Nokia Lumia 1020 camera review and comparison with iPhone 5S camera

Nokia Lumia 1020 camera review

• 41 MP sensor complimented by Zeiss Optics with optical image stabilization


• PureView technology


• f/2.2 aperture lens


• Xenon flash


• Nokia Rich Recording

1. The 41 MP sensor and optical stabilization offered by the camera completely sets it apart. Due to the sensor, the camera is able to capture images with amazing level of detail. The f/2.2 lens with optical stabilization help this camera to capture good photos in low light.


2. The OIS of the camera helps it to shoot good quality HD videos while being in motion. Using Nokia Rich Recording, users are able to capture distortion-free stereo sound that helps them to relive the moments.


3. The camera controls are very user-friendly and intuitive allowing one to easily adjust shutter speed, focus, white balance, etc.


4. The full potential of this camera can be realized by using only the in-built Nokia camera app. There is no need to explore any other camera apps or photography apps. The built-in Nokia camera application provides full control at the cameraman's fingertips and even allows him to opt fully automated mode. With this app, one can shoot pictures in super high resolution and zoom in close even after taking the picture. The app helps to rotate and crop the image to create a new zoomed image.


5. This smartphone camera allows one to operate in different modes like Pro Camera mode (for taking high resolution photos), Smart mode (to add extra effects to the pictures taken) and Video mode (for shooting great videos using Nokia Rich Recording for fantastic audio recording).


6. The grip of this smartphone is quite convenient while taking photos. Nokia has provided a case that acts as a smooth camera grip along with a shutter button.

1. The camera is very slow. Once the user clicks the physical shutter button to initiate the camera mode, it takes almost 2 seconds before the camera gets ready to trigger the shutter. After clicking a picture, the image gets stored in the memory at a slow pace too.


2. Even though the camera grip of this phone is smooth, it is quite fat and heavy. Not all pockets will be able to keep this phone. The heavy camera grip makes the smartphone a bit bulkier.


3. This smartphone and camera operate with a 2000 mAh battery which is too less. Even though the camera grip acts as and additional battery, it still doesn't last long enough for a camera smartphone (which is expected to be used extensively for taking photos and videos apart from normal call and text tasks).


4. To support such a high resolution camera with giant sensor, this phone uses a slow processor (Qualcomm dual core 1.5 GHz). A faster processor would have helped reduce the time lags experienced while taking a picture as well as in-between shooting of two pictures.


5. A major disadvantage is lack of SD or microSD storage space in this phone. A full resolution image takes up more than 20 MB storage space and so this camera may cause the phone to utilize it's allocated memory space (16 GB or 32 GB) pretty soon.

Comparison between iPhone 5S camera and Nokia Lumia 1020 camera

1. The image detailing provided by Lumia 1020 camera is better than iPhone 5S camera.


2. Nokia Lumia camera produces sharper images, while iPhone 5S camera offers better contrast in the images.


3. Nokia Lumia 1020 camera manages to take excellent pictures in low light with far less noise as compared to pictures form iPhone 5S camera.


4. Nokia camera's bigger sensor allows it to cover a superior dynamic range in pictures as compared to iPhone 5S camera.


5. Both phones allow bright exposures in the pictures taken.


6. Images from iPhone 5S camera seem to have more accurate white balance under bright sunlight as compared to Nokia camera. However, the white balance if better for Nokia Lumia 1020 camera under low light conditions as compared to iPhone 5S camera.