Live data from Hacker News

Nokia Lumia 1020 packs 41-megapixel camera whopper

reviews.cnet.com

201–210 of 248 posts

Re: Nokia Lumia 1020 packs 41-megapixel camera whopper

#201
post #195
post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"It's superior to my old iPhones in almost every way." Unless you count battery life, GPU, probably CPU, form factor, build quality, the wildly superior app, media and accessory ecosystems. But other than that what have the Cupertianians done for us lately?

As an iPhone user, I can chime in with my opinion. It looks like the iPhone and 920 battery life are both pretty abysmal http://blogs.which.co.uk/technology/phones-3/best-phone-batt... CPU and GPU for the end user isn't important. What is important is the perf of the UI, which WP7/8 have always been buttery smooth when compared to iOS and Android devices with better hardware. I'd also say Nokia is very closely behind…

Here's battery life from a well known blog:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6914/samsung-galaxy-s-4-review...

No Lumia on there but I think that matches up with the general btty life rating for iphones. Some nokias in this listing:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Smartphone11/349

"CPU and GPU for the end user isn't important."

It certainly can be for certain apps.

"WP7/8 have always been buttery smooth when compared to iOS and Android devices with better hardware."

I'm not sure why you've lumped iOS with famously jittery Android (at least historically, 4.2 seems to have solved lag) since iOS is usually cited as the standard for smooth interface as in this initial WP 7 review from Josh Topolsky: "probably the most accurate and nuanced touch response this side of iOS4."

http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/20/windows-phone-7-review/

Re: Nokia Lumia 1020 packs 41-megapixel camera whopper

#202

Key Specs • 41MP 1/1.5" BSI sensor (capable of 34MP and 38MP output images depending on aspect ratio) • Mechanical shutter • Zeiss F2.2 27mm equivalent (for 4:3 still images) six-element lens • Xenon flash • LED light for video • Windows Phone 8 OS • 4.5" AMOLED WXGA (1280x768) display • 1.5 GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor • Front facing 1.2MP camera • 2 GB RAM, 32 GB internal memory source: http://connect.dpre…

It seems to me that they went backwards on the sensor size--which, I think, is probably the most important thing for cameras next to the lens. The Nokia 808 had a 1/1.2" sensor. I was hoping the next iteration of the Nokia would have a 1" sensor.

Aren't bigger sensors generally better quality when it comes to cameras? 41mp in a tiny sensor is lousy, those pixels need to be big enough to capture quality light.

Re: Nokia Lumia 1020 packs 41-megapixel camera whopper

#203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The camera is without a doubt, the most important part of my phone. I use it at least a dozen times a day. I'd absolutely pay $300 for a phone with a good enough camera. Unfortunately, I'm not going to do that AND switch to Windows Phone. But given an Android or iOS device with this exact hardware? I'd 100% grab one of these.

Without sounding like a fan boy, I would actually recommend you to go give WP a try. I am not going to say it's better than iOS for lacking quality apps but it's way better than my Nexus 4. Android to me is the poorest OS amidst the 3.

second that. If you are saying that after using Windows Phone then I respect it but I won't write off windows phone without giving it a shot. Take this from someone who has tried iPhone for a year before moving to Windows Phone.

Re: Nokia Lumia 1020 packs 41-megapixel camera whopper

#204
post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems to me that they went backwards on the sensor size--which, I think, is probably the most important thing for cameras next to the lens. The Nokia 808 had a 1/1.2" sensor. I was hoping the next iteration of the Nokia would have a 1" sensor.

Aren't bigger sensors generally better quality when it comes to cameras? 41mp in a tiny sensor is lousy, those pixels need to be big enough to capture quality light.

You're correct

Re: Nokia Lumia 1020 packs 41-megapixel camera whopper

#205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> Does it save RAW? If not, it's useless to me. So is just about every other phone with a camera.

In case anyone's looking for a phone with a camera that saves RAW, the Nokia N900 does. http://fcam.garage.maemo.org/fcamera.html

I've still got one, sitting in a drawer...

Re: Nokia Lumia 1020 packs 41-megapixel camera whopper

#206
post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Doesn't WebGL essentially use root access to your gpu? Only in badly-designed, non-conformant user agents. :) The WebGL security issues have, for at least a year, been FUD. The spec is essentially fixed, drivers have become a whole lot better, and browsers have become a whole lot stricter in their validation code. WebGL is not OpenGL nor OpenGL ES. Examples: while the OpenGL ES spec is silent on buffer overflows, W…

Except on Linux. As an anecdote, as recently as January, visiting any WebGL sites that used any shaders would reliably panic my kernel with NVidia hardware and the NVidia binary blob. I then switched to Intel hardware which is much more stable but also shows how much variance there is here. For me to be comfortable with WebGL, we'll have to really train graphics card manufacturers to take security issues as seriously…

Huh, if you don't mind me asking, which video card? I've used linux+nvidia pretty exclusively for work and never seen anything near as bad on linux (I do run higher-end cards than the average PC, though).

On OS X, on the other hand...

Re: Nokia Lumia 1020 packs 41-megapixel camera whopper

#207
post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The "Windows Phone lacks apps" meme is getting old very quickly. But then again there is a grain of truth there. Most applications that you use day in and day out are probably already there natively or as a very good clone. The part that might hurt you is when the next hot application comes along it is likely that a native or clone for Windows Phone may not exist right away and you might have to wait for a few weeks…

Try being locked to an obscure marketplace region like china, and it's much more painful. Facebook, Skype are all MIA, and you can't change your marketplace even if the software says you can (it just ignores your config options). iPhones sold in china don't have this problem, so they are a safer buy.

Then buy an iPhone.

Re: Nokia Lumia 1020 packs 41-megapixel camera whopper

#209
post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an iPhone user, I can chime in with my opinion. It looks like the iPhone and 920 battery life are both pretty abysmal http://blogs.which.co.uk/technology/phones-3/best-phone-batt... CPU and GPU for the end user isn't important. What is important is the perf of the UI, which WP7/8 have always been buttery smooth when compared to iOS and Android devices with better hardware. I'd also say Nokia is very closely behind…

The battery life metric I care about is: how long will the battery last after I've been using all kinds of weird apps for a year. That's where iPhone seems to excel. On a fresh install of Android, using just one built in app, it seems fine. But eventually the phone fills up with stuff that seems to drain it. Not sure how Windows Phone fares on that front.

Absolutely that's a problem with Android. It's a natural consequence of having a platform where apps are free to access pretty much any hardware in the background with no review (that's a good thing if you're a developer though).

However, Android gives you tools to see which apps are using the most battery, and you can uninstall them if they're a problem.

Recently I noticed much worse battery life on my nexus 4, opened up the battery stats, and saw 30% of my battery usage was the consequence of a messaging app I don't use, deleted it, and got back to normal.

Re: Nokia Lumia 1020 packs 41-megapixel camera whopper

#210
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with phone cameras (mostly) ins't the sensor, it's the glass, or lack there-of.

>> The problem with phone cameras (mostly) ins't the sensor, it's the glass, or lack there-of. Is that a problem with the camera or the user's expectations of what that camera can do? You can only push the laws of physics (with respect to optics, especially) so far, and if you want a camera that can fit in the pocket of a pair of skinny jeans, compromises must be made.

There's still a lot of room to push the laws of physics, although I'm not sure glass is the answer. I think manufacturing tolerances will be the biggest limit for inexpensive handsets.

If I play (hah!) stupid, I look at the flange distance and lens size for an SLR of any sort and compare it to a mirrorless camera such as the M9 or even NEX-7, I can get much higher quality on the same or smaller sensor with smaller lenses, especially in the normal field of view. This is purely based on that big empty space in the SLR. The main thing we'll have to give up is an expectation of a shallow depth of field, but "f/8 and be there" is why camera phones are useful anyway.

I've been impressed with the sapphire lens on the iPhone 5, all things considered. It's not what I would call a good camera, but perhaps coupled with a high-density sensor with an alternative pixel structure[1] and microlenses, it would not be unreasonable to expect 2013 "full frame" image quality in a mobile device in 2-5 years.

I don't want to burn my fingers trying to capture 4k raw video on my phone. Heat dissipation will become an issue, as it is on HDSLRs and MILCs.

[1] For example, http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&pre...

Post reply on HN