Nokia N8 vs N82 vs N86 – Pixel to Pixel and Flash to Flash

Almost 3 years when the Nokia N82 was announced and now this coming summer the new camera flagship successor, N8, will be available for everyone who is looking an option to forget their compact cameras. The question is the Nokia N8 willl be the next N82 alike and akin to its history? Let’s shovel on some of the few points and compare the both device in terms of their specifications and how’d Nokia N8 differs to N82?

From 5 MP to 12 MP
The dawn of the dinosaur is finish yet many manufacturers are keeping their hands tied on the smaller sensor. It’s almost 3 years when Nokia launched the N82 with 5 MP (2592 x 1944 pixels) camera and a Xenon flash. But this year Nokia stepped on making a 12 MP (4000 x 3000 pixels) camera phone with Xenon. From 5 Mega Pixel to 12, and how should we see the change on this? Could the N8 prove that it could reduce noise and improve details?

Thanks to the biggest camera sensor in all mobile phones and of course to the new optics that Carl Zeiss developed. In this case, we could ditch our p&s cameras, but let’s see. See the comparison below.

The questions were already half-answered with relating to its 1.75 micrometer pixel (the bigger the better) size and sensor size of 1/1.83″. With the large pixel size, the resolution of 4000 x 3000 pixels will have more light, leaving it crispier and more natural. This will suite especially on not-so-lit places or low light shots. But on the other business, the aperture was still the same to the N82 f/2.8, whilst we already saw a f stop of 2.4 on N86 (f/2.4). The game here is the bigger the f-stop (f/2.4 > f/2.8) the better. But these specs will be vary as well as the overall performance because of the different elements that composes it like the  ISO, shutter type, size, etc.

To enlighten you with the other way, the N8 has the camera specs that looks promising. People just don’t go because of these friggin’ details (f-stop, ISO, focal length, CMOS), they will pick a phone which have a larger MP, nice looking phone, brand name and basic specs with new terms , but I’m rest assured that Nokia isn’t compromising us on their 12 MP.

N8 Xenon vs N82 Xenon Flash vs N86 3rd Gen-DLED
We all know that the Xenon flash on N8 is still the same from the N82 but more compact with 30% reduced to its size. Whilst the Nokia N86 8MP sacrificed the Xenon flash to a 3rd generation dual led flash. It’s unfair to put N86′s DLED against still image capture with flash comparison against Xenon, so let’s focus on the Xenon flashes of N8 and N82.

On the latest article of Sir Damian Dinning, an expert of Nokia in the field of imaging, noted that the range is improved on Nokia N8. More on that here’s apart of what he said.

Firstly, where a backlit subject is detected and it’s deemed to be within the flash operating range, we fire the flash automatically to provide fill-in flash. If we detect the subject is outside of the operating range of the flash in a backlit situation we’ll leave the flash off. I’m not aware of any camera system that does this. Secondly on the performance of the xenon vs. the highly popular Nokia N82. In practice, you’ll find the flash range is greater than that of the N82. You’ll also notice that noise is lower but detail is higher. There will be some presence of noise as we’ve wanted to preserve more detail due to popular demand.

Other improvements were the red-eye removal system, saving your favorite camera settings and face detection.

Now we will go to the comparison of the camera samples. Although the place and time is different it is still better to show you some shots and compare it.

Images Comparison with no flash:

*Note that here the shots of N8 is not with final OS. The N8 has a 12 MP and bigger sensor whilst the N86 has an 8MP with a bigger aperture compare to the two. Order is N8 on top, N86 on mid and N82 on bottom.

Nokia N8 Sample Shot (Not the final software)

Nokia N86 Sample Shot

Nokia N82 Sample Shot

Cropped sample pictures of N8, N86 and N82:

*Note that N86 and N82 have a lower resolution but they are cropped with the same size. Click image to view the details on the cropped images. The detail on N8′s shot is really stunning.

Comparison with flash:

*Note that N86 DLED is unmatch in terms of still image capture with flash, but let’s focus on the N8 and N82′s Xenon flash. Sorry for a bit shaky shot on N86.

On the final thought, Nokia N8 could be the next flagship of Nokia’s camera phone segment and would replace its predecessor. To those who are excited, N8 will be available in stores in summer and I’m really excited for this device too. And I can’t wait to compare it to other devices. Also, the thing here is that Nokia N8 is still more affordable compare to other devices like the iPhone 4. With its cool multimedia features N8 is a hell YES to me.

Related posts:

1. N96 LED flash demonstration
2. Nokia N8 Camera Xenon Flash Samples & More 12MP Galleries
3. Nokia N86 8MP: A closer look at the Dual LED flash
4. N82 Black vs. Sony Ericsson G900 vs. E66: Whose flash is better?
5. N95 8GB vs. N82 vs Kodak Z740: Whose Flash is better?