Camera Phone Reviews

Nokia 8600 Luna

"An obsession to every detail marked each step in the development process of the Nokia 8600 Luna. We took painstaking effort to ensure that the experience delivered by every surface - from the smoothness of glass against the face to the warmth of stainless steel in the palm to the superior tactile feedback of the keypad - would surpass any and all expectations," said Heikki Norta, Senior Vice President, Mobile Phones, Nokia. "Even the name holds special significance. Much like the Nokia 8600 Luna that we named in her honor, Luna, the goddess of moonlight, was often represented by the Romans as a mysteriously captivating beauty encircled in a soft, yet radiant light."

The balance of aesthetics and ergonomics found in the design of the Nokia 8600 Luna continues in its well thought out feature set. Nokia's first use of a single micro-USB port not only allows for a streamlined design free of extraneous indentations, it allows owners to streamline common activities - like charging, audio and data connectivity - into a single connection. Quad-band GSM support also allows owners to easily stay connected while they are on the road, while the large, bright display is perfect for sharing images captured with the 2 megapixel camera.

The Nokia 8600 Luna is expected to be available during the 2nd quarter of 2007 at an estimated retail price of ?700 before taxes and subsidies.

Nokia 8600 Luna Reviews

MobileChoice reviews the Nokia 8600 Luna and writes, "Despite taking some photos in good and natural lighting conditions, the Luna’s camera still struggled to produce decent photos. Highlights were a little blurred, while strong white areas were over saturated and overblown. Focus was also uneven, especially around the edges. Anyone who is sniffing around the 8600 Luna probably won’t be too concerned by the camera’s disappointing performance (focusing instead on its stunning looks), but we’ve seen better at this level. The same also goes for its video-recording talents. It shoots in a 176x144-pixel resolution and quality really is negligible."

3G reviews the Nokia 8600 Luna and writes, "With the emphasis on design and style, Nokia has only fitted the 8600 Luna with a basic two-megapixel camera lens. Not the end of the world, but unfortunately it’s bereft of auto-focus, any kind of flash or light and macro focus for close-ups. A dedicated side shutter button has also been left off to keep the Luna’s design nicely streamlined, so to fire up the camera you must first slide open the phone then either delve into the main menu, use the shortcut homescreen bar or customize one of the more accessible soft keys."

Trusted Reviews reviews the Nokia 8600 Luna and writes, "Well, the back-facing camera lens is protected beneath the slider mechanism which is a good start. But there is no self portrait mirror and no flash, the lens is only capable of 2 megapixels and it lacks any sophistications like auto focus or a macro mode, all of which seems a little poor for such an expensive phone...The lens seemed to have trouble with pretty much every situation I threw at it. My standard shot of the coloured dish taken indoors under normal household lighting is somewhat dull and its colours lack vibrancy. It is passable but not very good...The camera also had trouble outdoors. The passion flower photo is dreadful. That it is out of focus is unsurprising as I was shooting about 6 inches from the subject to show you how the camera performs with close-ups as it lacks macro support. I wasn't expecting much and that's what I got. But the colour definition is disappointingly poor too. The apples fare better but the top left of the photo is overexposed. This phone really is only good for quick snaps to keep on the handset or MMS to others."

MobileBurn reviews the Nokia 8600 Luna and writes, "On top of the average quality shots that the Luna's camera churns out, the UI is also less than impressive. There is a 1-second shutter lag and accessing all options requires you to press on the options key and then scroll down to the desired option. Many users might say that there is nothing wrong with this interface, but compared to the intuitive menus found in the S60 operating system, there are obvious areas where Nokia could have improved."

E-Gear reviews the Nokia 8600 Luna and writes, "The Luna 8600 has some multimedia functions. A 2 megapixel camera is on board as well as a low-resolution video recorder. The phone does have a music player, with impressive external speakers to boot, but there is no memory card slot, so you’ll have to keep your music selections limited to a few favorites. There’s a microUSB connector for your downloads. A 240 x 320 pixel display shows off a few pre-loaded games, including golf and sodoku (ah, the sporting life of the rich), nicely. Jetsetters will enjoy the converter and world clock functions. Bluetooth too."

CNET reviews the Nokia 8600 Luna and writes, "The Luna's 2-megapixel camera takes pictures in seven resolutions, from 1,600x1,200 down to 160x120. You get a variety of camera settings including three quality settings, five color effects, a night mode, an adjustable white balance, a multishot mode, and an 8x zoom. There's no brightness setting, unfortunately, and we miss having a flash and a self-portrait mirror on a 2-megapixel shooter. The camcorder shoots videos in two resolutions (176x144 and 128x96) with sound. Other options are similar to those of the still camera, and you can mute the sound if you wish. The default mode lasts a very short 6 seconds, but you can also shoot longer clips, depending on the available memory. Photo quality wasn't great; colors were somewhat faded, and objects were a tad blurry. And you can forget about taking night shots."

LaptopMag reviews the Nokia 8600 Luna and writes, "The 8600 Luna sports some solid multimedia capabilities. The 2-megapixel camera snapped detailed stills, but video resolution was a tiny 176 x 144. It comes with stereo Bluetooth for listening to tunes wirelessly, but with only 128MB of onboard storage and no memory card slot, you'll be lucky to get one or two albums onto the phone. The 8600 Luna is rated for 3 hours and 30 minutes of talk time and 10 days of standby, but even with just moderate usage, the phone died every other day. Using our AT&T SIM card, call quality was clear."