV priority is’nt about getting gains for Nokia alone, but Pureview priority seems to be getting gains for WP and then Nokia .That’s the point make pureview on symbian look “lacking” and make pureview on WP8 look good.
        Decision makers at Nokia seems to forget that PV would have looked excellent on Meego.
        Nokia should beware cause Android 4.0 has matured to be an almost excellent platform technically. Now Android provides OEM the speed advantage to bring ideas to consumers faster.

        • arts says:

          Erm, please take your rant somewhere else, i don’t see how this relates to anything i just said. Its even the wrong device.

          Do you guys comment based simply on keywords? Open source, n9, Nokia, lumia, pureview, 808, tomiahonen, meego.

          This should be fun.

          • gordonH says:

            You might not have enough insight on Android APIs. But remember my words when I say that Android below the surface has matured well technically.

  10. Fz says:

    This might not be a bad thing if Nokia reacts to this is the right way. Android cameras are “smart cameras” and Nokia can compete.

    Nokia happens to have excellent camera technology in their hands. Pureview sensors will became smaller, at least when pixel count is dropped from the current. Those will be good enough cameras and slim enough phones to compete in the smart phone market. Bigger sensors, like 808 with 41 Mpix are good enough to compete in the smart camera category.

    What Nokia should do is to make a _camera_. And sell it as a _camera_. Nokia trivia, it actually wouldn’t be the first one. They had PT-3, which they used practice digital cameras in a same way they had standalone GPS navigators to practice navigation.

    They could change the camera industry just like one other company changed MP3-players and other stuff. This _camera_ could be thicker than a phone, maybe even with a zoom. Great connectivity, LTE could be turned on like WLAN can be turned on now. It would have GPS. Yahoo and through them Flickr are already good partners with Nokia. Facebook paid one billion dollars, … Dr.-Evil-pinkie-in-mouth-dramatic-pause … , for Instagram. People are interested about cameras and photography, it’s a long term trend.

    What do you think, should they do this?

  11. Rebbe says:

    Is there a phone app?

    • Rebbe says:

      All cameras will be connected directly to Internet in the future… I think it is importat because sharing and adding filters gets so much easier when you can do it directly on the camera.
      Pureview is a phone this is a camera with apps you can’t compare them…. If Nokia is able to reduce the size a little and put on a lumia then Nokia is the winner.

    • FireDragon says:

      I noticed the dialer too.

  12. arts says:

    One of the benefits i can see going this way is the multitude of social apps, and perhaps even productivity apps that can benefit from this (evernote, springpad, onenote)

    its a pretty good selling point, all your apps that work with your phone also work with your camera.

    Another thing, how about battery life? =x

    Lastly, somebody has been paying attention.
    everything running one ecosystem ;)

  13. ms.nokia says:

    need pv on wp8 asap !
    it will demolish these android point and shoot cameras.

  14. Marcos a. says:

    What if sony introduces a Cybershot smartphone?

    Or a NEX like smartphone?

  15. Cod3rror says:

    Those devices feel like a different category.

    They are cameras with a phone. And while Symbian sucks, 808 is still a phone with a fantastic camera, a cameraphone not a smartcamera.

  16. viktor von d. says:

    dudes relax, it’s not only about the os but the sensor tehnology aswell. look at the cameras. they are big. polaroid released also a camera with android, 16 mp sensor and 3x optical zoom. but it’s still big. and they all use the same tehnology as before. nokia offers something different with the pureview algorythms, rich recording tech and the fact that it’s actually a smartphone that has apps,internet and not to mention free maps. phones with pureview and cameras that run android are in different categories. nothing will change, jut the os of the point and shoot cameras

  17. Doffen says:

    A PureView sensor and larger optics with real zoom would be nice. I wonder if it would be possible to make a clip on case for the 808 with a zoom lens…

  18. Pegasus says:

    Nokia needs a revamped Marketing and publicity department. Also forget hardware specs pinching, this they have brought over to the Asha series.

    Every mistake with Nokia makes Android more attractive to many users out there

  19. Lord US says:

    Yeah, it should. It seems that many people on this blog are using the 808 as a camera. They don’t have a SIM card installed and they don’t use it as a mobile phone.

    The 808 is a nice camera but it lacks a real optical zoom and while the fake zoom is nice it just can’t perform well enough.

    The 808 gets a very small amount of light for one pixel. This is the reason why the full resolution and fully zoomed images are noisy if you don’t have some really good light. This is a real problem if you have to use the zoom to the max. That’s why zooming makes images look considerably worse when you use the zoom.

    While zooming with a compact gives gives you less light the problem is not that bad.

    • dss says:

      Your posts remind of this for some reason:

      http://i.imgur.com/VeOYv.jpg

    • Janne says:

      I am one of the people who use the 808 without a SIM (usually, sometimes I put in a SIM if I want to use it as my sole device for the day/event)… and I would not buy this particular camera, no way.

      It has none of the upsides of the 808, even if it had a phone which it doesn’t, nor does it have the upsides of a regular camera. It is too big, doesn’t bring in anything special in terms of camera performance etc. PureView is currently in a league of its own, so unless you need to do zooming, it actually is very special compared to pretty much anything.

      As for zooming and pocket cameras, there are lot better cameras out there than this one. If I had to go there, I’d buy something else. The idea of playing Angry Birds on a camera is not appealing at all, because that’s why I carry a smartphone.

      As for Nokia making a PureView without SIM slot/phone? Yes, why not. I think that might be a good idea. I wouldn’t buy it, because I need the 808 with a SIM occasionally (the killer device to have when you need to photograph, yet also need to have a phone with you and space is limited). Optical zoom for those that want it? Sure, why not. I’d love to see a PureView family of all kinds of devices.

      But just slapping a smartphone OS inside a mediocre-looking camera doesn’t get my juices flowing.

      • Janne says:

        Just to clarify: I’m not against Android as a phone OS, just saying that this particular camera is nothing special. If I wanted to buy a camera today, I’m sure there would be more appealing options out there for a dedicated camera.

  20. migo says:

    This one runs $350, the PureView is almost twice as much. So yeah, Nokia definitely has something to be worried about. This is also just the first, you can be sure they’ll successively release better models, until they have something that’s cheaper, and better in a number of areas, than the PV.

    • dss says:

      $350 + the price of your smartphone, and you still need to carry two devices. The 808 eliminates that need, which is the essence of the product.

      • migo says:

        A Lumia 710 costs $200, which is a better smartphone than the 808.

        If you get the 808 you still need another device to cover the smart functionality, it’s really only a dumbphone + camera.

        • Janne says:

          Not really true in my case. While 808 isn’t my daily driver I can still take it as the sole device to certain events where solid photography is needed but room to carry around stuff is at premium. In this case the 808 clearly does better than two different devices or just a camera + dumb phone. It also handles the phone functions and can go online to upload photos, check out timetables, news or run the occasional app. (I sometimes play a game or two on the bus or something like that.)

          I own a Lumia 710 amongst other things and no way would that + my point and shoot be a better combo than the 808 for these types of events. The total of the phone and the camera just take up so much space. 710 isn’t even particularly small at all.

          • migo says:

            Yes, it’ll depend from person to person, I know some people for whom the 808 is the only phone that’s really good for them because they only care about photography, and couldn’t give a rats ass about anything else.

    • Dave says:

      Any reason why you think this average P&S camera is any more or less of a threat than any other currently available P&S camera, that happens to run a different OS? You can buy so many different P&S camera’s for $350 already, why would one particular one compete, because it runs Android? Is it going to replace your smartphone? Does it solve ANY of the challenges of adding a good camera to a smartphone?

      No, it’s just a standard P&S that happens to run Android instead of Panasonic-OS or Sony-OS or Nikon-OS.

      Also newsflash for you! You can already buy better and cheaper camera’s than the 808 PV. But it will not be as small, and not be a phone. It’ll be a P&S camera.

      Android is just the dumb OS that triggers the camera module, they don’t add any special magic imaging stuff to Android that is going to suddenly make it good at taking cellphone pictures with crappy sensors.

      It’s like a Kindle, yeah technically it runs Android, but it in no way advances the Android ecosystem any more than a Tom Tom GPS device or a TiVo advances the Linux desktop.

  21. Nisse says:

    I definitely see the possibility for future phonecameras. I would guess Sony just have to smack together a few devices such as the TX series cameras with a suitable display (4″?) and necessary phone features. The TX55 has a 5x non-protruding optical zoom and 16 mp resolution and weighs under 100 grams. The TX20 comes in a little bit chunkier but it is water- and shockproof but still has 4x optical zoom inside the body. The 808 is ca 170 grams and I cannot see why Sony couldn’t fit in some phone features together with the optical zoom in that size class? Maybe some of you who make these imaginary devices could render a Sony phonecamera?? If the Phonecameras become a reality I hope Nokia cooperates with Nikon (not a producer of phones as Sony is!) to produce some decent NikNokias. Also a reminder that Sony has some sleek small videocameras too with 10x optical zoom.

  22. alice says:

    Sony is too weak, scared and conservative to be its own competition. I’m sure at how familiar they are with the power of branding! They know that if they produce an Android with a cybershot camera, with Walkman under the NXT series they can defeat Samsung. But also that would threated

  23. migo says:

    Samsung just announced the Galaxy Camera, similar specs to the Nikon for the camera part I suppose (not much of a photographer myself), but it’s running Jellybean and has 3G and 4G options.

    PureView with digital zoom in a smaller package makes sense for something that’s a smartphone first, but the 808′s going to have to come down in price now that there’s competitive options with Android.

    • Nisse says:

      Yep! Looking at this Samsung device I definitely see a phonecamera coming in 1 year or so. The first devices might be a little bit clumsy due to the protruding lenses, but I guess there will be an evolution where more streamlined devices will appear. And perhaps Samsung or Sony will adopt their own PW technologies. Hard to tell if Nokia should try to team up with Nikon (or somebody else? Pentax, Casio, Ricoh…) in order to push WP phonecameras. Of course PW is fantastic and I bet the next generation will be even better, but it might be good to plunge into several paths.

      Galaxy Camera:
      http://www.dcresource.com/news/newsitem.php?id=4550

  24. Jina says:

    Wonderful website you have here but I was curious about if you knew of any
    user discussion forums that cover the same topics discussed in this article?

    I’d really like to be a part of community where I can get feedback from other knowledgeable people that share the same interest. If you have any recommendations, please let me know. Thanks!

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