Nokia Lumia 1020: Quick Hands On!

Hello MNB Readers!!!!

The day has finally come to where I could get my hands on a Lumia 1020!!! First thing first….I do NOT own the device YET….the kind people at AT&T let me spend about an hour with the phone.

Here are a few things I noticed:

• The 1020 is SLIM and lightweight!!! Even more so than videos and pictures make it out to be. I was surprised.

• When taking a picture, it says “Saving” in the top left corner. It honestly doesn’t take much longer than saving a 38MP photo on the 808 and that is AMAZING considering that it is saving 2 photos at once!
• Nokia Pro Camera is without a doubt the best camera interface that I have ever used. It did take a moment to find the Manual Focus as it appeared to not be clearly labeled but rather had an icon that I was unfamiliar with.
• I could NOT find a way to quickly get photos off of the 1020 so that I can share them here. IE web defaults to mobile sites and I had issues trying to upload them to Hotmail and Gmail via the web.
• I could not use NFC to tap and share to my 808..figures…BUT I was able to Bluetooth a few sample photos….in
• 5MP resolution….I couldn’t get the 38MP photos off the phone. I know I know, it has been stated that you can only get them off via a computer…. I honestly found this to be a ridiculous limitation and a hassle in the future. I would like to manage my photos as I wish from my phone. I only had the option to Share via Messaging, ATT Locker, Bluetooth, Tap & Send(share?) and some other option but ALL of these except Locker would share the 5MP photo.

About the 1020 Photos:

• There is SOMETHING going on that causes visible noise in the photos. Is it a deal breaker? NO. Am I buying a 1020? Yes. Fact is, the 1020 is more versatile than the 808 when it comes to photos and in the right environments and the right settings, the 1020 will enable photos that the 808 cannot produce (manual focus, better low light, better image stabilization). With that said, if you point and shoot in automatic at the same scene….from my LIMITED testing….the 808 produces photos with less “grain”. I swear it looks like I can see every pixel in the 1020 photos…
• The Auto Focus blows the 808 out of the water! I was able to focus faster and closer (without going into Macro Mode) on the 1020 than the 808 could ever dream of.
• Colors seem a little off on the 1020, punchy, like Mr. Dining stated but NOT overly saturated.  This may change depending on the lighting and settings. Something was throwing off the White Balance on the 1020. All settings were on Auto for both devices.

Nokia 808 PureView

Nokia Lumia 1020

• Taking photos on the 1020 is so much more pleasurable than on the 808. Did I mention Pro Camera…oh that piece of software…amazing. It draws you in with all of the creative options.
• I still noticed the same “graininess” in the 5MP oversampled photos. Honestly…it is kind of boggling…. BUT I checked some N82 photos and some N8 photos and the same TYPE of grain is present. I don’t remember my N8 photos looking so grainy. Seriously, there is the same type of pixel grain present. My only conclusion is that the Nokia 808 is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO far ahead somehow in producing pure, low noise when over-sampling is applied that we have been spoiled. Now, the 808 ISN”T noisless, especially in full resolution but my gosh, the 808 produces pure images…smooth…very smooth details.

Look at the 1020 photo of the 808, there is noise around the camera lens. Check out the original photo here

Taken by Lumia 1020

Now, look at the 808 photo of the 1020 around the lens area. Original photo here.

Taken by Nokia 808 PureView

Here is another photo from the 808 of the 1020. This is a 5MP photo fully zoomed in so there isn’t any Oversampling and you can now see some graininess/noise. Original here.

Taken by Nokia 808 PureView

It honestly seems like the Oversampling on the 1020 is OFF (NOT that it is possible to do so). The 1020 photos appear to have similar noise to 808 photos that do not have any oversampling. I can’t explain it. Just take a look at the few 1020 photos on my flickr page. I could ONLY Bluetooth the 5MP photos so even if the 808 equivalent was 38MP, just compare them anyway as the 5MP oversampled photo on the 1020 SHOULD look better than the 38MP photo on the 1020. Now remember, these are photos in none ideal conditions and this is not an official camera comparison BUT simply initial impressions with a LIMITED hands on.

That is all for now. I am EXTREMELY excited about getting a 1020 and taking it through the proper tests, learning how to use all of the settings and capturing new memories for years to come. There is versatility in the 1020’s camera setup that the 808 cannot match and a clarity and zoom factor in the 808 that currently the 1020 cannot match. With that said, I will be keeping my 808 after buying the 1020 and I look forward to many more comparisons. Please keep in mind that the 1020’s competition ISN’T the 808, it is the iPhones, Androids and Blackberries that occupy the same shelf space and battle for consumer dollars. Yes, the 808 is the benchmark that ALL camera phones will be judged by but I will tell you this, more jaws dropped when I pulled out my 808, not because of the stellar photos, but just because everyone in the store DID NOT KNOW that the 1020 was NOT the worlds first 41MP smartphone. The competition lies in the known and not the unknown and unsellable and with that, there isn’t a better smartphone camera to be had when you walk into a carrier at in the next few days and months. FINALLY DO NOT USE MY COMPARISON TO NEGATIVELY JUDGE THE 1020! Please wait for more professionally done photo comparisons.

As always, thank you for choosing MyNokiaBlog,

Deaconclgi

P.S. Good news, another AT&T store called me to let me know that they got their 1020 in and that if I can work out a schedule, I can “spend as much time with it as I want to” in the store. More photos and possibly some video to come over the next few days! Feel free to check out my Flickr page to download and analyze the photos as you would like. I apologize in advance for the unscientific comparison or any incorrect terms used in this article.

Flickr

Tags: AT&T, featured, Hands On, Hands on photos, Lumia 1020, Pureview

Category: Lumia, Nokia, Symbian, Windows Phone