Where do we stand with cameras on phones in 2016?

[d000hg]

I hadn't realised they weren't going to release it for the 1020, what a shambles Windows Phone has ended up being, after such a promising start

I'm hoping to get a brand new 1020 as a replacement for mine developing a fault - I'm then torn between selling it and buying a mid-range Android with a decent camera, and using it until it breaks and splashing out for something in a couple of years. I'm increasingly getting tired of the lack of app support and the browser not being the best and while I have not heard great stuff about WP10, being stuck on 8.1 is not going to help!

I was looking into the OnePlus 2 which comes out top for a budget phone, only to realise the OnePlus 3 is launching in a week's time. I'm pretty tempted to keep my new 1020 box-fresh and sell it to fund a 1+3.

[minestrone]

I put windows 10 trial on my 1020, its a bit of a mixed bag but the photo app is substantially better.

They are now not going to release win 10 for the 1020 so I'm stuck on a version that wont get improved. fookers.

I cant see me moving away from the 1020 though, the camera is still a game changer for me.

[d000hg]

I hadn't realised Apple brought in manual camera controls but apparently it came in with iOS8 (no idea which phones) so that's a plus. Though I'm not really wanting to go the iPhone route.

I'd assume/hope that Android being Android, I can get direct control of my camera on a half-decent phone?

[WTFH]

Another link: 10 Top Best Camera Phones For Photography 2016

(I figured other people might find this topic interesting)

That was one of the first ones I went to. The other one worth checking is www.dpreview.com - although they don't do a lot on phones.

[d000hg]

Another link: 10 Top Best Camera Phones For Photography 2016

(I figured other people might find this topic interesting)

[d000hg]

There's nothing like the Lumia 1020 out there and Microsoft aren't going to do it again. Great idea, but it didn't sell well enough.

I feared that might be the case. Shame, it's really pretty special.

That is a useful site. Does anyone know of any others which might be useful - especially any which might compare newer phones against the 1020 directly?

[dx4100]

My Sony Xperia Z3 is pretty crap for photos

[WTFH]

There's nothing like the Lumia 1020 out there and Microsoft aren't going to do it again. Great idea, but it didn't sell well enough.


Interesting when you read review sites. The phone review sites pretty much all say that the Galaxy S7 is the best and rank the Experia Z5 Compact at fifth or lower. The camera review sites rate the Experia as best and the Galaxy at 3rd or lower, apart from one...
DxOMark Mobile - DxOMark
Now, these guys are very good at producing technically correct testing, but tests that can be of little practical use - certainly when it comes to dSLRs and lenses. But it appears that with phones they are being a bit less technical and probably not taking them apart to measure voltage across a sensor.
They give the HTC10 and the Galaxy S7 Edge the same top score of 88. If you scroll down the page you'll see they have the Lumia 1020 on there with a rating of 74. But you should review the comments section (on all the phones) to see how upset people get with tests that aren't done the way they would like.

[d000hg]

Absolutely they all take pretty decent photos - we're spoiled by comparison to a few years back. But the addition of optical zoom and oversampling in the 1020 means low-light photos are suddenly a possibility - I took a photo by star-light on mine - and that you can actually take photos of something more than 10 feet away

So I guess it's the whole package - sensor size, optics and software - which needs to be considered. e.g. the 1020 lets you manually set exposure and focal length, no idea if this is common but it makes such a difference when you want to get a nice photo rather than just snap your mate eating their noodles.

[WTFH]

Speaking as someone who takes photos...
1. I would expect Sony phones to have the best sensors, since they make most of the sensors used by Nikon in their dSLRs.
2. Sensor size, not pixel count, is still king. The bigger the sensor, the better the image.

Now, after stating those two facts, here's my opinion...
If you're not printing off images bigger than A4
Or
If you're only displaying them on social media
Or
If you're only taking photos in reasonable lighting conditions
Then
Most, if not all, cameras built into phones these days do a perfectly adequate job - and that includes the androids/iPhones.

[d000hg]

As long as the phone can take a good selfie who cares?

Me. That's why I asked this question outside of General.

[DimPrawn]

Here you go Dim.

[DimPrawn]

As long as the phone can take a good selfie who cares?

Post your best selfie.

[SueEllen]

As long as the phone can take a good selfie who cares?

[d000hg]

I have a Lumia 1020 which was a game-changer in camera phones 2 years back - more like a real camera squeezed (just) into a phone.

But mine is dying now and I'm wondering which way to go....

So where are we at these days? Does every £100 phone pack as good a camera as the 1020 or is it still leading the pack in pure camera capabilities? Do newer Windows phones improve on the optical zoom or have iPhone and top-level Android phones copied everything good?

Any links and/or personal comments welcome. Things move so fast in the world of phones and most people are happy enough with a half-decent phone camera, so this is a bit of a niche... low-light and optical zoom are key features