Nokia X7 Part 2: Camera Review and Sample Shots

Have you read our unboxing of Nokia X7? If not then go, read it. There is a lot of pictures and video session. Now it’s time to bring the camera to the front. We were able to use X7’s camera at a few different places with different lighting conditions. As already have been mentioned about 8 mega pixel camera in Nokia X7 which is similar to those in Nokia E7, C7 and E6. You can read out more about the cameras in Nokia C7 and Nokia E6.

Nokia X7 Camera Specifications

The camera in X7, as mentioned, is just similar to the ones in Nokia C7 and Nokia E7 but a bit different in Nokia E6. Before using the camera in X7 I suggested the one in E6 must be better amongst the Symbian^3 range (not including N8) as the specification wise the E6 was having a bit larger aperture and in fact did produce some better results when shot indoor than C7 and E7. But results from X7 too aren’t that bad, in fact they are pretty much better than the ones from C7 or E7 and even E6.

Initial Remarks: The images produced by X7 does have better detail and lesser noise than others in the same range. Unfortunately due to limited time and other work involved while shooting these pictures with X7 I couldn’t use my Nokia N8 even when it was in my pocket. And that’s bad I felt later when I saw these images on big screen of the monitor that I really should have used Nokia N8 to compare these photographs taken in same lighting conditions. I only didn’t use thinking that the EDoF series in all these E7, C7, E6 and X7 will not have that much difference and it could be a waste of time taking and comparing it with N8. Well it’s gone now but I’ll try to make things clear that why and how the pictures taken with X7 are better than any other in the EDoF range.

Review the following image taken with Nokia X7 with automatic settings and flash-off. indoor but much amount of light was there. And if looking to the values camera applied to capture the image, it was ISO-322 with the shutter speed at 0.059.

Following image was cropped from the 100% view of the above picture. It’s just to show that the picture on 100% of zooming level does show some noise but in fact it’s much better than the ones produced by the same EDoF cameras in other devices as listed and linked above – including both indoors and outdoors.

Another picture was taken indoor with automatic settings while the lights were directly on top unlike the picture above where the lights were a little far away and were hidden behind the beams. So the picture below is a little bit foggy with brightness even when the camera used a very lower ISO with exactly the same shutter speed. Where I guess the picture might have been more clearer if even lower ISO was used than 322. However the picture still looks good and if you zoom it in to 100% then you can see that still the noise is much lower with increased detail.

Now look at one of the the outdoor shots I took with X7. Doesn’t it look great? Well as in natural sunlight the the 8 MP sensor in X7 seems to be working much better than others I have tested. The image noise is very much lower than the one produced by Nokia C7 even though both share the same elements in the camera as per the specifications. In following picture I wanted to show you two things at once, the out-of-focus nearer subjects and fully focused far away subjects.  If you zoom into 100% of the image, you can easily see that the red flowers in the middle of the picture are just out of focus for being nearer than 1.6 feet (as per the specification) and leaves away from the flowers are crisp and fully in focus apart from a very little noise. And even the tree far away from the leaves is also in focus however the noise makes it rough but its not blurry and not out of focus.

That’s what the EDoF actually does – All the subjects or a part of a subject spread in a wide area, away from the minimum allowed focus range, will all be in focus. For another example notice in the following picture. The grass on the front, the tree in the middle and the building far away with other subjects, all are in focus. (The following image was just HDR modified for better viewing. Click here for original image, Note that this is the only picture which was modified. All the other pictures are untouched)

Original picture was shot with auto settings and with flash off and the camera used exposure at 0.001 sec (1/1253), ISO-111. Click here for original image.

I didn’t plan that anyway but just got to take that in night when was leaving from office. It was good to stay in the middle on the turn blocking the way to take those shots – well I don’t appreciate doing so. I just took the pics in a minute or two and left the way. OK! look at the pictures now. do you see the different? of course you do I know. It’s really good that playing with the exposure and ISO the result was changed positively without adding extra noise into the images.

Conclusion

So after testing all of them Nokia C7, E6, E7 and  X7 I can rank the cameras in these as follows. (for the camera result in still photographs.)

1. Nokia X7
2. Nokia E6
3. Nokia C7 and Nokia E7

Please note that all of these have the same full focus (EDoF) camera units and can have only a little bit difference in results if noticed very carefully. Even they share the same Symbian^3/Anna OS. You can explore other reviews and can see the differences yourself. The only thing to take in note is that these EDoF are not capable of auto-focus like Nokia N8 so you can’t take closer/macro shots.

Another thing to mention which already have been pointed out in the design review of Nokia X7. That is the design of X7 which however is the best and unique looking but technically does have a flaw at least for me. Camera dedicated key as well as all other keys and slots on the side of the device are just not user friendly. Following is what has been said in design review

……………………….. the curved shape of the back panel of Nokia X7 which disturbs mostly when you try to pick the phone with a single hand to use camera. You’ll have a great chance of dropping the phone if not handled carefully.

Please Note:

• For some reason (mostly due the limited time) I couldn’t write about the camera in Nokia E7 even when I have the pictures shot by it. Don’t know if I could manage to write later sometime. It’s not sure though.
• Second, the Nokia E6 camera post has been updated with a reference to this post.

Gallery: Nokia X7 Camera Shots

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