Video capture comparison: Lumia 930 vs Galaxy Note 4

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Let's be honest, if this was summer and the sun was shining then I'd be out comparing multiple devices for hours. As it is, with temperatures near zero and a biting wind, this is just a quick three minute continuous test of video capture at 1080p on the Lumia 930 and Galaxy Note 4 (following on from my more detailed still image capture tests). Summary: the 930, like the 1520 before it, slightly underperforms (in my opinion), though the OIS itself works well. In contrast, the Note 4 camera performs beyond its specs, even allowing seemingly lossless zoom, PureView-style.

As usual, maximise the video windows and up the quality to 1080p, as long as your kit can stand it. Also, note that the commentary was filmed as I went, and that I - evidently - rather underestimated the Note 4 camera's video zoom capabilities. And over-estimated those of the 930 - I should have brought along the 1020 after all!

Some other notes on the split-screen foootage:

  • OIS on the Lumia 930 seems better than the stabilisation used on the Note 4, by a very small margin. Interestingly, it's not clear whether the latter's OIS even works in video mode - most sites say that it doesn't, but I'd guess that it does, it's so close to the 930 here.
      
  • Overall video quality is, on average, quite a bit superior on the Note 4 throughout, with better colours and details. Perhaps surprisingly, this is even more so when ''zoomed', I was stunned by the Note 4's results (and, as I say, wishing I'd taken the 1020 along instead!)
      
  • Audio quality from both phones is excellent, as you'd expect.

My imaging week with the Lumia 930 and Note 4 in tandem thus comes to an end with still imaging close but with a slight edge to the 930 in terms of natural results, while the Note 4 is an easy win in the video capture stakes. Will Lumia Camera 5 (when it eventually arrives) level the playing field in terms of video results? Maybe. Watch this space.