Nokia's 'Mirrorless' Camera Pureview Beats An EPL2

G.Sal · #1 June 20th, 2012, 11:16 PM

Here's something to kill time.

Nokia 808 PureView beats all in GSM Arena’s blind camera test by huge margin of votes
June 18, 2012

By a huge margin of votes, the Nokia 808 PureView wins. GSM Arena previously stated that some people found it difficult to distinguish between the Nokia 808 PureView smartphone and the micro-four-thirds, Olympus.

Now in this test, the blind nature means people were choosing the best picture, as opposed to merely voting for their favourite phone out of bias. Without knowing what camera took what picture (for definite) people were choosing based on which camera performed the best and produced the best photo for them. Thus the voting is not like all the other times we might have asked to to go vote for a Nokia, just because it’s Nokia. This was voted based on quality and performance – no ties to any brand.

A. Nokia N8
B. Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III
C. HTC One X
D. Apple iPhone 4S
E. Nokia 808 PureView
F. Olympus PEN E-PL2

The numbers are quite clear - Nokia has really managed to create something special with the 808 PureView. Matching the Micro Four Thirds camera in terms of image quality would have been impressive enough, but beating it is simply stunning. We did expect the Nokia 808 PureView to trump its smartphone competition quite easily, but the fact that it was voted best performer by more than twice the number of people that chose the E-PL2 was a bit surprising even to us.

Here's the full article:
Nokia 808 PureView blind test: The sum of all pixels - GSMArena.com

RussellOlaguer · #2 June 20th, 2012, 11:41 PM

I think the E-PL2 renders the image better than the PureView. I think it is sharper and more contrasty.

humzai · #3 June 20th, 2012, 11:49 PM

I have a hard time believing people couldn't tell the difference or preferred the 808 quality more. The epl2 photo looks much better.

drizek · #4 June 20th, 2012, 11:58 PM

I wouldn't say it is necessarily better than the E-PL2, but it is incredibly impressive and easily surpasses any other phone camera out there.

trelch · #5 June 21st, 2012, 12:09 AM

lol... they placed image A and image F far apart... if they are next to each other, the results would have been different, and quite obvious. Having said that... i used a Nokia to take all my overseas pictures when i dropped my camera few years ago.. the pictures turn out quite well.

dspratomo · #6 June 21st, 2012, 12:19 AM

On the first glance I also picked E, however a closer inspection showed F provide a sharper and more detailed image.

Justified_Sinner · #7 June 21st, 2012, 01:47 AM

That is all well and good, but how about low-light situations? High contrast situations? Portraits? Long-exposures? Using that old Minolta MD 58mm...
I could go on, but you get the idea.

This is silly marketing puff.
Sure it has a "48 megapixel sensor" and some people at a conference think that the phone picture is better than that taken with the PEN (which is plainly sharper in that tiny crop and with better colour and contrast) but that means nothing. It is still merely a camera in a phone and always will be.

Part of the problem here is that they made that statement/comparison deliberately to wind people up to make comment and promote the phone, which is exactly what we are now doing.

lenshoarder · #8 June 21st, 2012, 02:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Justified_Sinner

That is all well and good, but how about low-light situations?

I've seen some shots from it in low light. It's actually quite good. To be honest though, I picked the E-PL2 as the best of the bunch when I ran through this test. But it was a near thing.

If I could get a N808, I would. But Nokia has boycotted NA.

G.Sal · #9 June 21st, 2012, 02:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lenshoarder

If I could get a N808, I would. But Nokia has boycotted NA.

The Philippines remains to be a Nokia country. Would have wanted one and skipped a XZ-1 or LX5 as a secondary camera but will wait for it to come on a Windows phone.

It's available in the US via Amazon.

slith · #10 June 21st, 2012, 02:30 AM

All I can say is that this 'comparison' is all a load of bull. Let's see how well any of those other 'cameras' manage a portrait, or a macro, or an event such as a wedding or a kid's birthday party.