The camera is an essential feature for any high end phone. Whether you are going on a trip, in vacation or just wanna capture great shots, a performant camera will be a must-have element. Once snaped the pictures, you can easily share them with all your friends. Which are the main assets for a camera to provide clear and qualitative images? And what phones include great cameras? We’ve made a list with five devices 2012 we consider to have best camera.
1. If you’re looking for a camera to provide high quality images, Nokia N8 is – probably – the best choice. N8 will offer users great pictures in a variety of scenarios. Featuring a 12 megapixel sensor with Carl Zeiss lens and HD video, you can rely on it to render well natural colors. Equipped with a large collection of settings, it does include options to set different modes.
Nokia N8 has a Xenon flash to provide better color reproduction in the darker environments. You cannot use the touchscreen for setting the auto focus point, unless face detection mode is selected. Otherwise, it can be activated by half pressing the shutter release button. By the tests, as far as the resolution is concerned, it has been proven that N8 shows more details (counting high pixels) than other devices.
2. iPhone 4S is the upgrade of Apple’s most popular handset, the iPhone 4, which is provided with an 8 megapixel sensor coupled with a lens plus a large maximum aperture for more light, allowing faster shutter speeds. The sensitivity mode is set by default and to activate the focus point, all you have to do is tap the screen. After that, the shutter icon has to be touched for taking the shot.
With an autofocus point adjustment, you can change, for instance, the darkness of a subject from a shot into a more bright image. Other features of the camera have the HDR mode, which can go off or on. In HDR mode, the camera can create three different versions after a picture is captured, merging into one which looks pretty clear. Overall, iPhone 4S camera provides accurate, vivid and natural looking images.
3. Samsung Galaxy S2 is another great smartphone which comes also with an 8 megapixel camera on the back that is considered to be one of the most responsive and easiest feature to use. The rear camera comes with an autofocus and LED flash mode to allow users taking good shots in the night mode.
It is also equipped with a smile shutter mode, so you can take a shot when the subject is smiling. The images taken with the Galaxy S2 look pretty clear, vivid and sharp. The colors are well reproduced, looking similar to the naturals one. The Galaxy S2 is a great alternative to the iPhone 4S, generally offering best images that a smartphone can get.
4. It’s impossible not to hear about Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc, one of the slimmest Android-enabled devices out there. Just like iPhone 4S and Samsung Galaxy S2, it has a rear 8 megapixel camera with fast auto focusing and minimal shutter lag. Same way as the iPhone 4S, the Xperia Arc has the sensitivity (ISO) settings set by default, meaning users can’t change them manually.
The autofocus is fast and accurate, becoming more problematic when the subject gets closer. The images taken with the Arc’s camera look good and clear at small sizes, still they don’t look so great at large dimensions. Summaring up, the photos taken with SE Xperia Arc are generally nice and pleasant, rendering good natural colors.
5. Just like Nokia N8, Motorola Milestone XT720 uses a Xenon flash for its 8 megapixel camera from the back. In the daylight, the screen can be difficult to see, meaning that, accidentally, you can change cameras setting, without realizing. Same way as the N8, auto focus point is locked at the center, unless Face Detection mode is activated. If you zoom into images, it does show a good level of detail with natural appearance. The images taken are clear and well reproduced.
