Camera Phone Reviews

Nokia N73

From the news release:

Nokia today unveiled the latest addition to the Nokia Nseries family, the Nokia N73, a stunning multimedia computer in a compact and savvy exterior with exquisite photography features and integrated stereo speakers with 3D sound for optimized audio pleasure. In addition to a large 2.4 inch display, the Nokia N73 includes a 3.2 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus and support for Internet communities like Flickr - a package ready to challenge any digital camera.

"The ideal companion for the digital camera lover, the Nokia N73 is as easy to use as it is compact to carry. Imagine, stunning print quality photos and multimedia are just a slide and a click away, ready to be shared immediately, said Juha Putkiranta, senior vice president, Multimedia Computers, Nokia. "Being able to intuitively capture, edit and share your digital memories is at the core of the Nokia N73, which also offers the enriched multimedia experiences of the Nokia Nseries range. The joy of using the Nokia N73 extends beyond the actual device, by fusing people to their passions and with others who share them. The Nokia N73 is truly a camera for the Internet age, enabling people to share their photos on the Web in an instant, on Flickr or other photo sharing communities."

Nokia N73 Reviews

All About Symbian reviews the Nokia N73 and writes about the N73's camera: "the N73 is less than perfect as a smartphone, as you'll see below, but for the target market the photos it takes will more than make up for this. ... It's worth noting that, as alluded to above, camera performance in dim conditions is less than stellar, as with virtually all phone-based cameras - there simply isn't enough light to produce good results on such a small CMOS sensor. Still, the N73 is no worse than other similar cameras and in fact I was quite impressed with results in pitch black conditions using the built-in LED flash, which is used both for auto-focussing and taking the actual picture."

PCAuthority reviews the Nokia N73 and writes, "Although the camera can deliver some beautiful and vivid pictures in good light, the low light performance isn’t anywhere near as good as the Sony Ericsson K800i, which uses a xenon flash. The N71 sticks to traditional -- and very bright -- LED illumination, which delivers usable images in the dark from a meter or less away from your subject. One gripe we had is that the options are represented by icons, and the text description takes a while to be displayed if you forget what they represent."

ComputerActive reviews the Nokia N73 and writes, "The 3.2megapixel camera is safely hidden away behind a large sliding cover - although this can slide open in the pocket, draining the battery. The phone has a Carl Zeiss lens and autofocus, which go some way to making up for the lack of optical zoom. And while it has an LED flash, it takes great pictures even in low light."

Trusted Reviews reviews the Nokia N73 and writes, "The back facing camera is a key feature of this handset. I’m quite a sceptic about phone cameras, but found this particular one difficult to find fault with – at least outdoors, and even Indoor shots seemed to me to be a little better than I’ve seen of late from cameraphones. Its 3.2 megapixels capability is at the high end in terms of what we currently expect of a phone. The Carl Zeiss lens with its autofocus and mechanical shutter is touted by Nokia as giving you sharp images with good detail, and I did find that to be the case. Certainly it produced quality I’d class as acceptable from a mobile. The macro mode deserves a special mention. I used it to capture the image of the apple at close quarters."

NewsWireless reviews the Nokia N73 and writes, "The camera is a nice 3.2-megapixel one, with a Carl Zeiss lens. No optical zoom here, but a 20x digital one which wouldn't be worth including if Nokia didn't bundle so many other image-enhancing capabilities with the device. The affect of a digital zoom is identical to zooming in on a shot using a PC graphics package, so the normal argument is that you might as well do the work once the pictures are transferred off the camera. However, Nokia wants to look towards a world without PCs, so you will need to do everything on your phone. To that end you can change the brightness, contrast and sharpness as well as cropping, resizing, adding clip-art, applying effects like frames and text boxes, or perform red-eye reduction - all without the graphic leaving the phone and just by using the four-way control stick and two soft-menu keys."

IT Reviews reviews the Nokia N73 and writes, "The star of the N73 show, though, is its camera. This is a 3.2-megapixel job with Carl Zeiss optics which ensure clear, sharp pictures. Anyone wanting to use a handset for near-serious photography (serious shots need a dedicated digital camera), will find the auto-focus and macro modes a boon, while the easy to use controls, involving using the responsive mini joystick under the screen to move through on-screen icons and clicking to make selections for settings like ISO, scene mode and white balance, are almost frighteningly user-friendly."

MobileBurn reviews the Nokia N73 and writes, "That camera, a 3.2 megapixel unit with an auto-focus Carl Zeiss lens, is quite nice, if not truly perfect. The auto-focus system in the camera is reasonably quick, and it supports a macro mode that allows for true close-up photography. The automatic white balance system worked very well is most situations, performing better than the manual settings in most cases. The only downside of the camera is the blue haze that many pictures seem to suffer from, which has the effect of greatly lowering visible contrast in many situations."

3G reviews the Nokia N73 and writes, "in this case we have 3.2 megapixel image capture with an autofocus mode, flash, and a mechanical shutter which really does help you get clearer pictures. ... Outdoor shots are particularly good, tending to the clear, crisp side of things which means you wouldn’t be embarrassed to show them to friends and relatives or keep them on file. We weren’t over the moon about the indoor test shots we took, but then no handset delivers as well as a digital camera indoors."

PhoneArena reviews the Nokia N73 and writes, "The camera can obtain good results only outdoor, when there is bright light – then it does not produce much noise in the image and there the 3-megapixel resolution helps for capturing more details. Unfortunately in very bright light the colors are not realistic and little amount of purple fringing occurs. In low light the noise-reducing system in the phone kills all the detail of the image and everything becomes blurry as if you’ve used a “watercolor�? to produce the photo. When you hold the phone steadily (as you can’t put it to lie horizontally) and use the “night photo�? mode, the captured photos are clear (although again there is the “water color�? effect) if the object you shoot is lighten enough. If Nokia had used better image sensor (as digital cameras need good lens, sensor and processor) they would definitely have the best cameraphone, but unfortunately they haven’t and the biggest drawback of the N73’s camera is its noise levels (noise-reduction)."

CNET Asia reviews the Nokia N73 and writes, "The Nokia N73 ups the ante slightly compared to the Nokia N80 by offering a 3.2-megapixel camera versus a 3-megapixel camera. It features a Carl Zeiss Optics lens, an autofocus function, and 20X digital zoom. Once again, we're blown away by the vast array of photo customization and editing options available on the N73. ... Overall, we thought the N73 took excellent snapshots for a camera phone. Colors popped from the images and lines were clearly defined. Video quality could use a bit of improvement, though, as clips were a bit washed out and grainy."

CNET reviews the Nokia N73 and writes, "Once again, we're blown away by the vast array of photo customization and editing options available on the N73. You can choose from eight scene modes, ranging from portrait to sports to night portrait; four image qualities (large, medium, small, and multimedia messages); and five resolutions (2,048 by 1,536, 1,600 by 1,200, 1,280 by 960, and 800 by 600, 640 by 480). You can tweak the brightness, contrast, white balance, color tone, and exposure value. There's also a self-timer, sequence mode for up to six pictures in a row, and flash with red-eye reduction as one of the options. ... Overall, we thought the N73 took excellent snapshots for a camera phone. Colors popped from the images and lines were clearly defined. Video quality could use a bit of improvement, though, as clips were a bit washed out and grainy."

TechDigest reviews the Nokia N73 and writes, "The camera is easy to use, and takes fantastic photographs, but it's not the reason to get rid of your digital camera all together. I found it slow to load - it took 4 seconds from when you opened the cover, which means if you're after that illusive spur of the moment shot, you'll probably have missed it. There's also the eternal problem with camera phones with the lag between when you've hit the button, to when the shot is actually captured. Again, you'll miss the spur of the moment pictures."

Mobile88 reviews the Nokia N73 and writes about the phone's camera: "Ok focusing speed is a mixed bag. At it's fastest, when you press the shutter halfway, the cam about the same time to focus as the k750i. At it's slowest, it might take 1 sec more to focus properly. Again it's down to the design of the shutter button. It's being set in too deep into the body of the phone. And during focusing, the flash led will come on, presumably to help the cam to focus better. Even if you turn off the flash, the led still comes on. So if you're thinking of taking voyeur pics, you better think twice if you wana get this phone. Ok, there are 2 modes that I know of which won't turn on the flash led during focusing, Sports and Landscape."

Stuff reviews the Nokia N73 and writes, "There’s a dedicated shutter button, a zoom control and a gallery button on the right-hand side of the phone for easy access of those camera-y features. It’s clear that Nokia wants you to think this as much a camera as a mobile, so it’s a shame that there is no proper flash. Then again, the screen makes a brilliant viewfinder."

MobileTechReview reviews the Nokia N73 and writes, "At its best, you really can't tell the difference between the N73 and a dedicated 3MP camera. In challenging situations (low light, extemely bright light) it looks better than any other camera phone except the Nokia N93 and Sony Ericsson K790 / K800i which are on par. With good balanced indoor or outdoor lighting, the camera can take amazing pictures. it's well suited to most any outdoor picture (sunny or cloudy) and well lit interior shots such as offices and malls. Dark interiors raise noise levels and you'll notice the phone's attempts to smooth out the noise, though it's still capable of taking some really lovely outdoor shots at dusk ..."

Infosync reviews the Nokia N73 and writes, "With no effort at all, the N73 snaps supberb hi-res stills with accurate colours and precise focus, letting users who want more control tweak a range of options to get pictures just the way they want them - including colour effects and red eye removal. Also, the large, high-resolution screen not only makes a great viewfinder but works a charm for browsing or viewing pictures you've already taken, which can also be shared and printed in all thinkable and unthinkable ways. It's a pity it only stores 50 pictures out-of-the-box."

OhGizmo reviews the Nokia N73 and writes, "The centerpiece of the N73 is its 3.2MP (2048 x 1536 pixels) camera, of course, and I’m happy to say that Nokia’s outdone itself. Pictures taken under the right lighting conditions are flawless and could easily be printed and passed off as regular digicam pics, for sizes up to 8 X 10 inches. ... If there is a lot of light, everything turns out perfect. Images taken in good lighting conditions are hard to distinguish from dedicated digicam pictures. However, they do not appear as saturated as they do while previewing on the phone’s display. In lower light settings, image quality deteriorates rather quickly. The shots are still very serviceable, but they are grainy and wouldn’t make excellent prints."

Lordpercy reviews the Nokia N73 and writes, "you do get its main selling feature a massive 3.2 mega pixel camera which hides behind a protective shutter in the rear of the phone. Images we took with the camera were very clear and crisp without the blurring seen on other Nokia cameras, there is a 20 X digital zoom which we avoided like the plague and the whole thing is simple to use with a dedicated shutter switch and a LED flash which is ok for very close shots."

SmartPhoneToday reviews the Nokia N73 and writes, "You might think a device that was as much camera as phone might be relatively bulky, but the N73 manages measures only 4.33 x 1.92 x .74 inches and weighs a scant 4 ounces. The face of the N73 is dominated by a large 2.4-inch 240 x 320 pixel, 256k color depth display that's bright and colorful, with a small light sensor above the display that can adjust screen brightness based on ambient lighting conditions. ... 3.2 megapixels isn't the most you can get in a camera phone today, but in the Nokia N73 it makes for a very capable and well-rounded multimedia device. If the ability to take photos and listen to music are as important to you as making calls (or perhaps even more so), then the Nokia N73 is a solid and stylish way to do the job."

PCMag reviews the Nokia N73 and writes, "The N73's flagship feature is its 3.2-megapixel camera. Here at PC Magazine Labs, both myself and Terry Sullivan (PC Magazine's digital camera analyst) put the handset through the full set of tests that we do with any digital camera. We found it to be a kind of transition device. By that we mean it's better than any other cameraphone so far (except Nokia's 5MP N95) but not quite able to compete with dedicated digital cameras. ... The N73's shots are uncommonly sharp for a 3MP camera, with 1,100 lines of horizontal resolution and 1,050 lines of vertical. Images were somewhat underexposed, but more worryingly, we saw a color shift in some of our shots—the colors weren't consistent from shot to shot. Low light pictures blew out the highlights a bit. But you have to remember the competition here. Compared with other camera phones, the N73's sharp, high-res shots will be a revelation. But it just doesn't measure up to dedicated digital cameras."

ThinkCamera put the Nokia N73 head to head with the Fujifilm F20 digital camera, and finds, "It will come as no surprise that on every test we could come up with the Fujifilm F20 produced a better image that the Nokia N73. But in the end you could say this doesn't matter at all - I stopped comparing the images because on 20” widescreen monitors the F20 image was always better. Usually a lot better. Instead I tried a different test - I took a snap with the N73 and took the phone straight in to a high street lab. They looked very dubious when I asked them to print a 10X8 from the Mini-SD card. An hour later I popped back and the lab staff were amazed - it had actually produced a very nice print. 10X8 inches is really pushing it for a 3MP camera - it's below 200 ppi which is where I reckon you want to be for a decent continuous tone print. ... I left it lying around the studio for a week and showed it to everyone who came round. The usual response was “nice picture”. Nobody guessed that it was taken with a phone or commented that it was a low quality picture. In fact, many of the image quality issues are to do with jpeg compression rather than poor quality capture."

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