It is Carl Zesis which makes Nokia Cameras great. Now if we compare N9 & Lumia 900s 8MP camera with iPhone 4S and SGS2. It gets the last spot. Although Apple and Samsung never use CZ. So is it just 1080P video recording compared to 720P that gives iPhone 4S and SGS2 the advantage over N9/Lumia 900?

Carl Zeiss is only the lens. Better cameras also have larger sensors and bigger apertures to let more light in, and in the latest phones, backlit sensors to increase low light performance. Which is why the N8 still wipes the floor with the iPhone and Samsungs because the others are still using a "pinhole" to capture the image (and it also has a Xenon flash).

if you got your results from american bias blogs like the verge, engadget, gizmodo, bgr etc you'll even tend to believe that the n8 is inferior to the ip4s and sgs2.

the n9 suffers from greater exposure, tweak the settings abit while using and a better picture will be taken. the iphone4s has over-saturated images that may look better but actually are not producing colors accurately.

Absolutely agree. I just recently saw a comparison of various phone cameras on a famous blog and they gave the N9 miserable results - I still don't know why... Every camera has its weakness, and you mention the N9's one.

A couple month ago when I was traveling with friends we made some nice comparison pictures since we had the debate about which phone has the best camera (N9, 2 iPhone 4S and a Galaxy S2). We looked at them on a big TV screen an the N9 had simple the best pictures, especially when it comes to sharpness and color saturation. The N9 pictures looked the most "real".

I wished we would have published this comparison... So I don't know what the heck those mentioned US blogs are doing wrong.

@maverick788us: Don't worry, you have a very good small sized camera (I'm not comparing with N8) - except for 1080p video recording.

Like the other users above said.
"Real" ( Closest to the exact colour of the moment )
The other phones have been packing in more colours to make the picture more lively.

I completely disagree. As much as i want to like the N9's camera (hype was built up around it) it is simply disappointing.

There are times when it shines. Delivers great results. This is usually only in good strong sun light with the subject well lit. Most times, if not always, there is a strong haze, a very saturated feel to the photos.
I end up using 'Auto Fix All' function every time i take a photo as that fixes the colours up a bit.

Some might say its more 'real' but i've looked at things with my own eyes and the camera and its def not real. Some will again argue no camera can replicate the eye - also true - however i've seen results from the S2 which are far far superior. Not sure what post processing samsung are doing but its working. I have stopped using my N9 for taking photos as the results are not consistently reliable.

I am not saying the N9 has a bad camera, not at all, it sometimes surprises me - however it is not worthy of the Carl Zeiss label. If anyone strongly disagrees with me I am happy to do a n9 vs S2 comparison with zero editing for all to see. I have no interest in making false accusations without basis, but I feel we all fell into the Nokia/Carl Zeiss wagon a long time when Nokia did indeed live up to high expectations and today Nokia is barely keeping up. Of course, N8 and PureView 808 being huge exceptions.

You guys are really tough on the N9 camera. The pictures I get from the N9 camera are amazing and I constantly compare them to the N8's camera all the time. They are very similar pictures in quality. The N9 is a feat for Nokia. A sensor 30% smaller than the N8's with extremely similar picture quality.

These pictures do the talking, btw none of these pictures have been edited at all.

@ afaq

I'm neither agreeing or disagreeing with what you say as I've not had chance to make those comparisons myself.

So I would like to see the comparisons first hand - I'm sure others would too - if you want to post your results...

jakiman has made a very nice comparison of cameras at his blog: http://shootspeak.com/2011/10/07/2-c...ung-galaxy-s2/

I Think they are all good cameras for a phone. But if I want a truly good photo I don't use a phone.
And said Zeiss is just the lens. It's a good start, but there's a lot more to making a photo than a lens.