As usual, Adam and I will look at a variety of scenes and lighting conditions, allocating scores as we go. As usual, there's no iPhone 5S in the mix, for the same reasons - Apple refuse to talk to us, plus people don't buy iPhones for their cameras (even if they're now pretty good).
Methodology notes:
- There's the usual observation that each of the phones shoots in slightly different resolution (see note 2 below) and with different field of view, so the crops below won't line up perfectly. They will, however, give a good of the relevant quality of the sensors and optics.
- In particular, the Lumia 1020 couldn't be set to (approx) 8MP output resolution, so in a sense the 1020's at a slight disadvantage here - though I've compensated by including extra 1020 capability - see note 3 below!
- PureView zoom wasn't used on any of the devices, to keep things relatively equal, though in each case I show a slim crop from the 'zoomed' version on the Lumia 1020*, to give an idea of the potential detail available on the 1020/808, should the user be trying to perhaps pick out detail from something in the distance or (according to subject) very small. *For the purposes of this article, I've simply cropped the 1:1 detail from the 34MP 'full res' JPG - in practice there would be less artefacts if PureView zooming were done at the time of capture.
- The Z1 was updated to the very latest firmware, offering a number of imaging improvements from Sony - thankfully. As you'll see....
- Adam (Twitter, YouTube) was my photographer here, even further North than me, in the middle of the Swedish winter, so there are no gloriously sunny test shots here! Volunteers to supply test shots from the Southern Hemisphere - or all-expenses-paid trips for me to get there - welcomed(!!)
- All scores are by me (Steve), based on the default 5MP/8MP/9MP outputs, and (of course) subjective - comments welcome below if you violently disagree, etc.(!)
Test 1 - Canal under bright-ish sky
Or at least as bright as it gets this time of the year in Sweden - note the lights on in the left foreground! Here's the overall scene (from the Nokia Lumia 1020):
And here are detailed crops, from the top left, going clockwise, from the Nokia N8, the Nokia 808, the Nokia Lumia 1020 and the Xperia Z1 (click the device names to download the original JPGs if you want to examine them yourself):
(and, for comparison, here's 1:1 on the 1020/808 sensors, showing resolved detail when zoomed right in)
Considering the relatively poor light, all four phones did well here. the N8 is perhaps the only disappointment, with perhaps a little blur from the heavy shutter button in Adam's hands. The Nokia 808 produces its usual natural result, with no enhancements, while the Z1 and Lumia 1020 both apply high amounts of sharpening, in order to enhance detail in their output. The 1020 is hampered here in the direct crop comparison by its lower 5MP output (though see the superior 1:1 'zoomed' version below) and I'm going to give this one, on an as-is basis, to the Android-powered Z1.
Scores: N8: 7 pts; 808: 8 pts; 1020: 9 pts; Z1: 10 pts
Test 2 - Distant supermarket detail
Some nice textual detail on the shop signs. Here's the overall scene (from the Nokia Lumia 1020):
And here are detailed crops, from the top left, going clockwise, from the Nokia N8, the Nokia 808, the Nokia Lumia 1020 and the Xperia Z1 (click the device names to download the original JPGs if you want to examine them yourself):
(and, for comparison, here's 1:1 on the 1020/808 sensors, showing resolved detail when zoomed right in)
All four devices did very well again - the N8 produced excellent detail for a 2010 device, the 808 produced some stunningly pure textures, the Z1 again produced decent detail, while the 1020's photo was super sharp, thanks to the OIS and image processing. (And, as before, the bottom 'zoomed' version shows the detail that the Nokia 808 and 1020 could achieve if one were just going for maximum resolved detail.)
Scores: N8: 8 pts; 808: 8 pts; 1020: 9 pts; Z1: 9 pts
Test 3 - Indoor, subject at 2 metres
In the absence of a human subject willing to volunteer! Here's the overall scene (from the Nokia Lumia 1020):
And here are detailed crops, from the top left, going clockwise, from the Nokia N8, the Nokia 808, the Nokia Lumia 1020 and the Xperia Z1 (click the device names to download the original JPGs if you want to examine them yourself):
(and, for comparison, here's 1:1 on the 1020/808 sensors, showing resolved detail when zoomed right in)
This being an indoor shot, with flash disabled, light levels are lower again and the cracks are now starting to show, in terms of sensor sizes and optics. The N8 and Z1 results are starting to get digitally noisy - the 1020's shot is also noisy but is incredibly sharp again - that OIS/sharpening combination at work. However, despite not being quite as 'sharp' the Nokia 808's photo wins here in that the colours are accurate and the image 'pure', with the oversampling all but eliminating noise - in contrast, the 1020's santa gnome has too much of a yellow cast....
Scores: N8: 7 pts; 808: 10 pts; 1020: 9 pts; Z1: 8 pts
Test 4 - More signage, but closer
Again, the light is somewhat murky - on the flip side it's again a great test of the optics and sensors in these camera phones... Here's the overall scene (from the Nokia Lumia 1020):
And here are detailed crops, from the top left, going clockwise, from the Nokia N8, the Nokia 808, the Nokia Lumia 1020 and the Xperia Z1 (click the device names to download the original JPGs if you want to examine them yourself):
(and, for comparison, here's 1:1 on the 1020/808 sensors, showing resolved detail when zoomed right in)
Physics always wins out in the end when light levels are low, with the Nokia 808 producing the purest blocks of colour, especially in the blue on the sign, plus very clear lettering. The 1020 is hampered by not being able to match the 8MP resolution of the other phone cameras, though does its best with oversharpening, plus again there's the super result from the PureView zoomed version, for comparison, below. The Z1 image is perhaps worst here, with even a 1/2.3" sensor paling in light handling besides the larger sensors in the N8, 808 and 1020....
Scores: N8: 8 pts; 808: 9 pts; 1020: 8 pts; Z1: 6 pts
Test 5 - Beer o'clock!
Here Adam is trying to recreate my patented 'party mock-up' shot, snapping himself (pretending to) having a drink, i.e. in movement when the photo is snapped. Here's the overall scene (from the Nokia Lumia 1020):
And here are detailed crops, from the top left, going clockwise, from the Nokia N8, the Nokia 808, the Nokia Lumia 1020 and the Xperia Z1 (click the device names to download the original JPGs if you want to examine them yourself):
(and, for comparison, here's 1:1 on the 1020/808 sensors, showing resolved detail when zoomed right in)
You can't beat a good old-fashioned Xenon flash test! Here the Nokia 808 stands head and shoulders above the other devices - the largest sensor (by far), the brightest Xenon flash and the oversampling lead to an almost perfect photo. The 1020 gets close but there's the typical colour cast from the Lumia's camera (allegedly eliminated in the upcoming 'Black' software update). Meanwhile the N8 produces a decent enough result, albeit a little pale (smaller sensor, weaker flash, etc.) and the Z1 actually does quite well for a LED-flash equipped device, considering Adam was moving, but the photo's still blurred and somewhat indistinct.
Scores: N8: 6 pts; 808: 10 pts; 1020: 8 pts; Z1: 4 pts
Verdict
Adding up the scores (each out of 50) gives:
- Nokia 808 PureView: 45 pts
- Nokia Lumia 1020: 43 pts
- Sony Xperia Z1: 37 pts
- Nokia N8: 36 pts
Credit should be given to Sony's engineers for improving the Z1's output after the disastrous early firmware, plus it should be noted that there's a limited degree of PureView 'zoom' available, Nokia-style, but the Z1 still can't get close overall to Nokia's two imaging flagships. If I'd scored based on PureView zooms/crops then the gap would have been even wider.
The three year old N8 is perhaps best considered as a reference point these days, at least in the context of imaging powerhouses like the 1020 and 808.
Which leaves the Nokia 808 just pipping the 1020 to the crown for this specific set of tests, though they possibly played to the 808's strengths in using its Creative 8MP output and by not using the PureView zoom for the main photos - the 1020 performs better over the full PureView zoom range. Across all subjects and tests, I still have trouble picking a winner between the two - they each have relative strengths and weaknesses and it very much depends on the sort of thing you want to shoot!